I John 2:10-11 (Part 1)

View Video lesson by right clicking link: I John 2:10-11 (Part 1)

Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever 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.

THE STUDY:

          In John’s writings, the main focus is “Love” amongst the believers, for God, and for the lost. The word “Love” is defined by three Greek words (Agapao: to love, Agape: Love, and Agapetos: (Be loved). The word found in this passage is the verb Agapetos. It is defined as a love of a person for a person or object. John points out that the object of this affection is “Brother.” Brother is a general word that is used to cover a vast array of individuals (relative, friend, fellow believer).

          John further goes on to say that there is a correlation to loving our brothers and abiding in the light. The word “abide” is Meno which means to remain or stay. This gives the impression that the reader is in the light and for them to stay in that light they are to love ALL. In doing this they will remain in the light.

          This is a good place to stop but let me add that John is using an “Action,” “Reaction,” and “Result” technique in this passage. The action is to “love,” the reaction is “remaining in the light,” and the result is “not causing someone to stumble.” Tomorrow we will look at the stumbling aspect.

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• I believe what we can walk away this morning in knowing that our actions have a reaction to them. If we throw a rock into a pond, our action (throwing the rock) will have a reaction from the pond (ripples throughout the pond). Our actions can have a positive reaction or a negative reaction to them. A lot of this is determined by us. Not all is determined by us but the majority of it can be contributed. Let us work on our actions so that it has a positive reaction to it.

CONCLUSION:

          We have two dogs, Stitch and Biscuit. We have trained them that when we come home and walk through the door they go outside for obvious reasons. What we have done is caused them to react to our action. The result, of course, is positive, no messes in the house. My prayer is that my actions have a positive reaction so the result will be to the Glory of God. This is my prayer for you today as well.

         

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod