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Bible Question:
What is the meaning of "know the Father" in 1 John
2:12-14? It says the children know the Father. Is this the same
intimate knowledge of the father that is described at the beginning
of the verse or is it describing something else?
Bible Answer: The
apostle John under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote 1 John
2:12-14 which reads as follows:
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I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are
forgiven you for His name’s sake. I am writing to you,
fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the
evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know
the Father. 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. (NASB) 1 John 2:12-14 |
This passage is about spiritual growth in the Christian life. It speaks
of little children, young men, and fathers. Little children are immature
spiritually, while fathers are the most mature.
Little Children. There are two descriptions
of the children, the young men, and of the fathers. Is this important?
In order to answer this question lets make a chart of the different
descriptions.
| |
Maturity |
Description |
Passage |
|
| |
Little
children |
"your
sins are forgiven" |
1
John 2:12 |
|
| |
|
"you
know the Father" |
1
John 2:13 |
|
| |
Young
Men |
"overcome
the evil one" |
1
John 2:13 |
|
| |
|
"you
are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have
overcome the evil one." |
1
John 2:14 |
|
| |
Fathers |
"you
know Him who has been from the beginning" |
1
John 2:13 |
|
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|
"you
know Him who has been from the beginning" |
1 John 2:14
|
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First, we find that little children
are said to have their sins forgiven. This is how any Christian
starts. We become Christians when our sins are forgiven. When
this happens, we are not only little children in a spiritual
sense; we also know who is our father. One of the marks of a
new Christian is that they want milk.
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. . . like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word,
that by it you may grow in respect to salvation . . . (NASB)
1 Peter 2:2 |
They are happy with spiritual milk and not with meat.
Second, the Holy spirit uses two different
words for "little children" in the 1 John 2:12-14 passage.
The first word is TEKNON, and the second one is PAIDION. The first
word has the idea of a very young child, while the second one is about
a baby. Now if we put it all together, here is the sense of the passage.
There are two things that are true about an immature Christian. His/her
sins are forgiven. Even though they are young in the Lord, he/she
knows God the Father, too, just like a baby knows its father. Even
a baby knows his/her father but not as he/she will later in life. |
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