1 John 2:28 reads,
"And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at His coming."
The Greek word used here in v.28 for "coming" is the word, parousia, which means "presence," the presence of the Lord Jesus.
This is the most frequently mentioned truth in all of the New Testament. Here, the Apostle John is encouraging the Believer in Christ to abide in his fellowship with the Lord Jesus due to the fact that He is coming again. It is possible for the Believer to have "confidence before the Lord," or "to shrink from Him in
shame." Why would John warn the Believer like this? Why would John see the need to warn the Believer of experiencing shame at the next appearing of the Lord Jesus?
Do you remember in Genesis 3, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, after the Fall, hid from the Lord
God as he walked in the Garden in the coolness of the day.
God called
out "Adam, where are you?" After the Fall, God called out to Adam, "Why did you hide?" And Adam
said, "Because we found we were naked."Adam realized that by ignoring God's word, he felt the type of shame that made him hide from God. But if we just look at this verse from this negative perspective, we miss John's whole point. This verse is not intended to be negative. It is given to show us how to
avoid standing in the Lord's presence unashamed, and to
have confidence before Him at His appearing.
The key to 1 John 2:28 is in the three words
"abide in Him." This means to not place your confidence in yourself, but to live out of the
full acceptance that you have in the Lord Jesus. The only basis for any Believer to have confidence, especially in the presence of the Lord, can only come from our position in Him. And the Believer did and does not earn that status.
When the Believer lacks this confidence, only to be found in the Lord Jesus alone, the result will be weakness, ineffectiveness, and a lack of productiveness. For the Believer to abide is for him to live out of God's evaluation of him through the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. I like to use this illustration. When I trusted the Lord Jesus as my Savior, I made it possible, by faith, for the Father to see me through the lens of His Son. Through abiding in Him, living out of that full acceptance through the perfection of the Lord Jesus' life, death and resurrection, I am perfect as He. this perfection is not based on the Believer's improving ability to be more godly, it is based upon his perfect position in Christ. And as a result, I will be confident at His appearing.
