16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. 1 John 5:16-21
Last summer, after a service project, I took the youth to see the new Spiderman movie. The run time of the movie was 140 minutes, and I was keeping track of the time because our ride for the movie was going to be waiting. As the movie was nearing the end, I wondered how it was going to end. At one point, I remembered thinking: “There are 10 minutes left, how are they going to fit everything in? Spiderman is currently tied up, he has two different villains to defeat, he has to reconcile with his father, make up with his love interest, escape, and then say goodbye to his friends from different universes.” Well, my hunch was right. They didn’t fit everything in. The movie…just ended. I couldn’t believe that was the ending! There was no resolution. No closure. It just…ended. I would need to wait another year to see the ending (and I’m still waiting! It comes out this summer).
The Epistle of 1 John has an ending like that. It seems to just end, and even end randomly, at that. For a book that talks about love and hate, truth and lies, the Word and antichrists, grace and sin, and abiding and abandoning, one would figure the book to end on one of those themes. However, it doesn’t. The book of 1 John seems to randomly end. The note that John ends on is…idolatry? It seems so unexpected. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” Why not end on love? Or grace? Or the Word? Or, like us, end with an affectionate note: “With deepest love, John the Elder.”
As I reflect deeper on his ending, it really works well, and fits. That last verse captures the thrust of the book, and his main point. He has just written about the true God: Jesus Christ, the Word become flesh. He has just written about the true God that forgives us all our sin and he tells us about the One in Whom true life is found. If you don’t have this God, you have an idol. If you don’t trust in Him, you have no God at all, and are utterly deceived. As the LSB puts it: “Any teaching that presents Jesus as one who is not both true God and true man in one person actually presents an idol. Likewise, any teaching that denies that Jesus is the Savior of all mankind, purely by God’s grace alone, also presents an idol.”
As John ends his book, he gives us a loving warning and reminder: remain in Jesus. Remain in the One Who loves you with an everlasting love. Remain in the One Who has given you life eternal. Remain in the One Who works in you. Remain in the One Who forgives you all your sins. Fortunately, this is all His Work in us, as He faithfully keeps us until the day of His coming.
Christ’s blessings, Pastor Kooi
(Originally published in Emmaus Footprints, Vol. XXV, Number 10, May 2024.)