The Word of Life - 1 John 1:1-4
Introduction
The letter of 1 John deals with the basics of our faith and Christian life. Throughout the letter John answers the question, “what does a Christian look like?” I hope with this series we can better understand what it means to know Jesus. Birds have wings, cars have tires, kangaroos have pouches, and true believers in Christ also possess objective traits and characteristics. Most of us know people who once professed faith in Christ, now they no longer live like it. John shows us how our present actions reveal what we really believe. John wrote this letter to professing Christians (5:13). But throughout the letter, He gives verification standards for salvation so we all can have assurance.
The Passage
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. 1 John 1:1-4
Summary of the Passage
1 John and Hebrews are the only two letters in the NT that does not give the typical opening we are familiar with. John begins assuming you know who he’s talking about, “what was from the beginning.” Notice how similar this sounds as what John said in his gospel.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. John 1:1–2
John isn’t talking about a thing or an idea, but a person John saw, heard, and touched. The word was in the beginning with God (John 1:2) and that’s who John is talking about in verse 1 of our letter. Jesus is the word of life.
And as Jesus’ disciple, John spent time with Jesus. He and the other apostles heard his voice, they looked at his face, they touched him with their hands, and they saw him with their eyes. Take note how John tells his readers “I know Jesus is real because I heard, saw, and felt him.”
John wants his readers to know who He knows. He knew Jesus and Jesus knows God the father and God the father gives life through fellowship with Jesus. This morning let’s consider how the triune God brings eternal life to us. All three persons of the trinity work bringing eternal life.
The Son Is Eternal Life
Have any of you been slandered? Has someone spoke lies about you? When we get doctrine wrong, we slander Jesus. If you get Christ wrong, you get the Christian faith wrong. Two common ways people misunderstand Jesus is by diminishing his deity or by diminishing his humanity. But when you get Jesus’ deity or humanity wrong, you don’t get eternal life.
John saysthe word of life was before the beginning (v.1). Jesus existed before He was born. Who else can say that? I was born in the 90s. I can’t say before I was born, I saw the moon landing on TV. But Jesus can say before Abraham was born, I am (John 8:58).
People fool themselves when they ignore Jesus like He is merely some dude, not the eternal God. I’ve heard unbelievers say something like “if Jesus is real, pray to him to make me a millionaire.” What they don’t realize is that part of Jesus being eternal means He is unphased by the petty demands of people who are here today and gone tomorrow. The Jews mocked Jesus for claiming to be the true temple, Jesus waited 40 years to destroy the temple. 200 years ago, secular scholars claimed the Bible erred historically because no archeological evidence existed of these Canaanite tribes. Jesus waited a few decades and centuries, then allowed evidence to be unearthed. Our belief in Jesus doesn’t make Him true. Jesus is eternal life whether you believe He is or not. So, John explains the first half of eternal life by explaining Jesus’ deity.
John then explains Jesus the man, who brings eternal life. John ate with Him. He walked with him. Jesus patted John on the shoulder with a real hand that would one day bleed. John wants us to know for certain, he didn’t imagine Jesus. John saw him, not in a dream, but with his own two eyes (v.1). Jesus had a voice you could recognize, a gate in his walk you could notice. Jesus was a real man and still remains a real man.
The earliest heresy to attack the church was called Gnosticism, which held that the physical world was evil, and the spiritual world was good. Some thought perfect Jesus couldn’t have been born in a physical body. They believed if you learned this secret knowledge, then your spirit would be free. John comes in to set matters strait. Knowledge will not save you, but Jesus does. Eternal life begins in the spirit, but it doesn’t end there. Jesus rose from the dead in a real body, so eternal life is much more physical than we think.
Today, we fall into a form of Gnosticism when we say a person must follow a special ritual in order to get saved. “They need to say a certain prayer, they need to have a certain preacher pray over them.” “We demand children enter the kingdom with the understanding of pastors instead of pastors entering the kingdom like children (Matthew 18:3).” Brothers and sisters, magical prayers don’t save, neither does personal feelings, but Jesus and He alone. One question we must ask throughout this series is: do you know Jesus?
The Father Gives Eternal Life
God gives eternal life. God promised it in the first pages of Scripture. In Genesis 2:9, God planted the tree of life along with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I believe if Adam would have succeeded in his mission and not sinned, God would have granted him the tree of life. Since he sinned, and plunged all his descendants into sin, we crave eternal life, but it remains absent. But now, the second Adam, Jesus, offers us that in Himself. Jesus is eternal life.
Sometimes we doubt God wants fellowship with us. This is where our idea of earning our salvation makes sense to us. “If I can just prove to God how good I am, maybe He will let me into heaven.” Brothers and sisters, God offered eternal life from day one. And the reason He kicked Adam and Eve from the garden after their sin was because He loved them. If a sinful man could live forever without fear of physical death, he would always reject God because his sin is spiritual death. God cursed us with physical death so that we would see our spiritual death. Yes, God judged, condemns, and punishes our sin. But even in judgement, God offered eternal life.
The Spirit is the Fellowship of the Eternal
In verse 3, John reports the news about Jesus so that his audience can have the same fellowship he has. John has fellowship with God the father and Jesus Christ. He wans you to have the same fellowship. Koinania, the word translated fellowship, literally means have in common. You may wonder, where’s the holy spirit? I believe the holy spirit is the fellowship. He’s what the Father, Son, and every true believer shares in common. This fits with what we see the Holy Spirit do.
We all know John 3:16. But do we know John 3:5?
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. John 3:5
In order to receive Christ, the Holy Spirit must first work and give you rebirth. Notice the word, “unless” in John 3:5. We ignore this teaching to our peril and the peril of our children. Too many times, we’re anxious to declare someone converted because they say they want to follow Christ. Great! But are they saying that by the Spirit, or are they saying it like Judas did? Eternal life is not a mere decision by us. Eternal life is Jesus Christ given by God the father and applied by the Holy Spirit.
When you have the Holy Spirit, you have a fellowship with God and Christ. Also, when you have the Holy Spirit you are given the fruit of the spirit, which begins with love and joy. This shows us true spiritual joy is only full when its first shared. A mark of true Christian faith is sharing God’s joy. I believe this is one major reason why some people never find a church home. They’re demanding other Christians share their joy before they ever share theirs. But that’s just not how Joy works. For you to receive joy from the spirit, you must first give it. For you to be filled with Joy, you must first empty yourself. I’m not saying there isn’t stodgy, selfish, sinful churches. They exist. But we should also acknowledge God gives grace to stodgy, selfish, sinful people. They’re the ones Jesus came to save (Luke 19:10; 1 Timothy 1:15). My message to any of Christian demanding the church should first offer peace, joy, and love in order for them to be a part is this: a church that doesn’t share joy shows evidence of God’s condemnation, but so do you for doing the same thing. True conversion results in fellowship with God and His people. So, anyone claiming conversion without fellowshipping with God and the church, their salvation remains doubtful.
In short, in order for us to receive true fellowship God must first give it. God makes the first step in offering life, saving sinners, and securing fellowship. We live in that joy that He shares by sharing it with others.
Conclusion
This series we will dive into God saving sinners. What He says will comfort us because only He secures salvation. What He says may also trouble some of us because He gives clear evidence of what salvation looks like. Today, let’s simply remind ourselves that God the Father gives us the Son, who is eternal life. And we can only experience that eternal life through the work of the Spirit. This week let’s begin living that life that will have no end.