1 John 2:1 My darling little children, the reason I write these things to you is so that you will not believe a lie about yourselves! If anyone does believe a distorted image to be their reality, we have Jesus Christ who defines our likeness face to face with the Father! He is our parakletos, the one who endorses our true identity, being both the source and the reflection of the Father’s image in us! (The word often translated, sin, hamartia, from ha, without, and meros, form. Jesus the righteous, iesoun xriston dikaion; the word dikaiosune, righteousness is from the root word dike, two parties finding likeness in each other. The preposition pros suggests a face to face presentation. [See John 1:1] The word parakletos comes from para, a preposition indicating close proximity, a thing proceeding from a sphere of influence, with a suggestion of union of place of residence, to have sprung from its author and giver, originating from, denoting the point from which an action originates, intimate connection; and kaleo, meaning to identify by name, to surname. Jesus introduces the Holy Spirit in the same capacity: parakletos, meaning close companion, kinsman [John 14:16]. Sadly this word has been translated as ‘advocate’ as if Jesus needs to persuade the Father to like us and possibly forgive us!) 2:2 Jesus is our at-one-ment, he has conciliated us to himself and has taken our sins and distortions out of the equation. What he has accomplished is not to be seen as something that belongs to us exclusively; the same at-one-ment includes the entire kosmos! (The word hilasmos, means to conciliate, to bring about atonement, from hileos, gracious, merciful. Also reminds of the word hilaros, cheerful, joyous, hilarious!) 2:3 In this we know that we know him; by treasuring the conclusion of his prophetic purpose. (The word tereo, means to attend to carefully, take care of, to guard, to treasure something with great attention. The word entole; often translated commandment or precept; the two components of this word are en, in and telos, from tello, to set out for a definite point or goal; properly the point aimed at as a limit, that is, by implication, the conclusion of an act or state, the result; the ultimate or prophetic purpose. Strong’s 5056) 2:4 To merely claim that you know him, based on your own academic or even sentimental interpretation of him, and not upon the conclusion of his prophetic purpose unveiled in a heart that treasures his truth, is to continue to live a life of pretense! (As Paul also says in 2 Corinthians 5:16, we once knew Christ from a human point of view but we no longer know him like that! Keep the context of John’s writing in mind, 1 John 1:5-8 My conversation with you flows from the same source which illuminates this fellowship of union with the Father and the Son. This, then, is the essence of the message: God is radiant light and in him there exists not even a trace of obscurity or darkness at all. This is the real deal! To live a life of pretense is a such a waste! The truth has no competition. Truth inspires the poetry of fellowship in total contrast to a fake, performance-based friendship! Light is not threatened by darkness! Why say something with darkness as your reference? We are invited to explore the dimensions of the same light that engulfs God; when we see the light in his light, fellowship ignites! In his light we understand how the blood of Jesus Christ is the removal of every stain of sin! The success of the cross celebrates our redeemed innocence! To claim innocence by our own efforts under the law of personal performance is to deceive ourselves and to deliberately ignore the truth.) 2:5 Whoever treasures 1the logic of God’s authentic thought, has his agape-love fully realized in its most complete context. This is what our association and this union in Christ is all about! (God’s word, or logic, his authentic thought, 1logos; John 1:1. See John 14:20, “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you!” Also 1 John 5:20 “We know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding to know him who is true, and we are in him who is true!”) 2:6 It is in this place of consciously abiding in the awareness of your oneness that your conversation unveils the same fellowship with the Father that Jesus enjoys, and results in a daily walk that mirrors his; one of living your life in the full benefit of it! (The word, meno suggests an uninterrupted abiding, a seamless oneness! The word opheilō, often translated, ought to, is from the root word ophelos, which means to advantage, to profit, to gain, to heap up, to accumulate, to benefit!) 2:7 My beloved family, I know that the words I write to you here may not immediately remind you of Moses; this does not mean that it is a new doctrine, it is the ancient conversation that echoes God’s voice prophetically! It is indeed the very conclusion of the word which you have heard from the beginning! 2:8 And yet it is a glorious new message that I am writing to you! You may ask, “How can that which is old, also be new?” Herein is the secret of its newness: whatever is true of Jesus is equally true of you! The days of the dominance of darkness as a reference to human life, are over! The true light surely shines with bold certainty and illuminates your life, as it is unveiled in Christ. (The word kainos means, fresh, recent, unused, unworn, of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of. The freshness of this encounter is celebrated in a fellowship of exactly the same oneness enjoyed between the Father and the Son! The word parago suggests that darkness no longer has any sway over you. The word ede, even now: - already, by this time; from ē [pronounced ay] an adverb of confirmation; assuredly: - surely; and dē [pronounced day] which is a particle of emphasis or explicitness; now, then, etc.: - also, and, doubtless, now, therefore.) 2:9 To feel justified in your judgment to dislike a fellow human, is to continue in darkness, even if you might claim to be in the light! This place of illumination is not cheap talk! It immediately translates into seeing your brother differently! (See 1 John 1:6, also 2 Corinthians 5:16. It was common among the Hebrews to use the terms “love” and “hatred” in this comparative sense, where the former implied strong positive attachment, and the latter, not positive hatred, but merely a less love, or the withholding of the expressions of affection [compare Genesis 29:30-31; Luke 14:26].) 2:10 From this conscious union with that which light reveals, there follows a deep love for the very brother who might previously have irritated you! 2:11 If anyone thinks less of his brother than what love reveals, it is proof of a blindfold mode, where reference is blurred by a mind trapped in a maze of dark thoughts, which leads nowhere. Mirror Bible
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 21:23:18 +0000
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