2. The maturity that results from living in the light! John 2:12-17
2:14 I write to you, fathers, because you have known 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 John 2:14 (NIV84) 2

3. It’s always good to identify and then express thanks to God for His work in our lives. .

4. Invite the Holy Spirit to identify one thing that God wants you to do this coming year.

5. Deuteronomy 6
I will Receive the Law Personally; Place a greater emphasis on obeying God’s word. 5

6. Deuteronomy 6
I will Receive the Law Personally; Place a greater emphasis on obeying God’s word. I will Teach the Law Continually, Live in greater integrity. 6

7. Deuteronomy 6
I will Receive the Law Personally; Place a greater emphasis on obeying God’s word. I will Teach the Law Continually, Live in greater integrity. I will Live the Law Completely; Reignite our passion to serve the Lord. 7

8. Deuteronomy 6
I will Receive the Law Personally; Place a greater emphasis on obeying God’s word. I will Teach the Law Continually, Live in greater integrity. I will Live the Law Completely; Reignite our passion to serve the Lord. I will Explain the Law Historically. More effectively communicate the hope we have in Christ. 8

9. Why did John write 1 John?
John is telling us over and over again in his letter how we can have joyful fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.

10. (#1) To join him in this ongoing and joyful fellowship.
Why did John write 1 John?
1 John 1:1-4 (NIV84) 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 1:2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 1:3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. 1:4 We write this to make our joy complete.
(#1) To join him in this ongoing and joyful fellowship.

11. Why did John write 1 John?
1 John 2:1-2 (NIV84) 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have One who speaks to the Father in our defense —Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2:2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
(#2) The best route to not sinning is to come into partnership with the sinner’s Advocate, Jesus Christ.

12. Why did John write 1 John?
1 John 2:7-8 (NIV84) 2:7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 2:8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in Him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
(#3 & #4) God’s commandment to love one another is rooted in the Old Covenant and renewed by Jesus in the New Covenant.

13. Here’s what our partnership with our Advocate looks like and what it will achieve.
1 John 2:12-14 (NIV84) 2:12 I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name. 2:13 I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father. 2:14 I write to you, fathers, because you have known 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.

14. Why did John write 1 John?
(#5 & #6) John wants us to know intimately and experientially partnership with both the Father and His Son (#7) by first having our sins forgiven on account of Christ’s name, (#8) then by learning to be strengthened (#9) by the word of God living within us (#10) so that we overcome the evil one.

15. (#11) John writes this letter because we know the truth.
Why did John write 1 John?
1 John 2:21 (NIV84) 2:21 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.
(#11) John writes this letter because we know the truth.

16. Why did John write 1 John?
1 John 5:12-13 (NIV84) 5:12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
(#12) John writes 1 John so that we may know that we have eternal life.

17. #1. How does living in the light, move us upward toward Christian maturity?

18. #2. How does our obedience to and love for the Father and His Son impact our walk in the world?18

19. #1. How does living in the light, move us upward toward Christian maturity?

20. 1. How does living in the light move us toward Christian maturity?
1 John 2:12-14 (NIV84) 2:12 I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name. 2:13 I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father. 2:14 I write to you, fathers, because you have known 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.

21. Prose writing or speaking straightforwardly in paragraphs without regard for rhyme or rhythm.

22. Poetry uses rhyme and rhythm as an integral part of its form to clothe its words with emotion and excite the reader’s imagination

23. What does John really want to communicate to his readers?
1. John is affirming the believers that at whatever stage of maturity they are, they are continuing to grow in their relationship with the Father and with His Son.

24. What does John really want to communicate to his readers?
2. they have been forgiven and they have come to know the Father.

25. What does John really want to communicate to his readers?
3. the word of God is living in them to make them strong to overcome the evil one.

26. Isaiah 40:29–31 (NIV84) 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

27. What does John really want to communicate to his readers?
4. growth comes from our personal, intimate relationship with God’s Son, Jesus, who is from the beginning.

28. Being in a healthy relationship with Jesus Christ and His Father, by gaining strength from God’s word and by that same word defeating the devil, then, and only then are we equipped and prepared to live in the world.

29. #2. How does our obedience to and love for the Father and His Son impact our walk in the world?29

30. 1 John 2:15-17 (NIV84) 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 2:16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 2:17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

31. 1 John 2:15-17 (NASB95) 2:15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 2:17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

32. Both of the loves he speaks of are exclusive.
Love of the world
Love of the Father

33. Three categories of pitfalls that are rooted in the world. 1
Three categories of pitfalls that are rooted in the world The lust of the eyes The lust of the flesh The boastful pride of life.

34. There is no terminus to eternal life!
The love of the world is terminal.

35. 1 John 4:4-5 (NIV84) 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 4:5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.

36. The evil one is at war with God.
1 John 5:19 (NIV84) 5:19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
The evil one is at war with God.

37. John 17:14-19 (NIV84) 14 I have given them Your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify Myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

38. Because we are being equipped by God’s word and His Holy Spirit, we live in this world as a community fully enjoying fellowship with the Father and His Son.