I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, little children, because you know the Father.
I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one: "Young men" represents that group of strong Christians who have attained greater maturity than the babes in Christ yet less maturity than the "fathers." This group is the in-between group, mature but not the most mature. John states that he is writing unto this group "because ye have overcome the wicked one." John certainly did not look on the devil as some kind of abstract force of evil in the world; he saw him as an evil personality, and he is so depicted throughout the word of God. He is "the accuser of our brethren" (Revelation 12:10), "a liar" (John 8:44), "the prince of this world" (John 12:31), and our "adversary" (1 Peter 5:8). Several other titles describe the evil character of this very real entity. Here he is called "the wicked one." Wuest says there are two words for the idea of wickedness: