1 John 2:1-6, Let's Spend the Year with Knowledge and Obedience!

1 John 2:1-6, Let's Spend the Year with Knowledge and Obedience!

Introduction/We often say, "I believe in God," "I know God."
But the Bible asks a deeper question: "If you truly know God, how is that knowledge manifested in your life?" In 1 John2:1-6, the Apostle John says that faith is not simply a matter of the head or knowledge, but a matter of life. He leads us to understand that it's not a matter of confession with our lips, but a matter of obedience with our lives.

1. Our Advocate and Atoning Sacrifice, Jesus Christ (1-2)
John begins with a very realistic statement: "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One." John does not deny that believers are weak and capable of sinning. Having faith doesn't mean we won't make mistakes, and pursuing holiness doesn't mean we won't stumble. However, John clearly states at the same time, "Do not despair." Because we have an advocate, a lawyer, who is on our side. He is Jesus Christ. He is not someone who excuses our sins, but someone who paid the price for our sins with His own body. Verse 2 says, "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins..." Jesus Himself became the atoning sacrifice, tearing down the wall that separated the holy God from us sinners. This grace should be the motivation for our obedience to God. The reason we should obey is not to gain God's approval, but because we have already been accepted in Christ. The grace of Christ, who offered His body as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, comes first, and our obedience is a response to that grace. *Question: When you sin, do you fall into self-reproach and distance yourself from God? Answer: Verse 1 reminds us that we have an "advocate(defender) Jesus Christ." We should hate sin, but we need the courage to trust in the Lord's love who defends us, repent immediately, and return to a place of obedience.

2. The evidence of knowing is obedience (3-4)
Now John presents a very clear criterion: “If we keep his commandments, we know that we know him.” The concept of “knowing” in the Bible(Hebrew- yada, Greek -ginosko) is not simply acquiring information. It doesn't refer to intellectual knowledge or rational knowledge. In biblical thought, in the Bible, "knowing" is ???? relational and experiential knowledge. It is knowing God through a personal relationship and experience, and knowing Jesus through a personal relationship and experience.

For example, "knowing" fire is not memorizing the meaning of "fire," but actually experiencing its heat. Helen Keller, who lived with the triple affliction(unable to see, hear, or speak), learned language with the help of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, and grew up to become a writer, educator, and social activist. There is a famous anecdote about when she learned the word "water." Young Helen could not see or hear, so she did not understand the relationship between objects and words at all. She acted according to her emotions, which caused a lot of difficulty for those around her. Then one day, Anne Sullivan took Helen to a well. Holding Helen's hand in one hand and letting cold water flow over her other hand, she repeatedly spelled out the word on Helen's palm: W-A-T-E-R. At first, Helen didn't understand what it meant, but the moment the feeling of the water and the letters being written on her palm connected, Helen's expression completely changed. At that moment, Helen realized, "Ah, this feeling is called 'water'!" and for the first time, she understood that things in the world have names. From that day on, Helen excitedly asked for the names of everything she touched—the ground, trees, cups, etc.—and learned dozens of words in just one day. She learned language through her own experience.

John says, "Whoever claims to know Him but does not keep His commandments is a liar..."
This statement is very sharp. It means that a confession of faith and the direction of one's life cannot be completely separated. If you truly love and know God, you cannot help but respond to His word. If you claim to know God with your lips but in your life God's word is not the standard and you ignore His commandments, John says that you are deceiving yourself. If your own desires take precedence over God's will, it's not that you don't know God, but rather that you are deceiving God.

 There is a famous anecdote about the world-renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini. One day, a young pianist finished playing in front of Toscanini and arrogantly asked, "Maestro, how well do you think I know this piece?" Toscanini coldly replied... "You may have memorized all the 'notes' written on the sheet music, but you haven't played the 'composer's heart' at all. If you truly understood the piece, you wouldn't play it so arbitrarily."
Our faith life is similar. We may memorize Bible verses and study doctrines, knowing the "notes" well. However, if we fail to play out God's heart (His commandments) in our lives, we don't truly know God yet. True knowledge begins with "obedience," playing out our lives according to the intentions of God, the composer.

3. A Life of Acting Like the Lord (5–6)
 John finally shows us the purpose of obedience: "Whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected..." Keeping His word, obedience, is not an act to earn points with God, but a process of God's love being perfected within us.
And John concludes: "Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked." The confession of "abiding in Him" ​​is a very spiritual expression. However, John connects it to a very concrete direction in life. ????Those who confess to "abiding in Him" ​​must follow the footsteps that Jesus showed on this earth. A life walking like Jesus, ????Jesus' attitude, choices, and way of loving. We cannot be perfectly like Jesus, but the direction must be the same. It is a life of loving what Jesus loved, staying away from what Jesus hated, and seeking the Father's will as Jesus obeyed. Obedience is the clearest evidence that we are abiding in the Lord.

Conclusion/Dear brothers and sisters, 1 John 2:1-6 asks us this question:
Am I standing on the grace of Jesus? Does my confession of "knowing God" translate into my life? Do my choices and attitudes today follow in the footsteps of Jesus?
Obedience is not a condition of faith, but rather the fruit of faith.
And that fruit begins with grace, grows with love, and is proven through life.
This new year, I pray that our confession of knowledge will lead to obedience in our lives. I bless you with a blessed new year of true knowledge and a life of obedience.

[United Prayer Points]
1) "Grant us a faith that connects from the head to the heart, and from the heart to our hands and feet."/ God, please forgive the hypocrisy of claiming to "know" You while living according to my own stubborn will. May my faith not be merely an "intellectual faith" where biblical knowledge remains only in my head, but rather a "living obedience" where I receive Your word with reverence and put it into practice in my daily life.
2) "Help us to rise again, relying on Jesus, our advocate."/When we are weak and fall into sin, may we not hide from God due to the condemnation of Satan. Help us to look to Jesus Christ, our atoning sacrifice and perfect advocate, and grant us the courage to rise again towards a holy life, empowered by the grace of His cross.
3) "May God's love be perfected through the melody of my life."/This new year, I desire to act "as Jesus acted" in my home and workplace. In moments when I want to criticize, may I play the note of forgiveness; in moments when I want to be proud, may I play the melody of humility. Through my small acts of obedience, may God's love be beautifully demonstrated in this world.

[Prayer of Resolution]
"Relying on the grace of the Lord, my advocate, I pray that I may now abandon my stubbornness and live a life of obedience, bearing fruit in my daily life as You have shown me, proving that I am one who experiences God. Amen!"