1 John

I had to brush up on my History before we headed into the book of 1 John.  We had been discussing the roman emperor Nero who was reigning during the death of Paul & Peter when we wrapped up the book of 2 Peter.  So naturally, before we headed into 1 John we had to know the emperors.  Nero, 4 Emperors in AD 69, Vespian (who died of Diarrhea :-) ), Titus & finally Domitian who was the Emperor who exiled John to the Island of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelations.  The point was to show that John was an old guy when he wrote 1,2,3 John & Revelations.  He had lived a long and full life.. after all, he actually hung out with Jesus.  He had seen Him, touched Him, and knew him personally  so he could write these letters with authority.  Many of the people John was writing to had not seen Jesus because he had already died & rose again.  It is like when your grandparents tell you stories about things they have done and experienced before you were born.

 John wrote the book of 1 John as encouragement to the believers.  We all mess up, and feel guilty for doing wrong things.  Sometimes Satan can try to trick us into believing we are not good enough or smart enough to be a Christian. It doesn't matter what Satan thinks, God knows we will mess up in life that is why He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.  If we confess (admit) our sins and ask forgiveness... God will forgive us!

1 John 1:9

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Thank you Lord that we are made new by confessing our sins!  Thank you most of all for sending your Son Jesus to bear the weight of all our sins on Calvary!