1 John 2:9-14 - Loving God

OLD = Love God
NEW = Love one another as Christ did

Vs. 2:9 – "The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now." - This is a similar formula to the “If we say..” focusing on the hypocrisy. These verses are addressing not living as professed. I cannot hate and be filled with love. To hate is to to detest, to pursue with hatred. Is 'brother' talking about an actual brother, or any fellow man, or only a fellow believer. I do not think this means to hate a fellow believer. I think this means that we are not to hate anyone – believer, non-believer, no other fellow human being. God loves the human race, even though we have shunned Him. God expects us to love them, too.

“until now.” – STILL in darkness. But the light has come when Jesus came. We can no longer act as if He did not. See John 3:19-21 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. Note that James says “even if you do not commit adultery, you are a lawbreaker if you commit murder. If you break one law, you are guilty of breaking them all.” So what if I do not commit adultery, if I hate I am still ensconced in sin. I have not broken free. Jesus came to set us free from the clutches, the guilt, the shame of sin.

SAYS in light, BUT in darkness - Due to hate.

Blinded by Darkness

Vs. 2:10 – "The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him." - The antidote to hate. Love them. Let God love them through you. Not an emotional appeal here. This is not romance, but agape love – love that will bring the good news to them. Love means abiding in light, abiding in Christ. 

Light vs. Dark love means light, abiding in light, not blinded by darkness; No stumbling Love = light; hate = darkness.

“There is no cause for stumbling…” - Nothing to trip them up. The word means to trip up as in a part of a trap, a stick, an impediment. The Jews stumbled over Jesus, but the Gentiles thought Him to be foolish – they just didn’t understand. In us, sin causes us to be blind, even during midday.

see Isa. 59:9,10 – We stumble, because we are in darkness. ***

Vs. 2:11 – "But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes." - ”But” – in contrast to the one walking in the light.
Darkness used three times in this verse. Hating places me in darkness, when I try to navigate, I am in trouble, since I am in darkness, and am blinded by darkness. We tend to think we are blinded by light. And indeed, moving from a dark area to a lighter one, there is a momentary overexposure. We need to squint to give our eyes a chance to adjust. Or we can be blinded by glare, or a reflection. But in fact, darkness is a bigger hindrance. It takes longer for our eyes to adjust when moving from a bright room to a dark one. Also, as the light levels get lower, our eyes lose the ability to discern. Colors are lost first (more rods than cones in our retina). We lose depth perception, and finally, the ability to pick out any objects. Without actually damaging our eyes, we are blind. (It is amazing how little light we need to be able to function).

Refer back to verse 9 – “the one who says…yet” and verse 10.
Verses 9, 10, and 11 are a verbal sandwich
       Darkness
          Light
       Darkness
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Hate brother = darkness   But… Does not know Blinded by darkness

Be encouraged because you are His

Vs. 2:12: - I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake. …

'Writing' is the theme for verses 12 through 14. These three verses are like a “bridge” in a song. It doesn’t seem to tie into the verses before or after.
However, “writing" is a running theme for this letter. These verses are a mini-pep-talk. previous the “if-then” type statement. Here John is encouraging them by saying he ‘knows’ they are in light. The proof: their living.
Be encouraged because your sins are forgiven. You don’t need to be blind. You don’t need to stumble about in the dark. See John 3:19-21 (see above). Also, Paul writes that we were slaves to sin, but are now slaves of righteousness. The shackles of righteousness are not odious. Indeed. We are free from sin, and do not need to stumble.

Know Him
Vs. 2:13 –  I am writing to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young people, that you have conquered the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.

 See John16:33 "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage - I have conquered the world.", (Rom. 3:4 ?), Rom. 12:21 "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.", See also Gen. 3:15 – Jesus to overcome Satan, as foretold by God to Eve.

Overcome the evil one.

Vs. 2:14 – I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

See Col. 1:9-13 – we are strengthened with “all power”, because of the power He possesses.
Jude 24,25. “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

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