“I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13 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.” 1 John 2.14
We pick up on our discussion from the day before’s examination of v.12-13 which are a part of this exhortation from John to the new believing church. Verses 12-14 could possibly be a song, a hymn of praise or a poem. It’s set a part in the english Bible, yet we know the original Greek had no punctuation, paragraph breaks or word spacing. This appears to be one of the literary types mentioned above. I’ve listed 12-14 because they are a part of this sequence but our main emphasis is upon v.14.
The commonalities between the two sections (or verses as in a song if you will) are similar. Each addresses dear children, fathers and then young men in succession. The encouragement to dear children changes to “because you know the Father” from “because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.”
The instruction to fathers remains the same which in itself is significant and insightful as it reemphasis the depth from which the “fathers” (human males, or spiritual leaders in the church) have a knowledge of God. And the admonishment to young men expands from “you have overcome the evil one” to “because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you.”
Whether this is a song, a poem, a hymn or simply words of encouragement to the early church I do not know. What I do know is that the encouragement is repeated, almost twice for every affirmation, and certainly lifted the spirits of those reading. If it was a song, it must have been sung and repeated often. It is a letter to one specific body of early believers but transcends to us today as God’s body in modern times.
I pray you read these words of John and then read them again. Apply them to youself even if you are not a “child” in the physical or a spiritual maturity sense. We are all “fathers” and mothers to someone and let’s expand “young men” to include young women as well — all people of faith who are pressing on to take hold of prize of knowing Christ Jesus in full.
“O Lord Jesus, you are good. Your word remains alive and active. Your hand affirms your people through the power of your Spirit and your written Word. Help us be the people you have called us to be. Enable us to walk in the light, to run from sin, and to be your church in all aspects of life. For you are good and your love endures forever.” Amen