A generation ago it was popular to speak of the message of the Bible as being summarized under the two phrases “the fatherhood of God” and “the brotherhood of man.” The phrases expressed the thought that all men are equally children of God and therefore brothers within one divine family. All that was needed, so the thinking went, was for men and women to realize this and live accordingly. In reacting to such views it must be acknowledged that there are such concepts as the fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man in the Bible. But the point must be added in order to be accurate that neither of these applies to all men. Brotherhood is a concept reserved for Christians only; these have become brothers and sisters to one another, but not to everybody, though they do have a responsibility to all men. Similarly, the fatherhood of God applies only to those who have been reborn into God’s spiritual family through faith in Jesus Christ.
These points have been evident in John’s letter in several earlier sections, especially in John’s use of the words “Father” and “children.” But now he seems to make the contrast especially sharp as, in these verses, he directs a challenge to those who are indeed God’s children and breaks out into near rhapsody at the thought of what God is doing and will yet do for them.
John has already spoken of righteousness and the need to be obedient to Christ earlier in chapter 2, and of the need to abide in Him just one verse before this. But although he repeats these ideas here, he nevertheless does so in a new context which is that of Christ’s return. John’s point is that those who are Christ’s ought to abide in Him and live righteous lives in order that they might have confidence and not be put to shame at Jesus’ return.
The reference to the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth is unmistakable. So it is a puzzle how some commentators can regard the second coming of Jesus as a rather primitive apocalyptic idea which was present in the early days of the Christian proclamation but which was soon dropped by more thoughtful writers such as the apostle John. It has often been observed that the most explicitly prophetic passages of the Synoptic Gospels, particularly the Olivet discourse of Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, and Luke 21, are dropped by John, being replaced rather with the farewell discourses in which teaching about the coming of the Holy Spirit is prominent. This is supposed to suggest that John viewed the return of Jesus as being fulfilled rather in the coming of the Spirit and in the present enjoyment of eternal life. But this theory is not substantiated even by John’s handling of the Gospel material. And this text from the first letter alone refutes it.
Actually, the doctrine of Christ’s return is prominent throughout the whole of the New Testament. It has been observed by some that in the New Testament one verse in twenty-five deals with the Lord’s return. It is mentioned 318 times in the 260 chapters of the New Testament. It is mentioned in every one of the New Testament books, with the exception of Galatians, which deals with a particular doctrinal problem, and the very short books such of 2 and 3 John and Philemon.
