I am writing to you...

1 John 2:12-14 (NRSV)

¹² I am writing to you, little children,
    because your sins are forgiven on account of his name. ¹³ I am writing to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young people,
    because you have conquered the evil one. ¹⁴ I write to you, children,
    because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young people,
    because you are strong
    and the word of God abides in you,
        and you have overcome the evil one.

The Truth in the life of recovery is experienced progressively. We don’t arrive all at once in recovery. It’s a road, a journey towards home. At different stages we experience our recovery in different ways. John links these developmental recovery processes to the lived experiences of age groups within a family; little children, young people and fathers. We don’t need to be too hung up on the fact that old people or women are not overtly mentioned. That would be to miss the point. We grow into our identity as disciples as we come to know Jesus of the Nazareth Sermon more. That’s the point. Recovery takes time, learning, experience, persistence and a secure environment to be nurtured within. Our first experience of recovery is the forgiveness of God and is to realise this is the very nature of our God: in Micah 7:18 we read:

 ‘Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people? You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love.’ (NLT). 

God as revealed in the Old and New Testaments is, always has been and always will be a forgiving, reconciling God. In Jerimiah 29:11 God speaking to Israel says:

‘For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’ (NLT).  This is the character of God.

This Hope is fully revealed in Jesus.  In Hebrews 1: 1-4 we read:

 ‘1.Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. 2. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. 3. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honour at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. 4. This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.’ (NLT)

Our experience of success over our life controlling problems is an experience of liberation and an experience of the Divine both in equal measure. The dark powers that caught us in the cycle of addiction are defeated.  This realisation and internalisation of the story of liberation contained in the bible is the food and nurturance that ensures our continued development, strength and growth. In our passage from 1 John, John emphases the importance of a lifelong, developmental, community based approach as central to the continued, ongoing and progressive recovery of the people who God planned and created us to be.