Sonlight on 1st, 2nd, & 3rd John

The youthful fisherman that once walked the shores of the Sea of Galilee has traded the borders of his inheritance for the metropolis of Ephesus. He is now a senior saint nearly ninety. The task before him is to compose letters to those that constitute the earthly body of believers scattered throughout the region of Asia Minor. Unlike his previous letter that looked to the past declaring that Christ has come or the book of the Revelation that looks forward declaring Christ's return, John's Epistles take in the nature of Christ in the present. The world, the flesh, and the devil sought to destroy the Church by silencing its voice and taking its life. Unlike the previous methods of persecution and pollution, the present enemy was that of the philosopher. Their attack would not be focused upon the family or faith, but its founder, "the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). John's Epistles are doctrinal discourses declaring the humanity of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the harmony that is to exist within the body. They are not only rich in principle, but relevant for the present!