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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday July 7, 2019
A
NEW COMMANDMENT
1
John 2:7-29
The world of ancient Rome
was represented by an olio of religious voices, and it is likely that the
readers of this first letter of the apostle John were bombarded daily by a
variety of religious ideas and doctrine. And even though they may have done so
in different ways, they were all guilty of “heresy” in John’s mind, by way of
their common denial of the person of CHRIST JESUS.
In this intensely
practical letter, addressed to a group of Christians, John gives a stern
warning against the dangers of false teaching and encourages these believers to
remain faithful to GOD, and to continue in their love for each other, by living
in the light. In the Greek, the word John uses for “new” in chapter 2, verses 7
and 8 is “kainos” (kahee-nos), and it is “newness in respect to freshness of
age”, and is not necessarily “new in existence to the world”. For example, we
can buy a new pair of shoes, but shoes are not new to the world. They have been
around for ages, yet we create new shoes every day.
The idea for us to “love
one another” was not new to the followers of GOD. They had been hearing it
since the Old Testament times, as it is evidenced in Leviticus 19:18. They were
also taught this concept at the time of their conversion to Christianity only a
few years earlier. When JESUS came, bringing healing to men’s bodies and
Salvation to men’s soul, HE also brought with HIM, a new freshness to the
phrase “Love one another”. HE expanded it to include, “love your enemy also”,
and this is especially true, if the person you consider to be your enemy also
happens to be a professed Christian.
JESUS sought to show us,
throughout HIS three-year earthly mission, that, no one was outside of HIS
love, and that, no one was outside of the purpose of GOD. Both HE and the
FATHER wish all mankind to be saved. HE wanted to show HIS followers, then and
now, that in HIS new Christian Order, there would be no such thing as an enemy,
except satan, in all the world. If a professed Christian says he is living in
the light of CHRIST, and hates any one of his fellowmen, regardless of race,
creed, color, sex, or national origin, he is mistaken, and is still living in
the darkness from which he thought he had escaped.
Up until this point,
John’s letter may tend to lead his readers to think that he is dissatisfied
with their spiritual growth and conditioning. However in verses 12-14 the tone
seems to shift a bit, to a feeling of assurance, that their spiritual assets
had indeed not gone unnoticed. Here John reminds them of how their sins have
been forgiven, by way of JESUS’ vicarious sacrifice on the cross at Skull Hill
(v.12). He then speaks of their maturity in their knowledge of who CHRIST is,
and how, because of it, they’ve quite literally, won their battle with satan
(V.13).
In the biblical Greek, one
of the words most often used for “world” is “kosmos”, and it is from that word
that we derive our English word “cosmos”. In the spiritual sense, it is “that
complex intertwining of sinful desires that shape our world of lost humanity”.
Before we come to CHRIST, we have already, long ago, adopted man’s
perspectives, values, and attitudes toward life. And now we are faced with the
radical change that comes with getting to know GOD, and adopting HIS
perspective, values, and attitude. By choosing the Christian walk we
automatically become strangers to worldly behavior, as we are no longer permanent
residents of this earth, but rather, we suddenly become citizens of Heaven,
where therefore, the Laws of GOD must become paramount to us.
It is not until a person
falls in love with goodness, that wrong things no longer fascinate and have
power over them. Our relationship with GOD becomes our greatest asset. We
realize then that the person who loses his, or her heart to the things of this
world, is the person most vulnerable to satan. This world really is fading
away, along with everything in it, and everything it craves. But if we continue
to do the will of GOD, by obeying the counsel of the HOLY SPIRIT, we are
promised, by CHRIST JESUS, that we will live forever.
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website
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