Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

Left to right, Heather Palmer, Eric Palmer, Jonathan Palmer, Jane Stoltzfus, Emily Palmer, enjoying a nice soft ice cream at Freez and Frizz near us on Monday night.   Glenn is not on the picture, I see.  Sorry, Glenn.  Jeff Palmer could not be with us, he was busy in Washington.  We have family fun together.  The children got very good at catching frogs!  A surprisingly nice fun thing to do.  We are blessed with an abundance of frogs in our pond this year, more than ever.

We are blessed by this loving family.  When they visit us things stop – all for them now!  Jane and Glenn love the moments, of course.  And we get in on some of the fun.

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.  I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.  I John 2:20 – 23

Strong words!  They lay bare the reality that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah, the actual Son of the Father.  This is not only important but is at the heart of the Atoning work of God.  If Jesus is simply a good man, a good Jewish man, then human salvation slips away between the fingers. If Jesus did not atone for sin, then his teachings are simply good sage advice.  The heart of the Atonement is that Jesus Christ died to settle forever the sin question.   He died to break the power of sin and his death offers an open door for all who will to enter to experience full salvation.

John opens this section by reminding his readers that they have the “anointing from the Holy One.”  That anointing gives us the power to believe the reality of the Atoning work of God and to accept it as the basis of our own salvation.  Those who do not have this anointing can still appreciate the amazing man, Jesus, but it is only that.   It is good to be a follower of Jesus’ teaching but that is not salvation.

This is such a crucial issue that John states categorically, “Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ.” 

I hear John declaring that there are really two streams running, one is admiration for Jesus Christ and the other is receiving in Jesus full salvation from sin.  To admire Jesus as a nice person is one thing,a good teacher.  But to believe that he saves sinners is quite another.  John saw the distinction clear as day and his word is as appropriate today as ever.

One of our common butterflies is one of the skippers, here feeding on our lush butterfly bush. I just love to watch butterflies, beauty and grace on the wing.

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

1 John 2:15 – 17

John is refreshingly simple, direct and profound, and, I might say, quite unsettling.  He says, Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.

He simplifies things so that the truth can be grasped.  He believes that we were made to love so we will love something!  He believes we will love either this world or God, the Father. It is as simple as that.  I should have thought that love of self should be mentioned, or love of tribe or nation.  Not so.  As human beings we love either this world or God, our Father in heaven.

Having made this point, he describes “the world.”  It is being truly self-centered, craving to satisfy our desires, wanting what we see others having, thankful to be alive but having no idea why. That “lust” comes, not from God, but from this world.  I think John is using desire and lust as more or less the same because they both seek to placate the self.  So we are driven by lust.  Then the shock comes, lust burns out, God is forever. 

That being so, whoever does the will of God lives forever.  God is alive forever.  Those who do God’s will live forever.  Can it be simpler than that?  Or as difficult to believe? And even more difficult to live out day by day?  It is the task of the Holy Spirit of God to enable us to love God like that and to turn our backs on the hankering after the baubles of this world.  Let us embrace this new and living way.

Our little ponds are happy when boys hunt and play in the frog-populated waters.

I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.

 I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father.  I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.  I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

I John 2:12 – 14

All who believe find themselves in the company of disciples like they are.  Some have been disciples for many years, some are new believers, some are disciples in the midst of life’s battles, sharing the Gospel with all and eagerly moving into new groups with the Gospel of Peace.

I note that John does not refer to Jews or Gentiles, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, no, not one word about culture or tradition.  He refers to a universal reality – youth, active adults and older people.  Every culture has them! This kind of thinking marks the new family that Jesus Christ makes possible.  We are a new humanity, yet human.

The new believers rejoice in sins forgiven, in knowing that God is their Father.

Active, more mature believers are doing battle against Satan, strengthened by the word of God, Jesus, who lives in them.

Older believers connect with the history of God’s love and see their place in God’s plan, eager to know the end from the beginning.

Each person has a special role to play, a role they fill in the fellowship of the Body of Christ that is made up of all three categories.  As we live together, serve together, worship together, build one another up and encourage one another, so the Gospel spreads to the end of the earth.

Eban Byler is an expert on catching frogs.  The Byler family paid us a visit yesterday – wholly appreciated and enjoyed.  The three sons are amazing, full of zest, inquisitiveness and just plain fun.

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them. 1 John 2:9 – 11

One enemy of light is hatred toward another.  I am not sure the meaning of “hate” here. Could it mean, treating others as though they were of no account?  Like looking down on another to the extent that you are no longer in a learning relationship, but a judging one?

Walking with others who love Jesus and who are disciples is one of the great blessings that we can enjoy.  As I examine my own attitudes I do believe that I learn very little from people who are “below” me in social class, in a race different from my own, less educated, poorer, less powerful, so to speak.  I simply brush them off.  As I think about it, I should be open to be taught by every follower of Jesus Christ, not that I always agree, but that I am open to receive a blessing from all, no matter what their social status.

Some of the most life-changing learnings that I have known were because I was blessed by people who were quite different from me, in almost every way.  We were different yet one because of our love-bond with Jesus.  That relationship to Jesus results in a completely open spirit, ready to learn ever deeper and more consequential thing from others.  To be taught by one’s own culture is not necessarily spiritual experience, just normal cultural learning.  But when we learn no matter the social standing of those who lead us into more faith-centered knowledge of Christ Jesus, that, friend, is a miracle indeed.

I feel humbly blessed by having been thrust into African cultures that were strange to me.  I cannot begin to tell of the impact those believers had on me.  I do not believe I could write these words had it not been for the formational blessings I received from believers who did not share my social class at all.  I thank God often for opening my heart to learn from all sincere believers, living or departed.  All are there to break my pride and tenderize my learning spirit.

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:1, 2

This is foundational, simple truth.  Sin (not defined here) is at the heart of the issue. Peel off all the layers of theology, psychology, sociology, or whatever, slowly and painstakingly.  What do we find as we look at life that way, as God does? At the root of all “ologies” is the glaring fact of sin, that we are sinners by nature and too often by desire.  Sin is turning our backs on God.  So the whole point about the human condition is what to do with sin?

I find it interesting that I hear nothing about sin in the media or not even much among us believers.  I wonder why it has become an unused word. Maybe we hope that if we do not name it, it is not there at all. Yet, the Bible from one end to the other faces the problem of human sinfulness.  The Bible does not just mention sin in passing but poses our sinful nature as the reason for God’s redeeming work in all times.

Today my dear wife asked for forgiveness for what she felt was a sin against me.  Of course I forgave her at once and completely.  When I feel I have sinned against her it is in reality against God and can be forgiven by the miracle-working power of Christ’s atoning blood. My wife, bless her, leaves me in the dust as she deals with the matter.  Bless her, and may I learn from her.

All true followers of the Lamb have this in common – an awareness of our sinfulness and the answer to its cleansing.  This world has no idea at all what we are talking about.  Mmm.

Our text, John’s words of grace, makes us aware of our sinfulness, no matter what the culture or social situation.  The Blood of Jesus atones for sin “in the whole world.”  That includes me, you and sinners whom we never met.  We have fellowship with God and one another because the power of the Blood of Jesus is imprinted on our souls.  A mystery exposed!