Why The Church Needs Jesus
1 John 2:1-2
January 9, 2022
We certainly agree with the statement of Jesus, when He said:
Matthew 4:4 “But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’”
We do in fact love “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”
We agree with Paul when he said:
2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”
We do believe that “all scripture is profitable”
So there is certainly no portion of Scripture that we would wish to neglect
Or to put on the back burner as irrelevant or unimportant.
And yet, at the same time, there are some passages
That give such clarity and truth that they become even more loved.
The first two verses of 1 John 2 reveal such a passage.
The clarity of truth found here is second to none.
As you noticed from the title, here in just two verses John reminds us: WHY THE CHURCH NEEDS JESUS.
Maybe you are well aware of such a fact,
Maybe that is a reality you have not thought a great deal about.
CERTAINLY we look around at a world that is running as fast as it can into depravity and we understand why A LOST WORLD needs Jesus.
Titus 3:3-5 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit”
Such passages remind us why a lost world needs Jesus.
• We see their disobedience, deceit and enslavement to various lusts and pleasures.
• We see their malice and envy and hatred.
The world lives like that because they are lost.
THEY NEED JESUS.
• They need to be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus.
• They need to be set free from their sin through the resurrection of Jesus.
• They need to be filled with God’s Holy Spirit.
• They need to be washed and cleansed.
• They need to be saved.
It is rather easy for us to see why the world needs Jesus.
And John certainly wouldn’t disagree with that.
BUT in the first 2 verses of 1 John 2,
John reminds us WHY THE CHURCH NEEDS JESUS.
And I am confident that by the time we finish studying these 2 verses
You will again be so thankful that you have Him!
Well I remind you that the issue of 1 John has been an issue of fellowship.
Certainly we enjoy fellowship with one another,
But the greater desire of John is that we enjoy fellowship with God.
1 John 1:3 “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
And John has made this issue of fellowship with God very clear to us.
He has reminded us that
• God is Holy and He has no fellowship with the darkness.
• Jesus saves and cleanses us from sin so that we can fellowship with God.
• We must confess our sins to gain the forgiveness and cleansing that is
necessary.
That, we have said, is Christianity 101.
We have also then listened as John EXPOSED those
Who do not actually have fellowship with God.
We learned about THE FRAUD
• Who says he has fellowship with God but is lying because he lives in sin.
We learned about THE DELUSIONAL
• Who says he isn’t sinful and so he doesn’t need to be cleansed by Jesus.
We learned about THE BLASPHEMER
• Who refuses to acknowledge his sin, even when God is the One who shows it.
The ONE THING all of those people have IN COMMON is
They remain in their sin and therefore
Cannot have fellowship with God.
SIN THEN IS THE ISSUE
Sin is that great inhibitor that destroys man’s fellowship with God.
• It was sin that caused Adam to hide from God.
• It was sin that caused God to retreat behind the veil.
• It is persistent sin even today that can cause a person to be put out of the church and excluded from the fellowship of saints.
SIN IS THE ISSUE.
Paul laid it out about as clearly as one can in his second letter to the Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.”
That passage is often applied strictly to marriage,
But that is a faulty application.
• For one, marriage is never mentioned there.
• For another, Paul is clear in 1 Corinthians that even if a believer is married to an unbeliever and the unbeliever consents to stay with them, they should not divorce them.
That passage is better applied to the church.
• The church is to be a fellowship of light.
• The church is to be a place of holiness.
• If the church desires to enjoy fellowship with God, sin must be dealt with.
We are those who desire fellowship with God
So it only stands to reason that we do everything we can
To be a people with whom He can fellowship.
SIN IS THE ISSUE.
And understanding that will help you understand John’s first point this morning.
#1 THE POINT
1 John 2:1a
Do you want to sum up everything John has just said?
Do you want him to get to the point?
Well here it is:
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.”
It is comforting to hear how John refers to us as “My little children”
• There is no malice here.
• There is no frustration here.
It is just a loving apostle who cares for his flock
And wants them to enjoy fellowship with God.
And the simple point of John is this.
DO NOT SIN
And at this point in the letter
WE KNOW WHY John would make such a statement.
It is because “God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all.”
SIN IS A FELLOWSHIP WRECKER.
So don’t sin.
WE KNOW SIN OFFENDS GOD
• Why else did God kick Adam and Eve out of the garden?
• Why else did God curse this world?
• Why else was Adam consigned to labor, Eve consigned to pain, the serpent consigned to enmity, and the whole world consigned to death?
• Why else did God flood the world?
• Why else did He rain fire on Sodom?
The word here for “sin” is the most common one used.
It is HARMATANO
It means “to miss the mark”
You have a holy God who has revealed His Law and His righteous expectation and told man to live up to it.
Sin is when man misses that mark.
IT OFFENDS GOD.
John will say later in this epistle:
1 John 3:4 “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.”
When you sin you offend the God
Who gave His Law for the world to follow.
IT IS HARD TO FELLOWSHIP WHEN ONE IS OFFENDED.
WE KNOW SIN BRINGS DEATH
• We saw it as part of God’s curse on Adam.
• We saw it in Genesis 5 on Adam’s descendants.
• We see it daily in our world.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death…”
WE KNOW THAT SIN ENSLAVES
Jesus said:
John 8:34 “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”
Paul said:
Romans 6:16 “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?”
Sin entraps men and ensnares them.
WE KNOW THAT SIN INSULTS THE WORK OF CHRIST.
Paul told us:
Titus 2:14 “[Christ Jesus] gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
But when we sin we totally disregard
The very purpose for which Christ died.
WE KNOW THAT SIN GLORIFIES SATAN, MAKING HIM OUR EXAMPLE
John will say it repeatedly in his epistle.
1 John 3:8-9 “the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”
When we sin we in effect send a message to the world
That our father and our example is Satan.
Those who claim God as their Father should imitate their Father.
WE KNOW THAT SIN EFFECTS FUTURE GENERATIONS.
Paul was angry at the Corinthians for tolerating sin because it put future generations at risk of thinking such sin was ok.
1 Corinthians 5:6 “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?”
The command to not sin
Is an obvious one in Scripture for a number of reasons.
But perhaps more than any other thing
John has in mind that sin ruins fellowship.
We have images in our mind of THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL
Being delivered from Egypt, only to build a golden calf and worship it.
The consequence was that God moved outside of the camp.
It was a great shame and sadness for the Israelites that they had hindered their fellowship with God.
We have images in our mind of WHAT EZEKIEL DESCRIBED
When God was so offended by the idolatry of Judah
That His presence left the mercy seat and went and stood at the threshold of the temple, then moved to the gate of the city
And then finally moved to a mountain overlooking the city.
THE GLORY OF GOD DEPARTED.
Sin destroyed the fellowship.
AND IT STILL DOES.
• Sin kills intimacy with God.
• Sin kills fellowship with God.
• Sin kills fellowship among the saints.
And so the command of John is obvious.
“I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.”
I REALIZE THAT THAT THE APOSTATE CHURCH OF THE 21ST CENTURY
Has adopted a nonchalant view of sin as though it is no big deal,
But I can assure that is not a Biblical view.
There is no more destructive force in our world than that of sin,
And the point of John is that you and I should not do it.
Now on a THEOLOGICAL LEVEL we can all give a heart “Amen!”
The problem is when we bring it to a personal level.
IF THAT IS THE CRITERIA
• One has to wonder if anyone will ever be able to actually enjoy fellowship with God.
• One has to wonder why any congregation remains.
Could there actually be two people in this world who can live so far above sin that their fellowship with God and one another is not threatened?
I think it’s safe to say that if there was such a congregation
You or I would most likely not be welcome.
And that leads us to the second point John makes and the realization as to why the church needs Jesus.
#2 THE PROVISION
1 John 2:1b-2
“And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
As I told you at the beginning.
We love all of the Bible.
But it is hard to imagine there being a richer
Or more glorious statement ever uttered than this one.
Do you want to have a great week?
• Spend this next week working on these two verses.
• Meditate here a while.
• I assure you there is a depth that will blow your mind.
It starts with a statement of tremendous reassurance.
“And if anyone sins…”
We say, “Oh thank goodness!”
If John had closed his epistle halfway through verse 1
We might have been terribly depressed.
It’s NOT that we desire sin.
It’s NOT that we think sin is ok.
We are in firm agreement with Paul.
Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”
We most definitively do not condone or tolerate sin.
• We see that it is evil.
• We see that it is wrong.
• We see that it kills fellowship.
• WE WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.
AND YET, despite our desire we all admit that we still sin.
We even learned that back in chapter 1.
• We know we are sinful.
• We know we still sin.
• We don’t love our sin
• We don’t hide our sin
• We don’t deny our sin
• We confess it
But, the fact remains that we still do it.
And IF John is going to say that
The only way to maintain fellowship with God
Is if we are able to maintain a life without sin then we are all ruined.
THANKFULLY THERE IS A PROVISION.
And I remind you that the audience John addresses is the church.
• This is a provision for the church.
• This is a provision for Christians.
• This is a provision for Sunday school teachers.
• This is a provision for long time believers and church members.
• This is a provision for deacons.
• This is a provision for pastors.
This is for when the church sins.
“we have an Advocate with the Father”
Now let’s stop there.
John has entered a sort of judicial scene.
And “Advocate” is “one who comes beside you to help.”
In fact the word for “Advocate” is PARAKLETOS
Jesus used it several times in the Upper Room.
John 14:16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;”
• There it is translated “Helper” and Jesus is referring to the Holy Spirit.
Well John is also talking about a Helper.
It is a Helper, “an Advocate with the Father”
We are in a courtroom and we are on trial.
• Behind the bench sits the righteous Judge – “the Father”
• On the other side of the courtroom sits the accuser – “Satan”
• And sitting beside us, our helper, our “Advocate” is “Jesus Christ the righteous”
He is our defense attorney even now.
And NO ONE ELSE could stand in this place as well as Him.
We desperately need someone that the righteous Judge will listen to.
We need someone that the righteous Jesus respects.
This is what makes Jesus such an effective “Advocate with the Father”
It is because He also is “the righteous”
Perhaps you remember when the writer of Hebrews spoke about the general criteria of a good High Priest.
Hebrews 5:1-4 “For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.”
The writer reminded us that the High Priest has one job.
• He works “on behalf of men in things pertaining to God”
• He is there to “offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins”
• His job is to go before God on behalf of his client and negotiate a settlement.
• His job is to take the payment and satisfy the requirement of the Judge.
And we see some things about him like:
A good priest can identify with those he represents.
• If he isn’t compassionate to your plight he is likely not to work that hard.
But you also notice another VERY IMPORTANT POINT.
• “no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by
God”
In other words, if you want a good priest or a good Advocate
Then you had better have someone that God will accept.
If the Judge won’t listen to him he’s not going to do you much good.
So here we are; sinners who have offended the righteous Judge.
Our fellowship is at risk, and we deserve judgment.
But “we have an Advocate with the Father”
And it is none other than “Jesus Christ the righteous”
That “righteous” part is HUGE
Because it reminds us that Jesus is an acceptable Advocate before God.
We have in Jesus a merciful and righteous Advocate.
Hebrews 4:14-15 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
So certainly it is our goal not to sin,
But when we do, we have an Advocate.
We have a Helper who comes beside us.
He is there to negotiate the terms
To allow us to remain in fellowship with God.
THIS IS HUGE.
And then we get to verse 2.
(2) “and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins;”
This is a massive statement.
This theological gold!
LET’S DISCUSS IT a little because “propitiation”
Is not a word that we throw around in our every day discussions.
I actually want to give you 3 words here that you may have heard but may not be really familiar with.
• EXPIATION
• PROPITIATION
• PLACATION
It will help you to write those down,
And we’re going to define them this morning.
EXPIATION – to remove something or take something away
From a Biblical standpoint it would have to do with “removing our guilt.”
This is what we want our Advocate to do before the righteous Judge.
We want our guilt removed.
It was pictured in the Old Testament at “The Day of Atonement”
• When Aaron would take two goats.
• One he would sacrifice and pour its blood on God’s altar.
• The other he would confess the sins of the people over and send it away.
IT WAS AN ACT OF EXPIATION.
PROPITIATION – refers to the attitude change of the offended party. It means satisfaction. It means the Judge is satisfied.
• EXPIATION is the act of removing guilt, specifically by an offering to God.
• PROPITIATION signifies that God is satisfied with what is offered.
So back to that Day of Atonement metaphor.
• When Aaron poured that blood on the altar and sent the other goat away
• In his act of expiation God was satisfied.
• God’s wrath was propitiated.
• He no longer felt anger toward Israel.
In fact, here is a unique truth.
The word in the Greek for “propitiation” is HILASMOS
In the Septuagint (which is the Greek Old Testament; The Old Testament John would have read) we see that word HILASMOS used.
Exodus 25:22 “There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.”
In the Old Testament HILASMOS was there rendered “mercy seat”
What occurred there was propitiation.
That seat was the place of propitiation.
When Aaron offered expiation, God was propitiated.
Then that final word:
PLACATION – also means to appease or to satisfy, but here in a total justice sense. Wrath is removed and SO IS THE PUNISHMENT.
This would be the “case dismissed” announcement by the Judge.
At this point, you are free to go and resume your life.
Placation is the result of expiation and propitiation.
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/two-important-words-good-friday-expiation-and-propitiation
• Something is offered to God that our guilt might be removed (expiation).
• God’s wrath is settled or propitiated
• The punishment for that sin is abolished; it is placated.
Placation of judgment is the ultimate goal,
But it cannot occur without expiation offered to God
Which will propitiate His wrath.
Now we go back for a moment to 1 John.
Where John says:
(2) “and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins”
Pay special attention to what John says.
HE DOESN’T SAY that Jesus offered propitiation for our sins.
That would be expiation (which Jesus did on the cross)
John says that “He Himself IS the propitiation”
Jesus is not just the Advocate who negotiates on your behalf.
Jesus is also the Offering which satisfies God on your behalf.
And it is FAR MORE THAN just His ATONING DEATH.
Jesus offered also His RIGHTEOUS LIFE.
Remember how we read in Hebrews 10 that Jesus came as a High Priest, not to give goats and bulls, but to give God the obedience God demanded.
Hebrews 10:5-7 “Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME; IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE. “THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’”
Those goats that Aaron offered only worked on a temporary basis
Because they were symbolic of the true sacrifice which was coming.
You could almost picture it like this:
• You owe someone 1 million dollars and if you don’t’ pay it they will kill you.
• So you approach them and give them 1 million Monopoly dollars and say, this is a sign of good faith that the real payment is coming.
• And your creditor accepts that temporarily.
That is sort of what happened in the Old Testament.
Romans 3:23-25 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;”
God had graciously accepted that symbolic offering,
But the real one still had to come.
Jesus was that real one.
He offered Himself to God without blemish.
That goat never fully propitiated God’s wrath,
That’s why they had to do it over and over every year.
BUT JESUS DID PROPITIATE HIS WRATH.
Jesus did satisfy God.
“He Himself is the propitiation”
John also DIDN’T SAY “He Himself WAS the propitiation”
John says that “He Himself IS the propitiation for our sins”
Still to this day, it is Jesus who propitiates God’s wrath.
Still to this day, it is who Jesus is and what Jesus did that satisfies God.
And John also says that “He Himself is the propitiation for OUR sins.”
That is the church’s sins.
• He is still satisfying God’s wrath on our sin.
• He is still maintaining our fellowship.
It would be great if we never sinned and our fellowship with God was never strained, but unfortunately that is rarely the case.
We blow it over and over and over.
BUT WHEN THAT HAPPENS
We in the church have an “Advocate” who approaches the bench on our behalf and “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins”
IT HAPPENS LIKE THIS.
• We sin and our fellowship with God should be thrashed.
• We should be kicked out of the church.
• We should be cut off from God.
But at that moment, our Advocate who is seated next to God
Throws the evidence on the bench.
It is a picture of Himself on the cross.
He never suffers again, He doesn’t have to, that one event was enough.
And because of what He did there (expiation),
The wrath of God is satisfied (propitiation)
And we remain in fellowship with God (placation).
Hebrews 7:25 “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
Romans 8:33-34 “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”
This is why we need Him.
This is why the church still needs Jesus every single day!
We like to sing the song:
“I will not fear Your judgment. For me, no wrath I dread.
For it was spent on Jesus; Poured out upon His head.
When Satan’s accusations Make my poor heart afraid,
I hear my King declaring, “Father, that debt is paid”
Jesus my only hope, my only plea; My righteousness, my Great High Priest
Who intercedes for me before the throne. Jesus, I trust in You alone
https://sovereigngracemusic.org/music/songs/jesus-my-only-hope/
It would be great if we never sinned. In fact we long for that.
But what a joy to know that when we sin
We have an Advocate who is always our propitiation before God.
And just to make sure we rightly understand the gospel.
See the LOVE OF GOD here as well.
• Lest you see God as the angry Tyrant whom Jesus must continually appease.
• It was God who sent His Son to be our propitiation.
• It was the righteous Judge who loved us and sent His Son to pay our penalty.
And we realize that the fellowship we enjoy was purchased by God
And is at the same time maintained by Him through Jesus Christ.
WE NEED HIM EVERY MOMENT!
But there is one more point to make here.
It is a good reminder for us here in missions month.
(2b) “and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
Now first let me stop you before you run off into a theological web you can’t escape.
Many people use that text as a proof verse that
What Jesus did on the cross He did for everyone in the whole world.
But listen,
• If Jesus accomplished propitiation for everyone in the whole world
• And if Jesus is in fact the Advocate for everyone in the whole world
• Then no one would go to hell because every ounce of God’s wrath would have been placated.
John is not promoting universalism.
No, what John is reminding the church of is the SUFFICIENCY, the EXCLUSIVITY, and the SCOPE of Jesus propitiation.
What Jesus did is enough to satisfy God’s wrath for every sin
It is sufficient.
What Jesus did is the only thing that will ever satisfy God’s wrath
It is exclusive.
What Jesus did is available to more than just Jews or your inner circle
Its scope is global.
John DOESN’T MEAN that Jesus saves every man without exception,
If that were true no man would go to hell
And Jesus would have never warned against it.
What John means is that Jesus saves mankind WITHOUT DISTINCTION.
He saves people from every tribe and tongue.
John 10:16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.”
Jesus is the Savior of Jew and Gentile alike.
• He is the only Savior this world will ever receive.
• And He will save any who come to Him in repentance and faith
• Whether they are Jew or Gentile.
And this is a great reminder to us in the church.
WE HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD BECAUSE
• Jesus cleansed us from sin on the cross.
• Jesus continues to cleanse us from sin.
• When we sin Jesus is our Advocate who intercedes for us before the Father.
And we are called to make this fellowship known to the world.
We are to tell the world how fellowship with God can be obtained
And how it is maintained all through Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:3 “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
We do the same.
SO CHURCH THIS MORNING
• REJOICE in the fact that you have fellowship with God and that fellowship is secured through Jesus.
• AND THEN GO and do what John did and offer that fellowship to the world in Jesus’ name.
