Good to see you guys today. For those of you I don’t know, I’m Ben Kelly. I’m one of the teaching pastors here at Big Valley. I’m glad to see you guys — glad to be able to see your smiling faces, not just from up here but sometimes when you walk in.

My wife and I typically come to the 9:00 service, so I see more people there. We don’t typically come to the 11, but today we get to. And one of the fun things is being able to say hi to people when they’re walking up — sometimes shake hands, sometimes hear about people’s day or their week — because you don’t do that very often in normal life. Most of the time we’re kind of in mission mode. We’re going where we need to get to. But at church I think we take a pause for a minute. When people smile, you usually smile back. When people reach out their hand to shake hands, you shake hands. And that doesn’t always happen everywhere.

I’ve tried it at the store — I’ll see someone and I’ll do that smile and head nod thing, and they’ll just kind of look at me and keep on walking quickly. I wonder if it’s because my smile face is actually my mean face. Maybe I’m looking at people thinking I’m smiling, but they’re thinking this guy’s mad at me. I don’t know. But at church, we pause. And that’s a great thing. I appreciate you guys being here.

Listen, I want to see what you think of this statement. Satisfaction can only be found in Jesus Christ. Contentment, fulfillment — having all of our needs and all of our wants met can only be found in him. As I was preparing for today and looking at the passage of scripture from 1 John 2:12–17 that we’ll be walking through, I was thinking about that, and I thought to myself, you know what? I think that’s true. Satisfaction can only be found in Jesus Christ.

And then as the weeks went by, I started thinking — you know what, there are other places in life where I find satisfaction. There are other places I find contentment. Like being at dinner with my wife and my kids. When we’re at dinner together, I’m very satisfied. I don’t want to do anything else. I love being in that moment. When I come home from a long day of work, like many of you, and I get cleaned up and grab a Diet Pepsi and a bag of potato chips and sit in my chair — I’m pretty content. I don’t want to go anywhere.

I think about when I finally find the right pair of shoes. And some of you are thinking, “Oh my goodness, I can’t believe the pastor’s talking about shoes in church.” And there are some of you thinking, “Oh my goodness, I can’t believe the pastor is talking about shoes and church — these are two of my favorite things combined together.” When it comes to finding the right pair of shoes, for me it’s not so much about style as function. I want to find the right pair that goes with both casual and dressy. And once I find that right pair, I don’t have to buy another pair for like a year. And I’m content. I’m satisfied.

As I began to think about this, there are certain things this life and this world offer that do bring satisfaction — that are fun, that are good in moments. And so I added something to the phrase that I mentioned, and it’s this: everlasting satisfaction can only be found in Jesus Christ.

Only in Jesus. I believe that to be true because of who we are in Jesus and what we cannot lose — and also when we compare that to what the world offers but cannot give. So if you have your Bibles, open up to 1 John chapter 2, verse 12.

Who we are in Christ and what we cannot lose. First of all, let’s read verse 12. John says: “I am writing to you little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.”

I like how John writes. He obviously wrote the Gospel of John, these letters — First, Second, and Third John — and also the book of Revelation. And when he’s writing to this audience — the original recipients of this letter, and also us as we read it — he uses this term of endearment. You see it in other parts of this letter too. He says, “I am writing to you, little children.” It’s almost like when you’re talking to your kids. Sometimes you say, “Go do this.” But sometimes when you want them to know you care for them, you put your arm around them and say, “Listen, let’s go do this together.” And that’s the feeling John’s trying to portray.

Little children, your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. Everlasting satisfaction can only be found in Jesus Christ because first and foremost, we are forgiven. The most fundamental and comprehensive statement that John can give to us is: your sins are forgiven. This cannot be taken. This cannot be confiscated. This cannot be repossessed. This cannot be taken by force. What God has given freely may never be taken. That’s a pretty incredible thing.

Doubt cannot diminish this truth. We may wonder — can God really forgive me of this sin? Indeed, he can. That’s the power of the cross. It’s easy for us to allow God to forgive us of past sins. We might even think God’s going to forgive the sins of the future. But it’s harder for the ones in the present. You mean God can forgive me for the thing I’m currently dealing with? The one that’s caused such a mess, created so much dysfunction? Yes. God can forgive us of that.

Not only do we find satisfaction in Jesus Christ because we are forgiven, but we also know the Father. This is why we can find everlasting satisfaction in Jesus Christ. John goes on in verses 13 and 14. And now he broadens the audience he’s writing to: “I am writing to you fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you young men, because you have overcome the evil one. 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 men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one.”

So John is saying: there are different types of people in church. There’s the younger crowd. There’s the middle-aged crowd. There’s the seasoned veterans — those who have seen a little bit more life. John is addressing all of these age groups, but the message for each group applies to all of them. And John says to them: you know the Father. You know him.

When I hear that, it seems a little difficult for me to comprehend the fullness of that statement. When it comes to understanding that my sins are forgiven, I can understand that a little bit more because my sin is always in front of me. The sin of just selfishness and wanting what I want right now — just last week I was at the lumber yard waiting for my truck to be loaded, and they have this tool area inside the building. Not like the normal tool area at Home Depot, but special tools and accessories you use when you’re building. And as I’m looking over there waiting, I see a tool belt. And I think to myself: man, that’s a nice tool belt. And I look longer and closer and think: I kind of want that tool belt. And then the thought pops into my head: I think I might even need that tool belt.

The sinful side of me, the fleshly side, is always right before me. I didn’t get it — in case you’re on pins and needles. I already have two. That’s the reasoning I finally came to: Ben, you already have two. You don’t need a third one. Okay, now you know my thing with shoes. Now you know my thing with tool belts.

But when it comes to knowing the Father, it seems a bit more lofty to me. And I think the reason is because no one has ever really seen God face to face. We read about how some of the disciples saw Jesus transfigured on the mountain. We read about Moses seeing the back of God as he was walking by. But we have not seen God face to face.

But when we understand that satisfaction can be found in Jesus Christ and that Jesus has taken away the penalty of our sins — which is eternal separation from God — we now have the ability to know the Father, the God of the universe, the one who makes heaven heaven.

I turned 50 last year. On that birthday morning, I was journaling and I started realizing I might be on the second half of my life now. And then I started thinking — I might be on the last third. But in reality, I could be on the last week, the last day. And one of the things I was thinking about was heaven. I realized: I want to know more about heaven. By the time I get there, I want to be so excited for it that I can’t wait to breathe my last in order to breathe my first in his presence.

Because when it comes to heaven, I seem to have more questions than I do answers. Questions like: Will I see my grandpa when I’m there? Will I be able to talk to people I read about in the Bible? Will I be able to ask Elijah what it was like to ride the chariots up? What type of work will I do in heaven? What will the weather be like? These are questions I have. But you know what makes heaven truly extraordinary? You know what makes heaven heaven? It is the God of the universe. God is what makes heaven heaven. That’s what’s so amazing about it.

And John says: you know the Father now — when you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have access to the Father. And why is that important in the idea that satisfaction can only be found in Jesus? Well, Jesus had it as a goal that we would know him. He says in John 17: “O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name and will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Jesus wanted us to know the Father — to experience him in all his greatness and wonder.

But not only are we forgiven, not only do we know the Father, but we are also victors in the faith. And let me read the two verses I already read, because they deal with this point. “I am writing to you fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you young men, because you have overcome the evil one.” Next week we’re going to be talking about the evil one, the Antichrist, the many antichrists, the last days. He goes on to say: “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 men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one.”

Because of Jesus Christ, we are victors in the faith. Now, you may not use that language often. I don’t usually sit at the dinner table and say, “You know what, you’re a victor in the faith.” But the Bible uses that language a lot, doesn’t it? Talks about how we are more than conquerors. Paul talks about fighting the good fight. In Ephesians, we read about the armor of God. This language is important for us to understand.

And the truth that we are victors in Christ is also important because we can become oblivious to the fact that there is indeed a battle going on. There’s a battle in this world between good and evil for the souls of people. The enemy would like nothing better for us to fall into the deception that things aren’t that bad or that there isn’t really much of a struggle. There is a struggle going on.

2 Peter 3:9 says: “God is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness, but he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance.” Jesus said in John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” And 1 Peter 5:8: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” This speaks of an incredible battle taking place. But here’s something else to understand about this battle and about being victors: it’s an unfair fight. And do you know why? Because Jesus has already overcome and already won. And so when he says we are victors in the faith, that should bring us freedom. That should bring us joy. That should bring us hope — because we know that Jesus has overcome the enemy and one day he will end it finally and Satan will have no power anymore.

So who we are in Christ allows us to understand that everlasting satisfaction is only found in him. But then John turns a corner. He begins to take who we are in Jesus and compares it to the things of this world — what the world offers but cannot give.

And that’s when we find in verse 15, John says: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

I was with some of our young adults — our 25 to 35 group, we meet on Sunday nights — and as I read that, one of the gals in our group said, “Ben, why does John say here, ‘Do not love the world,’ but then in his gospel, the most famous verse of all, John 3:16, he says, ‘For God so loved the world’? Why does he say the opposite?” That’s a great question. And I’m sure you already have an inkling of the answer.

When John talks about “the world” in 1 John 2, he’s not talking just about the world that God created in order for us to understand his greatness and his fullness — even though the world right now groans to be made new, as we read in the Bible. What he’s talking about when he says “the world” here is the evil system under the control of the evil one. Satan has great influence in this world — in what we experience every day, in what we digest on the news, at the movies, everywhere we go. Satan has influence. And what John’s saying is: do not love that.

And he uses love in a very specific way — not selfless love, which is what he means when he says “love your neighbor as yourself” — the willingness to do whatever it takes to care for another person, to put them first. The love he’s talking about here is a selfish love. One that pursues what might be forbidden. One that pursues something that’s going to please yourself regardless of how it affects another person. And so John says: do not love the world. In fact, he goes so far as to say: if you are loving that way, the love of the Father is not in you. Because here’s the truth: the world cannot give you what you need.

We may live in this world and look for a lot of things. All of us as human beings look for validation. And if we don’t find that validation in the appropriate things, we can look through all other avenues to try to find it — to find that value we’ve been looking for. You find it and see it in all kinds of things: shoes, clothing. That’s going to make me someone. The latest and greatest phone. Watches, vacations, cars, homes — you fill in the blank. It’s the idea of materialism: having something is going to produce fulfillment, contentment. But the world cannot give you what you need.

The world also cannot give you what it promises. John goes on in verse 16: “For all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world.”

The desires of the flesh — I understand that as indulgence. I want it now because of the feeling it produces in me. As much as I can have of it, no matter the recourse that will take place. The desires of the eyes — those coveting eyes that will take whatever they see regardless of what it costs monetarily, regardless of what it costs relationally. We see this take place all the time in marriages. Affairs take place because the desire of the eyes takes over and for some reason we feel we need this, we deserve this. And it wreaks havoc in our lives and our marriages.

And he goes on to say the pride of life — vanity. Self-worth in who I am is more important than who God made me to be and what God desires of me. This is what John is talking about. This is not from the Father — it’s from the world. It’s all about self. It’s all about finding fullness and satisfaction in whatever we experience today.

But the world cannot give you what it promises, because we all know that pursuing those things will one day no longer fulfill us. Unfortunately, we tend to look to the things of this world especially when life isn’t going that great, when we’re struggling. We look for something to bring fulfillment, to bring satisfaction.

I think of my wife and I early in our marriage. One day we had an argument — it was my fault, I can even remember that far ago. And it was the same day a friend of mine and I were supposed to go snowboarding. We weren’t doing well, we were frustrated and couldn’t see eye to eye. But it was time to go, so I said, “We’re going to have to talk about this later.” I went snowboarding with my friend. We get up to the mountain and I’m feeling down and sad and poor me. And all of a sudden I look across at the shop and I see these amazing snowboarding gloves. And I thought to myself: you know what’s going to make me feel better? Buying those snowboarding gloves. It’s going to make me have a great day of snowboarding. So what did I do? I bought those gloves. And guess how long they kept me happy. Not very long. All of a sudden I still felt the same way. And to make matters worse, we were making pennies at that point — we were early in our marriage — and in order to buy those snowboarding gloves at the resort, which is never a good idea, I had to put them on the credit card. Which made matters even worse.

Here’s the thing: stuff cannot bring fulfillment and satisfaction. If we pump a lot of time and energy and money into something, eventually we’re going to have to put more and more and more into it. I don’t have the funds to buy enough snowboarding things to stay satisfied. But it’s not just snowboarding equipment. Sometimes it’s our vacations — vacation is the only time I feel good about life, and so we spend countless dollars on it. My image is the only thing that makes me feel good, and so we spend time, effort, and money on that. You fill in the blank. The world cannot give you what it promises.

And here’s the other part. The world cannot give you what will last. John says in verse 17 — and this is important: “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

The world is passing away along with its desires. You know what? You can’t take your stuff. We can’t take our stuff. It just doesn’t work that way — as hard as we try. From the beginning of time, it’s a proven fact: you can’t take your stuff.

But whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Regardless of where we find ourselves on whatever end of the spectrum, the truth that everlasting satisfaction is found in Jesus Christ is accurate. It could be in difficult moments, it can be in positive moments — because not all things are bad. And I’ll speak to that in a moment.

When it comes to the difficult end of the spectrum, my wife and I were talking about this a few weeks ago and she said, “Baby, it makes me think of your mom.” My mom is a good lady. She’s a tough lady — in fact, she drove a forklift most of her working life, which I think is awesome. About three weeks ago, my mom lost her husband to cancer. They were married 31 years. Over the last few weeks, as I’ve been there with my sisters and all of our spouses and grandkids, we’ve been able to be with her and listen to her. She’d be sad, she’d be bummed out, and she’d say things like, “Who am I going to yell at now?” And we’d giggle and laugh. But the one thing she kept bringing up — which I thought was so amazing, because I have never experienced losing a spouse and I can’t pretend to know what it’s like — the one phrase that stuck out to me is: he’s with Jesus now.

It wasn’t what he left her that brought comfort. It wasn’t “Oh, we still have his favorite fishing pole. Oh, I still have his cologne.” It was none of the stuff that brought comfort. It was who he was with, and who his faith was placed in, and who her faith was placed in that brought true comfort. This world has been ravaged by sin. We see it everywhere. But sin speaks the loudest in death. And in that moment, the world has nothing to offer. Nothing. Satisfaction can only be found in Jesus Christ.

That’s the difficult end of the spectrum. But at the positive end of the spectrum, you may be thinking: “Man, Ben, sometimes when I hear these lessons, I kind of feel defeated.” And that’s not the point of this message. You may find yourself in a moment in life where things are very good — and that’s great. You may be in a marriage where you love your wife or you love your husband. You like holding hands even still after all these years. You may like your kids, enjoy being around them. You may be in that sweet moment where you get to hold your baby and feed them on the couch. That’s a sweet moment. You may be in a flourishing career. Fantastic. Life doesn’t always have to be bad. And it does not mean that we cannot enjoy the good things. But it’s a matter of the posture of our heart.

My wife and I were on vacation last month. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been trying to make it a goal to understand more about heaven. On our trip, I was reading one morning — typically on our vacations my wife sleeps in a little bit later than I do, which is great, she gets her rest and I get the time to read and walk and do whatever I’m doing. And that morning I was watching the ocean and the palm trees and I began thinking: God, why is it so great here? Why do we just love being in this place? And I started thinking about heaven, and heaven is going to be great, but I also enjoy being with people right now. I like my kids and my wife now. I like being able to work right now. It’s fun. I like having a Diet Pepsi and a bag of potato chips. All these different things are enjoyable.

And then I read this line when I was reading about heaven: those good things in life that we get to experience, when done with a correct posture of the heart, are foretastes of heaven. And I thought: man, that’s it. The good things in life are to project and propel me forward.

As I’m having dinner with my wife and my kids and enjoying those relationships, I can think: one day I’ll be able to have relationships with them and others in heaven who I’ve known in the past and have yet to come to meet — unhindered by sin. As I get to experience the great things of finding clothes to wear or buying something right next to the chocolate cookies and bringing it home, I can remember: one day we will be clothed in heaven in our new bodies, unable to experience decay, difficulty, a waist size that doesn’t grow anymore.

When I think about money, and we get to make money — sometimes a little bit, sometimes right in the middle, sometimes a lot — as we have that money because it’s necessary to survive in life, it should propel us forward to the fact that we are storing up for ourselves treasures in heaven.

So we have the difficult end of the spectrum that helps us remember: this is not our home forever. Our home is in heaven with the God of this universe. And we have the great moments in life when we’re like, “These are really great. I don’t want to miss these moments. Let’s take a picture.” They propel us forward to how much sweeter it will be in heaven.

You may think: “Oh Ben, that’s nice. But thinking about heaven is so far away. How am I supposed to prepare for something that distant?” It shouldn’t be that difficult. In fact, it’s in our nature to do that. Ecclesiastes talks about how God set eternity in our hearts. And you can see that in how we live our lives from when we were young.

Because we’ve always had this idea of preparing for what’s later, anticipating what’s going to happen. When we were young, we thought: one day I’m going to take my training wheels off. One day I’m going to ride a big bike. One day I’m going to be in junior high, in high school. And it seems so far away. But you know what? You got there. We think: one day I’m going to have my license and drive anywhere I want to go. You got there. One day I’m going to get married. One day I’m going to have kids. Seems like such a distant thing. You got there.

And some of you are thinking like me: one day I’m going to retire. And so I’m preparing for retirement, putting aside money in whatever number account they call it. And it seems such a distant thing. But there are some of you now who wake up and think: what day is it? It doesn’t even matter. I’m retired. You got there. It became a reality.

And so when we think about heaven being far away, it’s not. It’s right around the corner. The enemy — and we’ll talk about this again next week — would love to say, “Hey, it’s too far away. You don’t have to worry about those things now.” No. It’s in our nature to do that. And the enemy would love to distort what God has placed in our hearts — the idea of eternity.

Everlasting satisfaction can only be found in Jesus Christ — because of who we are in him, and also because of what the world offers but cannot give. And so the question I have for you to think about today is: what’s competing with that truth? Perhaps as you’re with your family today, with your friends this week, with your small group or even at work — how might life change if you ask those questions? This message was about everlasting satisfaction being found in Jesus Christ. Is that true? What is competing with it? What has become the God in your life? Is it Jesus, or is it something else you look to for satisfaction? That’s a question only you can answer, and one that you and the Lord can have dialogue about.

I appreciate you guys being here. There is a baptism class taking place at 12:30 — signs out here will direct you where to go. If you need prayer or would like to ask for prayer, the prayer room is open. And if I haven’t met you, I’d love to say hi. I’ll be up here right after we’re done.

Let me pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for who you’ve made us to be and who you have allowed us to come to become. And Lord, I pray that as we deal with the difficult things of life and also deal with the blessings of life, they would point and direct us to you — that we would rest in your grace, rest in your mercy, and understand more about you each day. I pray that you would allow us to continue thinking about these things, in the word that you implant in us. Watch over these folks, encourage them, keep them safe this week wherever they’ll be headed. Lord, we love you and we thank you. Pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.