And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding in order that we may know Him who is true.
Jesus was incarnated in Mary’s womb, and that the effect of that birth is continuing to the present—Jesus is still alive and active. (see 1 John 4:2, 2:7, etc. Jesus has given us understanding, the ability to comprehend God, the One who is true, an understanding of God that we never would have had otherwise.
Yes, God sent Jesus to die for our sins, so that we could be saved, justifying us so that we could be acceptable to God by the power of His blood. But, before Jesus died, He spent years teaching us about God. Jesus was the Light of the World, illuminating God for us. Jesus shows us who God is. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us so that we would know the truth about God. God loves us and gave His Son to save us. John 3:16-17. 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. So why was it necessary for God to send Jesus into the World to teach us? What was the lesson that we just weren’t understanding from the Old Testament about how we should live? God became man because man so misunderstood God. God didn’t hate man, God wasn’t trying to harm mankind, he wants to help man, to save mankind. Heb 1:1-3 1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
God revealed Himself to us by becoming a man like us so that HE could speak to us personally in a way that we could understand and so that He could reveal the radiance of God’s glory, like he did with those Shepherds in the field that night, but in a much, much bigger way in coming to earth to teach us PERSONALLY about Himself and how much he loves us IN PERSON. Jesus perfectly reflected the Character of the Father. We see this in John 1:18 18 No one has seen God at any time; God the only Son, who is in the arms of the Father, He has explained Him.
He makes us able to understand God in a way impossible without the Holy Spirit. Because of the Holy Spirit we have the mind of Christ. So, the Holy Spirit teaches us about Jesus, and therefore allows us to understand what God is like. Our flesh cannot understand or comprehend, but our Spirit can, thanks to the comprehension given to us by the Hoy Spirit.
“And we are in the true One, in His Son, Jesus Christ.”
And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. We are in God. In John 14:11 Jesus said 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own, but the Father, as He remains in Me, does His works 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. And again in John 10:30 30 I and the Father are one.” So, according to our verse today, God is the one who is true, whose son is Jesus, and John wants to make clear that because we are in Jesus Christ, one with Him, and He one with the Father, then we are in God the Father because of our relationship with Jesus. We are now part of God’s family through what Christ has done for us in removing our sin, and allowing God to adopt us as God’s Children.
He is the true God.
Verse 20 concludes with the words “He is the true God and eternal life”. John is emphasizing that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the true God and the source of eternal life. We see God described like this throughout the bible in verses such as John 17:3 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. or 1 Thess 1:9 9 For they themselves report about us as to the kind of reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God. And God is also true in the sense that He is trustworthy. Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Jesus is the True God and Eternal Life
Jesus is also the true God. John affirms this in John 1:1: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’. We see John recognizing the identity of Jesus with God. John highlights the divinity of Jesus, and that we have eternal life in Him at the beginning of this epistle, as well in 1 John 1:1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— And so, when we put our trust in Jesus, we are trusting in the Goodness of God, in the promises of God, and in the integrity of God.
21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
Since we are Children of God, and yet still Little Children, then John doesn’t want us to turn to other things, power, money, fame, admiration, or other lusts of the flesh, of the eye or the pride of life instead of Jesus. We have the obligation, since we know the True God to have nothing to do with idols. Our witness to others depends on our rejection of idolatry. In John’s day, pagans demanded that Christians that offer sacrifice to idols, and worship Caesar as Lord in order to avoid martyrdom. 1 John 3:16 and elsewhere 16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters. We must keep from sin, because our witness, our testimony to ourselves and others is too important. We must be committed to Jesus as the center of our lives, because In Him we have assurance of salvation.
John has given us so much objective evidence for our salvation, that we are Children of God, because he wants us to look at our own lives and make sure. Assurance is based on God’s testimony to his Son in 5:9–13, where the believer’s assurance of eternal life is based on the testimony of God in our hearts. We have assurance in the day of judgement is based on righteous living; we have confidence because we walk as Jesus walked, in faithfulness to God. We have assurance because God’s Holy Spirit in us helps us obey His Commandments, and is able to make us stand. In 1st John 3:21–22 ‘Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him’.
We are assured because we are keep His commandments. 1 John 2:3-4 3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
Because God has inspired us through His Holy Spirit to love and have concern for our Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we have assurance on the day of judgement 1 John 2:10 10 The one who loves his brother and sister remains in the Light, and there is nothing in him to cause stumbling.
And, lastly, we know that we have salvation because the Holy Spirit inside us gives witness of Christ. ‘And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us’ 1 John 3:2 as the Holy Spirit testifies of the Truth about Christ, that He has come in the Flesh, that He is God’s Son, and that Salvation and Eternal life are in Him. By our belief in Christ, his keeping God’s commandments, and having His love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, we understand that we are Children of God.