Exactly what happened during those final days of our Lord? We may already be familiar. Many of us have grown up reading the accounts and even watching depictions on film. In this series, we won’t be discovering any new information, but we do want the information to become new in our hearts and minds.
Though most everyone has a birth certificate that gives proof that they belong to their family, few of us frame and hang that document. What we hang are pictures. Those pictures remind us of the traits and personalities that reflect our parents. This is equally true in the spiritual sense. The apostle John will remind us that we are “children of God” and our relationship with our heavenly Father will be reflected in our earthly behavior.
John warns the Christians about the antichrist. “He” is a spirit of deception, as well as the embodiment of lies in the Gnostics. The emphasis of this lesson is truth, the apostolic teachings. We must hold on to their teachings and not be led astray by the false teachings about our Lord Jesus. We must also teach our children well, lest they be led astray by the super-knowledge people today who deny the veracity of the Word and the true nature of the Christ.
Our love is a very important thing. When we decide to give our hearts away, we want to give them to those things or people that will provide us with the greatest blessings of life. John, in 1Jn.2:15-17, is very pointed about where our affections should lie and the value of things to which we give our love. As we give our love to the right things in life, we can know that we are living the Good Life.
The world is looking for the “Good Life”. Some would say it revolves around where you live; others believe it revolves around what one has, while others think in terms of fame and prestige.
This is the first lesson in a series entitled “The Good Life” from the epistle of First John. In this lesson, the inspired writer will reveal the true foundation for the good life; a life that the world can never provide. Throughout the series, John will reveal all the blessed attributes of the good life that are made possible because of this one true and sure foundation.
