READINGS IN JOHN'S FIRST EPISTLE - 1 JOHN 3
READINGS IN JOHN’S FIRST EPISTLE - 1 JOHN 3
“If ye know that he is righteous, know that every one who practises righteousness is begotten of him”, 1 John 2: 29. I suppose the writer had God in his mind, but God as in Christ here in the manifestation of righteousness. The fact that he does not specify by formal designation only emphasises this. We have “the Father”, God, “his Son Jesus Christ” in chapter 3, but the “he” and “him” of 1 John 2:29 refer to God as in Christ manifesting righteousness. Righteousness is to mark those begotten of Him. Christ loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; this marked Him as a Man here, but we have to look at righteousness as from God’s side. We have to take account of God as working out righteousness, so that it is known that every one who practises righteousness is born of Him; without specifying any of the Persons in the Godhead, the apostle presents God as in Christ.
As a consequence a new generation comes into view; those who practise righteousness must be begotten of Him; and then it follows that the Father is pleased to clothe them with the ineffable dignity of acknowledging them as His children: “That we should be called the children of God”. 1 John 3:1. The epistle to the Romans works out that God is righteous. In a way it is an expansion of this verse.
This, of course, includes His work on the cross; the great truth of righteousness is worked out so that God can beget children. The practice of righteousness comes out in them in chapter 3, but that God is righteous must be first manifested, and I think Romans works that out.
“Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets”. Proverbs 5:16. What is characteristic of God becomes characteristic of the children, they bear the character of God in the presence of the world.
[p. 117] The family of God is clear; set up in righteousness it practises righteousness. The children of God have a wonderful place; we are called children of God. God takes care of His children, but the children manifest the moral characteristics of the Father. Of others it is said, “Their spot is not the spot of his children”, Deuteronomy 32:5. We are to be the “children of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world”, Philippians 2:15.
It is remarkable that John hardly ever speaks of sons; with perhaps one exception ( Revelation 21:7), he always speaks of children, but if we are to fill the position of children we must know the relationship of sons. We are children here, as the verse just quoted says, “in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation”. Philippians 2:15. We are sons before God. “Now are we the children of God” 1 John 3:2; as God is righteous, every one who practises righteousness is born of Him. So that when you see one professing to be of His children not practising righteousness, you have adequate grounds for questioning his position; he is not maintaining the character of his Father.
God is manifested as righteous. In Ephesians 3:15 the Father is referred to as naming the families “Of whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named”. Here we get our name, as it were: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God”. 1 John 3:1. It is not our Father, but the Father; other families were also to be named. You will observe it is not children of the Father, but children of God.
God has come out in Christ and attested that He is righteous, so that in begetting children He begets them as already cleared, so to say; there is nothing attached to them, no reproach attached to them. Indeed, every family that the Father names is [p. 118] characterised by righteousness. Peter says that in every nation he that fears God and works righteousness is accepted of Him. Every family that God names is characterised by righteousness, but the higher the revelation the higher the character of the righteousness that each family exhibits.
In taking up Abraham, God accounted him righteous; the family features are developed in the light of that. It is a great thing to see that there is nothing attaching to the family; the working out of righteousness involves that God has disposed of all that. The family is begotten in the light of the manifestation of righteousness; God is righteous, and those begotten of Him practise righteousness. I think Romans is the light in which the principle of righteousness is developed in the family. Of course Colossians and Ephesians contribute. God has put us into a sphere of righteousness dominated by affection as shown in Christ.
In our epistle it is the Father, not our Father; all the families are named of Him. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God”. 1 John 3:1.
The children of God are viewed as apart from sin: “He that is born of God sinneth not”. 1 John 3:9. Naturally we were born in sin and shapen in iniquity, but as born of God we are born in righteousness.
The previous history is not taken account of; it is dealt with from the death of Christ. In a sense, all the attributes of God enter into the birth. John 3 is the beginning of the thing; the emphasis there is on the “again”; the first birth is not counted; but God begets in righteousness and what He is is seen in the children. There was a previous history, but it is settled in righteousness; for thousands of years it had been an open question, but it was settled in the death of Christ. God begets children who are clear of all charge of sin. John 3 is the affirmation that [p. 119] another birth there must be, for the old thing was reprobate, but here what is before its is the moral nature of God seen in His children; so that “he that is born of God sinneth not”. 1 John 3:9. God begets in the light of the death of Christ. In principle God had been operating thus from the outset — “my Father worketh hitherto” John 5:17 — but then the question of righteousness was not settled, it was an open question until the death of Christ; now all is clear The gospel makes that clear, so that God’s begetting is in the light of Romans; not only the nature of God, but His attributes must enter into the begetting.
From His own side God had been working from the outset in view of redemption, but His righteousness was not manifest until Christ died. Now God is known in His nature and attributes and all enters into the paternal thought. All awaited “the period fixed of the Father”. Galatians 4:2. The children were there, but in the position of minors in the house, but “when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son ... that we might receive sonship”. Galatians 4:4. The full position of children as a family, not as minors, was accorded to all those who received Christ, “who have been born, not of blood nor of flesh’s will nor of mans will, but of God”, John 1:13.
“He secureth the needy one on high from affliction, and maketh him families like flocks”. Psalm 107:41. From the very beginning God wrought to gather families for the glory of Christ out of every condition that Satan ever set up; in this very result shall be seen the great triumph of God over the enemy. In the successive eras of evil, God in power and patience brought out families according to the testimonies presented. The family idea is ever in evidence; they may be in different measures of intelligence, but they were there. Each, of course, shall hear some distinctive correspondence to Christ. He died “not for that nation only, but that also he should gather [p. 120] together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad”. John 11:52. There shall be a unified sphere of things even if it be made up of many families, yet they are all bonded through one headship and one parentage.
Those who received Christ were given the right to take the place of children of God, “even to those who believe on his name”, John 1:12. One is prepared to receive all the greatness and glory of Christ as they are unfolded. Those are the ones that are given the right to take the place of children; that is their privilege, they take the place of children but here (1 John 3:1) it is that the Father designates them, “that they should be called the children of God”. He has the right to do so. Then there is that which is common to all the families; while they may differ in their intelligence, yet the root principle is common with them all. Hence in Revelation you have a song raised by the elders and living creatures, but it is that in which every family can join; it celebrates the great common foundation on which they all subsist before God. We shall find that there is that in which we can rejoice with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the rest of them, that there is a common note; while each family will have its distinct note, there is a common note of the whole of the congregated families of God.
The Lord when refuting the Sadducees’ error says, speaking of the resurrection, “they are ... sons of God, being sons of the resurrection”, Luke 20:36. It is that which is common to them all, although there are various stages and degrees in which they enter into it. There can be no rivalry, each family should know its own place, and will rejoice in the higher note that another family will sing; they will rejoice even though they cannot join in it fully. The song in Revelation 14 is sung in heaven in the presence of the elders, but a company on earth are privileged to learn it, and none others can learn it [p. 121] but themselves, so that they have that distinction, but the singers above are evidently of a higher order.
Angels constitute a family. Families are grouped according to the light under which they are brought forth. Those before the flood, for instance, would be grouped by themselves. And Israel would be a distinct group before and after the giving of the law; we have several groups in Revelation, so that the indication is to many families. While we get representative men suggesting a family, like Enoch before the flood and Abraham after, yet we have to remember that the grace of God went outside even all that, witness Melchisedec and Job.
You have indications of different families in Genesis, in Melchisedec, king of righteousness and king of peace. He is only one man mentioned, but he is mentioned as independent of Abraham; he was there before him. Then we have Job, in whose day there were sons of God appearing before God. We assume that these are angels, but as a matter of fact we know very little about it. It is simply an indication that God has treasures in reserve, as the result of His gracious operation, which will amaze us when we see them.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us” 1 John 3:1; it is for us; we have a known designation as in this world. “Therefore the world knoweth us not” 1 John 3:1 is a consequence following upon the rejection of Christ and the place He has put us in. “For this reason the world knows us not, because it knew him not”. 1 John 3:1. Here again it is Christ, but God in Christ, it is what Christ was here. As representing God here, He was in the world and the world knew Him not. The fact of it is that the world is not able to take cognisance of Christ, morally; they could take account of the miracles, but Him they knew not. In measure it ought to be true of us as Christians that what came out in all its fulness in Christ must [p. 122] become characteristic of us, and so the world cannot understand the motives that govern us. The Lord’s brethren — they could not be closer — did not understand Him, they said, “if thou doest these things, show thyself to the world”. John 7:4. It shows the helplessness of the flesh to apprehend what is of God as set forth in Christ.
The Lord has not as yet come out as representative of what we shall be. It says, “When he is manifested” 1 John 3:1; we have to wait for that. The designation “children” refers to us here; I do not think it will continue. It is not what we shall be. The Lord will come out and describe in manifestation what we shall be. Everything morally attributable to the children of God came out in all its fulness in Him here, but it came out in Him parentally. I mean that He was not a child; He was here parentally, so to speak, that is, He represented God in this respect. The character of the children must come from the parent. We are not viewed parentally; He was here as a parent, as the use of the expressions “children”, “daughter”, etc., indicate. He is “The everlasting Father”. Isaiah 9:6. When it comes to what we shall be eternally, He describes it as son. We wait for that; sons is what we shall be. It is what He is Godward that is going to abide. He was a Son here.
“When the Christ is manifested who is our life, then shalt ye also be manifested with him in glory” Colossians 3:4; that is the point, manifestation in glory, so that we shall be like Him and we shall see Him as He is. That is where John and Colossians link.
The children correspond with what God was in Christ here in a parental way, but what we shall be corresponds with what He is now. Paul says that we know Him not after the flesh; we know Him as He is. In bringing many sons to glory, God made the Leader of their salvation perfect through suffering. Sons are led to glory. And yet the way in which He maintained the character of God here in the [p. 123] presence of an opposing world is an example for the children. We learn what is becoming in the children from the parents. I think it is well known in the world that the parents are to describe what the children are, but when you come to what we shall be, we are brethren of Christ, we are sons of God, that is what He is before God as Man.
Here it is not the image, it is the likeness; we shall be like Him. In Romans 8:29 it is image — that we should be “conformed to the image of his Son”. Likeness brings us into accord with Him, as before God: “Like him before thy face”. Image is somewhat stronger; the idea is that we represent Him. He will be the Firstborn among many brethren; every one of the brethren shall represent Christ; they will be dispersed throughout the universe. Adam was set in representation of God; he was made “after our likeness”. Genesis 1:26.
Verse 3 shows the effect of all this on the believer in his walk down here, in a scene of pollution; we purify ourselves as He is pure. The hope is in Christ. John makes much of what you do yourself, you purify yourself. The standard is very high. The hope of being like Christ in that day leads to purification by the believer; purifying oneself involves mortifying the deeds of the body. Every bit of the manifestation which the Spirit makes to me of Christ must result in the setting aside of something that is in me.
It is a question of displacement, but it is also a question of implacement, the implacement of what is pure and after Christ.