What they knew #4: God’s family is our family
19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
“…and we are in him who is true…” (Jump to full passage above)
When the offer of salvation comes to someone and they accept it they are transferred from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of Light1. We move spiritually from the world which lies in the power of the evil one to God’s family. We become his children 2. The Holy Scriptures are filled with this type of analogy. It even encompasses Jesus Christ who is called the firstborn from the dead3 and repeatedly Jesus is called the Son of God.
Remember those invisible fences that keep you in? The yard we run around in is God’s yard. We have made it there by God’s good call and his good effort. There are pieces of a family that you may like and parts you may not. No matter. It is still the framework of living. Inside that framework is hope. The final shape of this family will be marked by perfection.
Just like above John is not fashioning doctrine. He is not teaching as much as reminding. They get this concept, but they need to exercise it.
Just for us:
While the New Heavens and the New Earth can as of yet only be dimly imagined do so. Trust that God made it good, we broke it, he rescued us and he is busy, busy, busy in the restoration of it. He who made the cells of a guinea pig work perfectly will make the people of eternity do the same.
Disclaimer:
Right now the sibling rivalries, in the family of God, can be intense. A good parent works to balance and redirect such squabbles, and it may take a while till they settle. Still, there is an effort at it and a framework in which it happens.
What they knew #5: Satan masters the world
“…and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” (Jump to full passage above)
The world as we see it is filled with people clamoring for different things. Among them, there is surely the sense of independence and self-determination. Awareness of Satan’s role is dimmer than our imaginations of the New Heavens and the New Earth. God directs the world according to his intentions. God’s direction always leaves room for personal choice. Satan exercises dominion over the world giving but a deceitful sense of what personal choices result in.
“Do things your way, and you will be happy.” That is the mantra of Satan. He knows the outcome of that. It is almost too easy for him. We will run aground by ourselves. He just helps a bit. One of the principles of martial arts is to use your opponents thrusts against them. If they throw themselves at you try to use their own momentum for their own destruction. Can you see the easy parallel with Satan’s approach?
When false teachers bustle around with all of their seemingly self-originating ideas they are deceived. They are busy with things that will never result in the long-term good. Their words and actions may seem to ring true, but they are ringing the announcements of Satan. “You know this,” John says, “so do not torment yourself over the ways of these people.”
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