The Beginning of Jesus

1 John 1:1-4 “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”

John was in his later years of life, and is thought to be with the people of Ephesus at this point in his ministry. This epistle was written after he was exiled on the Isle of Patmos, and after the famous revelation that John recieved. John was a writer to the Christian people. Whether you were Jewish, Greek, Roman, Syrian, it did not matter. John’s writings are all geared to go to people with one common background, Christ.

John starts off his letter by point straight to the gosples themselves. He says “that which was from the beginning.” He does not mean the beginning of time, but rather the beginning of Christ’s ministry. Although Jesus was there at the beginning of time, “Let us make man in OUR image” John 1:1-4 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

John 1:9-14 “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John was talking about the beginning of Jesus’s ministry which is when John would have been acquainted with Him.

So John starts his letter to the Christians by saying “Look, we have heard Him, we have seen Him with our own eyes, we have touched Him with our hands. He came down from heaven with the word of life for all people, and we experienced it with Him first hand. Everything that we saw, everything that we have heard, I will share with you so that you too may experience what life is like with Christ.”

He writes the book of 1 John so that people may experience salvation, and make certain that they are secure and following the Lord well.

Now, why do you think that John had to repetitively claim that He had experienced life with Jesus? To first give himself all the validation that is needed for people to pay attention to his words, and secondly in order that he might remind people that Jesus did exist.

Let me ask you a question. When was the first time you heard about Christ? When was the first time you heard about what Christ did for you on the cross? Do any of you remember a time that you did not know about Christ? I do not, but many people do. Many people do not hear about Christ until they are in their teens, 20’s, or 30’s. Some even later than that.

Put yourself in the shoes of someone living back in 90 a.d. Paganism of all sorts is the religion. Christianity is new to the scene. So most people are keyed into a false religion worshiping made-up gods. As Christianity began to flourish and take over the people, it would be met with backlash. Remember, it had been roughly 60 years since Jesus had been on earth. The majority people who John is writing to were not even alive then. So he had to make a stance for those who had never seen Jesus, but were placing their trust in Him on that day.

It makes me remember John 20:29 “Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.””

We will not see Jesus’s face this side of heaven, yet He still touches the hearts of His children here on earth. To enter eternal life we must have faith.

Saint Thomas Aquinas said “For those with faith, no evidence is necessary; for those without it, no evidence will suffice.”

Faith is believing without seeing fully.

You have to decide in your own life “am I going to trust God even though I cannot see Him.” or run the risk of falling into the crowd who denies God’s existence no matter the evidence presented.

Here is the activity for the night. Break into groups. You are going to search the internet for evidence of Christ’s existence. There is not loads, but you should find some.