Growing Up

I write to you little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. I write to you fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. I write to you young men, because you have overcome the wicked one... Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:12-17)

God wants to take us from being little children to being fully mature — and His Word is the means by which He does it.

The Desire for Maturity

I don't think there is any experience more life-changing than standing in the delivery room when your children are born. I've experienced it four times, and each time it remained an awesome, mind-blowing reality to see new life come into the world. Yet I'll admit something that may upset some people: through the pregnancy, up until the moment of birth, there was a part of me that felt somewhat disconnected from the life that was coming. My wife was instantly connected and in love from the earliest point; she felt all the growing and movement. For me it felt, for lack of a better term, alien.

Before our first son, Ethan, was born, I privately wondered at what point that connection and love would come. But the moment he was born — almost within a second — there was a flood of realization and love. That life that hadn't been right in front of me a minute before was now there, and there was an instant connection. And I had this thought: how could I ever be impatient or angry with this beautiful little child? I no longer have that thought — not because I love them less, but because I've realized I'm not perfect, and neither are they.

Some in our culture believe human beings are born innately good. I don't agree. If you think that's the case, I'd recommend you grow up, get married, and have kids — then you'll realize it's not so. Every parent wants their children to grow up and mature. That's the hope and the joy.

A Spiritual Father's Joy

John, in 1 John, expresses that same desire, because he was a spiritual father and pastor. What does a spiritual father desire? That people would grow to maturity. Turn just a little to the right, to 3 John:

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers... For I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth. (3 John 2-4)

When I was about sixteen, I attended my first Christian youth camp. On Monday morning, an older gentleman in a Hawaiian shirt, slightly overweight with a bald head, got up and preached for three hour-long sessions to about 400 high schoolers — and we were all locked on. His name was Pastor Chuck Smith. By the end of the day, a number of us wanted his autograph, so he signed my Bible with a scraggly signature and underneath wrote, "3 John 4." I didn't know what it was, so I looked it up: "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth."

So point number one: the desire of every parent is the maturity of their children, and it is the desire of every pastor for the maturity of the church.

What Stunts Spiritual Growth

In this lyrical passage John addresses three groups — little children, fathers, and young men — each of them twice. He's focusing on spiritual maturity, on the development of people who have been born again. He writes because he's concerned that growth is being stunted by the very thing that stunts spiritual progress faster and more completely than anything else: false teaching.

This is why it's so important that as you receive instruction — from me, from the radio, from the TV, or anywhere — you go back and weed through what you've received to see if it is true. We are constantly hit with different philosophies and worldviews, even while watching the news or sports. In Acts, the church in Berea was called more noble than those in Thessalonica because they heard Paul preach and then searched the Scriptures daily to see whether those things were so. Whatever you hear from this table, search the Scriptures to see if it is true.

Little Children: Born Again and Forgiven

So John writes, "I write to you little children, because your sins are forgiven." He uses two different Greek words for "little children" across verses 12 and 13-14 — the first speaks of a newborn infant, the second of someone moving toward being more of an adult. There's progress, movement.

The metaphor of being a newborn is appropriate, because in the New Testament we read that when you become a follower of Jesus, you are born again. This comes from Jesus's conversation with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, in John 3. Nicodemus came by night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher come from God." Jesus cut him off: "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." This short-circuited Nicodemus's brain — he could only think literally, picturing entering his mother's womb a second time.

Jesus explained, "Unless one is born of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." He used the picture of the wind: you can't see where it comes from or goes, but you see its effects. So is everyone born of the Spirit. There is a spiritual birth that takes place when a person trusts in Christ, and they are made a newborn — a little child.

The Loving Action of the Father

Just as your mother and father's love brought you into this world, it is the loving action of our Father that brings us into the experience of being born again.

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God. (1 John 3:1)

What loving action of the Father makes this possible? Back in John 3 we reach the most famous verse in the Bible:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

He gave His Son on the cross to be, as we saw in this very passage, "the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world" (1 John 2:2). That word propitiation means an atoning sacrifice that deals with the stain of sin. Jesus demonstrated God's love toward us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

So point number two: the born-again child of God is altogether righteous by the forgiveness of Christ. Notice it doesn't say your sins might be forgiven — it's a statement of fact. As John 1:12 says, as many as received Jesus, He gave the right to become children of God. To receive Jesus is to trust in Jesus, and when you trust in Him, you immediately receive all the benefits of God's children — chief among them, complete forgiveness.

Salvation in No Other Name

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:9-10)

We have justifying forgiveness and saving grace only through Jesus Christ. As Acts 4:12 says, "There is salvation in no other name, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me."

In 21st-century American culture, perhaps the worst offense is to be narrow and exclusive, and some struggle with this. But while it may appear narrow, it is also liberating and joy-producing. You can know for certain that you have total forgiveness — that everything you have ever thought, said, or done against the character and nature of God is wiped completely clean the moment you trust in Jesus. You don't have to be tossed to and fro, wondering if you're right with God, because your standing is based on the finished work of Christ. When He said, "It is finished," it was finished. There is nothing more that needs to be done to deal with your sin — past, present, and future.

Fathers: Known for Their Knowledge of God

But God desires that we grow in maturity. So John shifts: "I write to you fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning." There's a distinct difference in maturity between little children and fathers. God wants to move us from being little children to being fathers and mothers in the faith.

Point number three: the fully mature and faithful are known for their knowledge of God. I'm speaking of relational knowledge — that's exactly the word John chooses. The Greek word for "known" speaks of a relational knowing. Jesus uses it in John 17:3: "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

This is seen in Acts 4. Nearly sixty years before writing this letter, John and Peter went up to the temple at the hour of prayer. A lame man was begging by the gate, and Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk." The man went into the temple walking and leaping and praising God. A stir broke out, and the religious leaders pulled Peter and John before the council and forbade them to preach in Jesus's name.

But Acts 4 tells us they noted something: these were unlearned, untrained men — backwater Galilean fishermen — yet they had been with Jesus. One mark of maturity is that it becomes clear to people: that person knows God. You can see it in the way they live. Paul could say in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ" — his life had become imitable because he was one who had been with God.

Young Men: Strong in the Word

So the moment you trust in Jesus you are completely forgiven and justified. But God's desire is that you become fully mature, to the point that it would be evident to others that you know God. How does that happen?

John writes, "I write to you young men, because you have overcome the wicked one... because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one." Some here are newborns in Christ. None of us would say we are fully mature and totally faithful. So the rest of us are in this stage of "young men" and "young women" in the faith — moving toward maturity. How do we become overcomers?

When we read about overcoming the wicked one, two things come to mind. First is the enemy you've met before in Scripture — the devil, Satan, our adversary. We are in a very real spiritual battle, as Paul describes in Ephesians 6 and 1 Corinthians 10. But there's another wicked one that you and I wrestle with daily — ourselves. Sometimes the longer you walk with the Lord, the more difficult that battle seems than the battle against spiritual hosts of wickedness.

You Grow Strong as the Word Abides

Point number four: you will grow strong and victorious as the Word of God abides in you. I purposely capitalized "Word," because the Word of God is the Scriptures, but it is also Christ Jesus. John 1:1-4 says the Word was God, and He became flesh and dwelt among us. As Christ abides in us, we become strong and victorious.

The Scriptures make this clear. As Israel stood at the border of the promised land, ready to fight tangible enemies, God told Joshua:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night... for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Joshua 1:8)

The psalmist says the same: "How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word" (Psalm 119:9), and, "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You" (Psalm 119:11). And this was the example of Jesus Himself. In Matthew 4, three times the enemy came against Him, and three times Jesus answered, "It is written," defeating the enemy by the Word of God.

So Paul exhorts in Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." His Word, by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, works in us to make us victorious.

God's Word Transforms Our Affections

In verses 15-17, John gives a command to the little children:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Point number five: God's abiding Word fundamentally transforms our affections. Before you are a child of God, your affections, your lusts, your overwhelming desires are for the things of this world — the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. Religion comes in — whether Buddhism, Islam, or any world religion — and says, "You have to die to all that. Don't look at it, don't touch it, don't think about it." Some of you lived under that for years; you tried hard, and it was hard, and it wasn't very joy-producing, because your affections were still for those things.

But when you become a child of God and His Word begins to abide in your heart and mind, it fundamentally transforms your affections. Suddenly your desires shift, and the things you once wanted, you don't want anymore. You may say, "But I'm in that place of Romans 7 — the good I want to do, I don't do, and the bad I don't want to do, I practice. O wretched man that I am!" I have good news: Jesus delivers us by His power, sanctifying us, working in us to transform our desires. That's the whole progression from little child to fully mature.

A Story of Changed Desires

How does that happen? It's a work of God's grace by His Spirit. I've seen it in my own life and in others'. About ten or eleven years ago a couple came in on a Wednesday night. There had been infidelity, their relationship was falling apart, and they weren't yet followers of Jesus. As they shared everything going on, I told them this sounded really bad — and then I shared the gospel with them. By the end of our twenty-minute meeting, both prayed to receive Christ.

I told them to go home and read one chapter of Ephesians a day. They came back the next week and said, "We were reading, and it says right here in Ephesians 5, 'Do not be drunk with wine.' We do that a lot. We were thinking maybe we shouldn't." I said, "That's probably a good idea." How does that happen? A fundamental transformation of the affections by the Spirit of God. As we delight ourselves in the Lord, He gives us new desires in our hearts. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12-13).

A Simple Exhortation

John says: move from being little children to being fully mature, overcoming the wicked one in the world and in you — by becoming strong as the Word of God abides in you. If you take heed to this, you will see a fundamental transformation of your affections.

So commit to becoming a daily reader of God's Word — every single morning a consumer of it — and to hiding it in your heart and mind through memorization. Some will object, "I have a really bad memory." But you can quote verbatim movies you watched twenty years ago, and you still have songs from 1972 looping in your mind. So I don't believe you. You can memorize. Memorize it so you can remember it, meditate on it, and be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you are not conformed to this world but walk in God's will (Romans 12:1-2).

That's it: become a consumer of God's Word, and His Word will transform you. It's happened for thousands of years.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season... and whatever he does shall prosper. (Psalm 1:1-3)

Meditate on His Word day and night, and you shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season. That's good news.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, we need Your enabling power to walk in a way that is honoring and pleasing to You, and also most satisfying and joy-producing for us. So God, I pray that You would work in us by Your Spirit, and that one of the things You'd work in us today and this week would be a desire for Your Word. Lord, stir up in us a hunger for Your Word in such a way that we find we need it like the food we eat on a daily basis. Develop that insatiable hunger in us, knowing that as we have Your Word abiding in us, it will transform us at a fundamental level.

And maybe as we're standing here this morning, you've never received Jesus by trusting in Him — you're not even a little child yet, born again by the Spirit — but you would like to receive the grace of Christ today, His forgiveness, so that you would know absolutely 100% that your sins are dealt with. If that's you, pray with me: Dear Jesus, I know I need You. I've tried to deal with my own sin, and I can't fix myself. I pray that You'd come into my life, that You would forgive me by Your grace, and that You would help me to follow You in faith and honor You with my life. In Jesus's name. Praise the Lord — God is doing a great work.