God gave His Son because God loves the world! And the world is everybody. To redefine world to mean only those who would believe in Jesus requires contorting John 3:16 beyond recognition. As if to remove all doubt, John reminds us in 1 John 2:2 that “Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
What’s at stake here is not only our view of God but also how we might communicate God’s good news to the world. If God’s love and His offer of eternal life through Christ’s death are only for those who will one day believe it, then we’ve got a problem. We cannot extend to everyone a legitimate offer of eternal life through Christ’s death if Christ did not die for all. To present the gospel offer to those who have no chance of believing it is both disingenuous and cruel. That would be like urging a drowning man, who has no arms, to reach out and grab the rope.
Today we get the news of the world constantly. Extending far beyond network television, news hounds us through Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, phone notifications, and friends who feel it’s their duty to inform us of every insult the Democrats and Republicans are hurling at each other. This news of the world comes at us literally 24/7. Even as we sleep, our phones are storing up trends and tragedies for our inspection the next morning.
The 1890s gave rise to the journalistic trope, if it bleeds, it leads. And news has never been the same since. The violent, the tragic, the horrific—that which bleeds—becomes the cover story. Turns out, human attention is held captive by negative news. And we seem to prefer it that way.
Seems like there’s plenty to be upset about these days. You could choose from combative politics, overfishing the oceans, government waste, or the rise of radical Islam. The list of things we might consider offensive is a long one. Moreover, we’re also likely to be distressed when our personal world gets rocked by friction with those closest to us. Those offensive interchanges are especially painful and often confusing. And beyond that, it’s possible to be on the receiving end of disparaging remarks from a broader circle of people, some of whom we don’t even know. Put succinctly, it’s not that uncommon to be offended. Opportunities abound!
Recently, a friend of GraceWorks International sent in a question wanting to know some details about the first chapter of 1 John. Eager to dive into these kinds of discussions, Joe responded in a way that addresses the specifics of the question by giving his interpretation of the passage while leaving room for other ways of understanding the text.
Question: I’ve been thinking about 1 John, and I'm puzzled by a phrase in 1 John 1:7. I have gone back and forth on the meaning of "...fellowship with one another..." Does this mean our fellowship with God or our fellowship with each other?
Joe Duke: Your question is insightful, and I love this discussion!
As you may know, most people interpret the “one another” in 1 John 1:7 as referring to fellow believers. Of course, most of the “one another” passages in the New Testament refer to the relationship believers share with each other. So, this view is not without support. But few people have considered that “one another” in 1 John 1:7 could be referring to the believer and God.
It's easy to get lulled into complacency about the spiritual dimension of the unseen world. Maybe our western mindset is so thoroughly conditioned by the Enlightenment that this world of angels seems at worst a fantasy and at best impractical. But angels exist. They’re real.
I don’t know how many times I’ve encountered an angel. I suppose many times. Maybe when I’m finally in God’s presence, He’ll roll the video footage of all the angelic encounters in my life. I think I’ll be stunned, and I’ll certainly be grateful. Even though I can’t recall page after page of my angel sightings through the years, I do have a vivid memory of one especially powerful experience with an angel.
God is perfectly loving, perfectly kind, perfectly just, perfectly powerful, perfectly holy, perfectly wise, perfectly present. His character is flawless. His purposes are unstoppable. On the other hand, you are I are none of that. We fall short in every way. We’re all sinful.
Hundreds of years before God-in-the-flesh arrived on earth, Isaiah painted a picture of hope when he said, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Isa. 9:2a). The prophet predicted the arrival of Jesus the Messiah centuries before His birth. Jesus is a great light. Have you seen that great light? Have you embraced His forgiveness. Are you experiencing a brand-new life? Is Jesus personal and real to you or along with Santa Claus is He just the figurine of a cultural holiday?