We Have an Advocate (1 John 2:1-2)

Intro

You know those times when you pray, 

It’s me again and it’s that again...

You know when you really blew it...

What do you think goes on in the courts of Heaven when you really blow it? 

The way you answer that question is of utmost importance. 

Is God, the Father just getting ready to smite you like some Greek God and his gentle and loving son, Jesus steps in between us and his Father, to calm him down. 

Dad, Dad, calm down, I know Sam screwed up, but give him another chance, pretty please. For me. 

And then the father starts to take deep breaths and settles down only to give us another chance...

I talk to a lot of Christians and though many wouldn’t say it exactly like that, the sense they have towards God and when they sin is kind of like that.

As we continue our series in the letters of John, we come to a very precious passage today.

A passage that I believe will be liberating for some of you today. 

Terrifying for others.  

And soul-happifying for many of us!

It will help us see God for who he is more clearly and in turn, inject fresh life in our relationship with him, especially when we sin. 

Please have your Bible’s open to 1 John 2 if you haven’t yet. 

Context

Let me briefly remind us where we have been. 

John has been showing us that God is light in him is no darkness, not at all. 

And because he is light, God’s children will walk in the light. 

And yet, there were some in the church who were claiming that they would walk with God and yet walking in darkness. 

Which is as nonsense as saying that this room is pitch black but it’s also blindingly light. Light and darkness are mutually exclusive. 

And these false Christians were not only living lifestyles of darkness, they claimed they have no sin and deceived themselves. 

However, John understands that Christians will sin, and he teach us that when we sin, we can confess our sins to God and he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. The term would be called Expiation. The removal of our guilt and sin. 

And in our passage this morning, we get a glimpse of not only the heart of John towards us Christians but also a glimpse of the courtroom of Heaven and how God can be so unbelievably generous and forgiving to us. 

The Heart of a Father 

1 John 2:1 (ESV)

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. 

I want to start off by focusing on John’s address.

He calls them little children. 

At this point, John is an old man. 

He has been walking in the light for many decades. 

At this point, he is a spiritual father in the faith. 

And he addresses these believers as his little children. 

Do you hear the tenderness in that language? 

Not, you little snots!

You idiots. 

Little children. 

John writes as a spiritual father who has a heart bursting with love and affection for his kids. He wants the world for them. 

John does not promise them that you WILL NOT SIN 

OR

You CANNOT Sin

Or you just as bad, you MUST Sin

But he’s writing as a tender old father who wants to keep his kids for sin. 

What is sin? 

Sin is rejecting or ignoring God in the world he created, rebelling against him by living without reference to him, not being or doing what he requires in his law—resulting in our death and the disintegration of all creation. - New City Catechism

Remember how I shared the 1 John is a potentially dangerous book if you only read it in pieces. 

And the danger is that you can take the last passage and just run with it. 

Well, what’s the use, John? We will have sin! 

Let’s just eat, drink, and be merry. Thank you, Jesus for the cross!

And as a father, John wants to help them not sin. 

Why?

Because as a father he wants the best for his kids. 

And sin kills!

Sin is the worst thing that can happen to them, it hurts their relationship with God, themselves, and it plunges them in darkness. 

John wants life and life for them, because he loves them so deeply. 

And though I am not an old man and younger than many of you. I would boldly say I have a Father’s heart of love for you as well. 

And I am preaching to you this morning that you may not sin! 

I want the world for you!

I have deep affection for you beloved. 

And that is why I preach and shepherd. 

› And the reality is, we will all sin. And our passage, he shows us what to do when we do sin. Let’s read the second part of the passage, 

The advocate

1 John 2:1 (ESV)

1 But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

What is this word, “advocate?”

We are going to go a little deep first and then I will simplify it best I can. 

Tim Keller puts it this way, 

An advocate is someone who has an official relationship with you so whatever the advocate achieves, you achieve, and whatever the advocate loses, you lose... It means you’ve entered into a relationship with this person so this person represents you so what that person does is transferred to you.

Another preacher, hundred years ago or so, Charles Hodge, says it like this, 

“The relationship of Christ to his people is that of a legal advocate to a client...The lawyer stands in the client’s place. It is, while it lasts, the most intimate of relationships. You may not even have to appear in court. You are not heard. You are not regarded. You are lost in your advocate who, for the time being, is your representative. The advocate, not you, is seen. The advocate, not you, is heard. The advocate, not you, is regarded.”

So here’s the beauty of advocacy. 

Jesus is not just a lawyer. 

Or a hired hand who is just getting paid and doesn’t care. 

In fact, Jesus pays for himself to work for us!

He pays with his own blood. 

Jesus is OUR advocate, representing us before the father. 

He is our elder brother. 

But why? 

What is Jesus advocating for and why do we need him? 

The way people often think about this is that the Father is furious at us. Kind of like how I explained in the intro. 

We blew it again!

And its kind of like, 

“I can’t believe Sam would do that thing again! After all the times I’ve given him mercy!

And then Jesus stands up, “Father, father, calm down. One-more time. Please. Give him a another chance~!”

And then the Father calms down, and is like, “you’re right, thanks for that reminder son. I won’t destroy Sam this time.” 

I believe many of us have this kind of idea of the Father. 

Jesus is the loving and gentle one. 

And the father is just angry all the time at us (Kind like some of our earthly fathers) and being calmed down by His son. 

If that’s you, I have good news for you! 

Our passage says that Jesus is WITH the father. 

The Father and the Son are never at odds, they always agree!

They have the same heart. 

They are working together. 

But then, what is the right way to view this whole courtroom scene? 

Accuser?

We have to answer, who’s the accuser or prosecutor? 

It’s not the Father. 

Though not mentioned here in this text, there is a prosecutor who also knows about our sin who is eager to force the case against us before the divine Judge. He wants to steal kill and destroy us. 

He wants to point to the record of our sins which is and demand that God be true to His own justice and damn us to hell. 

Who is the accuser, this prosecutor? 

Revelation 12:10 ESV

10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

This passage in Rev 12 is speaking about something in the future that has yet to happen. 

But what we learn is that right now, Satan accuses us day and night before God!

He throws in our face all of our sins. All of our failures, our shame. 

He wants judgment for us!

And he’s usually right about us!

We have screwed up, even more than he knows!

And to top it off, we join him. 

Many of us here are our worst critiques. Always shaming ourselves, always condemning ourselves. 

You should know better Sam!

How could you!? 

What would people think if they knew..

Or perhaps its not your own voice but a voice of some loved one in your life who’s voice still echos condemnation in your heart whenever you do something wrong. 

On and on, the voice of the accuser and our own inner voice can be eerily similar. 

But this is what is going down in Heaven… imagine this! 

Satan stands against us in a court of law accusing us of all our sin. And he’s right. We are guilty!

And Jesus stands up as our defense attorney and says, “He or she is forgiven! I’ve already paid the price for that.”

Satan says, “Objection your honor! They sinned, they deserves punishment!” 

And God says, “Overruled! This is my Son! Justice has already been paid!”

John Bunyan puts it this way, 

Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers Chapter 9: An Advocate

“Satan had the first word, but Christ the last,”

As the hymn says, 

When Satan tempts me to despair
and tells me of the guilt within,
upward I look and see him there
who made an end of all my sin.

AMEN!!!

› How would we live as forgiven children of God if we truly believed we had an advocate like this in Heaven? 

Implication for Advocacy

As fallen creatures, we are naturally self-advocates. 

It makes sense to do so for survival. 

Our kids need know master course on how to do. They naturally make excuses for themselves when they are caught misbehaving. Their is a natural instinct to explain why it was someone else’s fault or why it wasn’t theirs. We excuse. We minimize. We self-advocate!

But what if we actually believed this passage?

We could lay down the heavy burden of being our own advocate and let Jesus, a far better advocate, advocate for us!

We would be free from our excuses. 

Free from our blame-shifting. 

Free from the fatigue of constantly defending ourselves.

Free from the fear of man and the need to fight for people to understand of correctly or to see us correctly. 

Free to rest in Jesus to be the advocate for us! 

› But how can Jesus be an advocate for us? 

› Remember, I mentioned that he, himself paid to be our advocate. Let’s explore his character and what he did. 

Christ the righteous

1 John 2:1 (ESV)

1 we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Christ is not Jesus’ last name. 

It’s a title of him being savior, messiah. 

But he’s not merely a savior. 

He’s a righteous savior. 

This is important because Jesus is what we ought to have been. 

He stands in the presence of the Father on behalf of us who have not acted righteously. 

If Jesus was with sin, he wouldn’t be acceptable. 

He would be dying for his own sin, not substituting for us. 

But Jesus lived the life we ought to have lived. And thus, he is an acceptable sacrifice. 

But he’s not just a sinless perfect champion. He speaks as an advocate who knows deeply the human condition, our struggles, our temptations and yet, triumphed. 

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

We have one who has gone before us, and yet did not give in like we have. 

This is what you need from an advocate and a savior!

Someone who can sympathize deeply with where you are at, but not able to triumph where we failed. We need someone stronger, more righteous than us. 

But there is even more. 

It doesn’t say Jesus is merciful. Though he clearly is. 

Or Jesus is persuasive. 

But Jesu us the righteous one. 

Remember 1 john 1:9

1 John 1:9 (ESV)

9 God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

God is faithful and just to forgive. 

Jesus doesn’t not appeal to God’s mercy or try to persuade God. 

But rather, he points to his righteous sacrifice. He points to the fact that Justice has already been administered. 

And the Father is happy to give justice!

It’s his idea!

But let’s go even deeper. 

How did Jesus grant us such security and justice before God? 

Propitiation 

1 John 2:2 ESV

2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

What does this word mean, propitiation? 

Some of your translations say, “Atoning sacrifice.” which is good but still doesn’t get at it just right. 

We are going to take some time and camp out here. 

Because your understanding of propitiation is key to your understanding of God, yourself, and the gospel. 

To understand the word propitiation we have to understand what the word propitious means. 

Propitious

favorably disposed toward someone.

But its usually in the context of, favor AFTER something bad happened. 

So it’s like when we were kids and we like destroyed mom’s vase and she was furious but then we made it up by cleaning the whole house and being super complementary. 

Oh mom this hot dish is the best! Where did you get the recipe. 

Eventually our mom is like. Enough, I know what you’re doing, but she kinda likes it. And t hen she’s like we’re good and they are pleased with us again!

In this case, our good works and words were the propitiation for our sins. 

It satisfied our mom and turned her wrath into pleasure towards us. 

So that’s an amusing illustration that many of us know well. 

But let’s elevate it to what happened with Jesus. 

What happened at the Cross

The Bible teaches us over and over throughout the Bible that God is perfectly holy. And thus, he must hate our sin. 

But God’s wrath is not bad-tempered. He’s not just lashing out like an abusive father or an uncontrollable toddler. His wrath is right, it’s measured. It’s just. Indeed, he is not good if he does not have wrath. 

Just like it is right for us to feel a sense of wrath when we hear someone abused spouse. It’s right for us to feel anger. That’s good for us to feel these things. 

We deserve to die as a penalty of our sin. 

We deserve the bear God’s righteous wrath for our sin.

Thus, God is angry at us. Isaiah actually goes so far as to say he is angry with us all day long without Christ. 

Our greatest problem then, is God. 

The greatest problem facing all humanity is the wrath of God. 

So either we satisfy his just wrath by paying for our sins and die 

OR we need something or someone that will satisfy his just wrath to make God propitious towards us!

And here is the good news!

God provides what he requires!

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

21 For our sake he (God) made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin (Sinless), so that in him (Christ) we might become the righteousness of God.

So what happens is that Jesus is treated like he was a sinner like us. 

Jesus volunteers to stand in our place and satisfy the wrath of God with his life and with his death. 

The wrath that should have been poured out on sinners was poured out on Jesus. 

The judgment that should have been experienced by sinners was experienced by Jesus. 

The hell that should have been experienced by sinners was experienced by Jesus.

What’s the result of all this? 

And so now God can be propitious towards us, favorable towards us because his wrath has been appeased!

Our debt has been fully paid. 

You don’t have to beat yourself over your sin because Jesus already was beaten for you. 

You don’t have to put yourself in a penalty box long enough until you feel like you satisfied God’s anger towards you. 

You don’t have to work for forgiveness, its already been granted!

So there’s no more wrath towards the Christian anymore!

Yes, God can be displeased or grieved by our sin, just like any good father ought to be. 

But it’s not like it was before. 

God’s heart is favorable towards his people because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross!

Jesus stands as our advocate as an everlasting memorial of what he has accomplished for you!

Is this Paganism? 

Some may object though!

“Surely this sounds much too much like paganism. In paganism you’re always trying to make the tree gods pleased with you. You want the stone gods pleased with you, the rain gods pleased with you. So you make sacrifices to make them like you. 

How is this not like paganism?

Remember, context is everything when you read the Bible! The whole of 1 John must be read together. 

1 John 4:10 ESV

10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

We see the motivation here. 

LOVE!

And not reactive love, but proactive love!

Not when we loved him, but before we love him!

Romans 5:8 ESV

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

And Jesus willingly came. Their wills are the same, remember.

The Father didn’t force the son and the son begrudgingly came. 

NO!

According to Hebrews 12, The son did it for the joy set before. To claim a bride for himself. He came for us! 

DA Carson puts it this way. 

In paganism, we offer the sacrifices and the gods are propitiated. They are made propitious. In biblical Christianity, God sends the sacrifice and he propitiates himself. God, in Christianity, is both the subject and the object of propitiation. He is the one who is angry with us. He is the one who loves us enough to send his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 

So that which God requires. 

He joyfully and lovingly provided!

Both judgment and love come together at the cross with propitiation. 

And a gospel without both is no gospel at all!

› Now as we finish our passage, we see a very important line at the end of v. 2. 

Our Mission: the whole world

1 John 2:2 ESV

2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

No for ours ONLY. 

What is John saying here? 

Does this mean that Jesus’ substitutionary work on the Cross was applied to everyone in the world, and so everyone is now saved? 

NO! This is why we must read the context and not just run with just one verse. 

If you were to keep reading, you would see John say, 

1 John 5:12–13 ESV

12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

So John clearly teaches that there are those with eternal life and those who do not have. 

So what does it mean the whole world? 

I believe the Scriptures teach that Jesus’s sacrifice is the only option for the whole world.

And not just the Jews. 

But all kinds of people.

He is the hope of all nations. 

Somalis. Hmong. Natives. Koreans. Everyone! 

And his sacrifice only becomes effective when people believe in him. 

That’s why,

Our mission is to follow Jesus in everyday life and help all kinds of people do the same.

Many of our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers, and some of our family do not have Jesus as their propitiation, nor do they have an advocate. They only have an accuser. 

Indeed, 

John 3:36 ESV

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

That’s terrifying!

But there is provision for them!

They can have Jesus as their propitiation and their advocate!

Won’t you share this good news?

Jesus is the only hope for all peoples. And we have that hope we can share. 

Conclusion

So what goes on in the courts of Heaven when we sin? 

Satan does what Satan does, he accuses us!

And Jesus does what Jesus does, as our advocate, he silences the enemy and speaks blessing and forgiveness over us. 

And this great gift we have is not just for us, but the whole world!