Life, Fellowship, and Joy in the God Man

Intro

Written by the apostle John

probably in Ephesus

probably in the 90s AD

about 60 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus

all the other apostles are likely dead, 25 after Paul died

It seems that some heretical sects have begun forming and preaching false gospels

Irenaeus wrote about Cerinthus, John fled bathhouse in Ephesus

John writes this letter to a group of churches to further establish them in gospel truths.

In the introduction of this book, we see three foundational truths set down for them.

God became man

We have fellowship with the God man

Our fellowship completes our joy

God Became Man

1 John 1:1–2 “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

State:

This is a claim that has become common amongst Christians because this is one of the most basic doctrines of our faith. Claiming that Jesus is the God Man is one of the first truths we confess, and to deny this is one of the quickest ways to be removed from the church.

But just because this claim has become common amongst Christians, we shouldn’t let the enormity of the statement evade us. This claim is as large a claim as we could make, and this claim has been the stumbling block for countless people over the years.

There are many who have denied Christianity because they cannot believe that Jesus is God; in this category would be Arians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Muslims, just to name a few.

There are also many who have denied Christianity because they cannot believe that Jesus is Man; in this category would be the Gnostics, the Docetists, and other Dualist groups.

For either group, they deny Christianity because we proclaim the unthinkable: that Jesus is the God Man; not in some Roman demi-god kind of way, but in the sense that the eternal and almighty God took on flesh and so exists as both fully God and fully Man in one person forever.

This is the doctrine that John sets forth here as the introduction to this letter.

That he is God

That which was from the beginning

and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father

John begins with the claim which is very similar to the start of the gospel of John: that Jesus is no mere man, but is eternal. Before he was man, he has always been; he is from the beginning.

He is the eternal life, and he has always been with the Father in heaven.

In claiming this, John bestows immense glory upon the name of Jesus. In fact, there can be no higher glory given to anyone than this: to claim that he is eternal with the Father.

At the time of writing, it seems as though this was not the doctrine being attacked. It seems that there was understanding that Jesus was God, which led to difficulty with the other side of this doctrine.

And for a moment, we can understand why some might have difficulty understanding this; the idea that God became Man is a mindblowing truth

That he has become Man

which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands,

the life was made manifest, and we have seen it

But the Apostle John makes the next part clear: that which is eternal has become physical, that which was invisible has become visible, the intabgible has become tangible.

In other words, the eternal Son of God has entered time, the creator of everything has written himself into creation. The impassible God has made himself susceptible to hunger, thirst, pain, and other fleshly weakness.

Consider the immense humiliation of the Son of God

Illustrate:

Apply: The further humiliation: obedience to the law, stripped naked, whipped, spit on, abandoned, death on a cross.

I have had conversations with muslims about my faith, and this is always their biggest hangup with Christianity. They ask me, “do you really think God could become a man? Its unthinkable! God deserves so much better than this!”

To which I respond, yes, I do believe that God became man, but can I tell you why he did that?

Its this “why” question that John answers for us in the next couple of verses, and for much of the rest of the book.

We Have Fellowship with the God Man

1 John 1:3 “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.”

State:

The Apostle John says that he has been an eyewitness to this jaw-dropping event which has occurred, and that he has himself touched God in the flesh, and he says that what he has experienced he now proclaims to others so that they could be brought into fellowship.

John says that the purpose of God becoming man was so that we could have fellowship with God the Son and God the Father.

God humbled himself so that he could join sinners to himself in purity. What amazing love!

How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that he would give his only Son to make a wretch his treasure

So its fellowship that Jesus was after; but what kind of fellowship? What does this teach us about our faith?

First, we are told that we have fellowship with one another

Fellowship with one another

that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us

The gospel message is meant to be a window into the gospel community. This is something that is made abundantly clear everywhere you look in the Scriptures, starting with the very first sermon that was preached by the leading of the Spirit in Acts 2. When people believe in the gospel, they are brought into the community of the church.

When Jesus made us into fishers of men, the practice was not just a catch-and-release. The goal wasn’t simply to get conversions and then go on your marry way. We see that the gospel transforms people’s lives and brings them into fellowship with one another.

But this isn’t just any old fellowship. This isn’t a country club membership, or a social group where we get together and watch football or play games together. Our fellowship is a specific fellowship,and John goes on to explain the fellowship that we are brought into.

Fellowship with the God Man

and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

The fellowship with the church is not beautiful simply because it is a religious organization with good music and motivating speeches.

The fellowship of the church is beautiful because our fellowship is with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.

This is the goal of us proclaiming the gospel. Beginning with the Apostles as eyewitnesses, and passed down to the church fathers, and so on and so forth all the way to us, the gospel is proclaimed in order to reconcile the world to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

This is the power of the gospel, which is proclaimed to those who are far off from God so that they might be brought near.

Ephesians 2:11–13 “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

Illustrate:

Apply: Consider this: Jesus took on flesh so that sinners like us could be in communion with a perfect God like him.

By becoming like us, Jesus became our representative and took our sin upon himself.

If you have never heard the gospel message, or if perhaps your ears have grown dull to it over time, take this moment right now to consider the power of the gospel message.

Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, humbled himself by taking on flesh so that he could save sinners like you and restore you to fellowship with God. That means that you, dear sinner, if you trust in Jesus Christ, have perfect fellowship with the Father at this exact moment. No longer are you an enemy, but you have been brought into the fold.

Have you ever seen this kind of love before? Could we even dare to attempt to imagine a greater love than this? No, this is surely the pinnacle of love.

And it might seem superfluous to say it at this point, but Im going to make the point anyway because John makes it:

Fellowship with the God Man completes our joy.

Our fellowship with the God Man completes our Joy

1 John 1:4 “And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”

State:

By being brought into the fellowship of believers, and into this fellowship that we have with God, our joy is complete.

The first point to be made here is that our fellowship results in joy. Its far too often that we hear things today like, “I love Jesus but hate the church,” or, “I believe in God, but I don’t really have time for the whole church thing.” What does this communicate? It communicates that we have a tendency to view the fellowship of believers as a burden rather than a joy, but this is wrong. When you read through the Scriptures, the fellowship the believers shared may have been messy, but it was certainly joyful.

Not only is it joyful, but according to John, this fellowship that we share with one another and with God actually COMPLETES or FULFILLS our joy. This isn’t just something thats fun for a while, this is the peak of joy — to share fellowship with one another and with God. There is no greater joy in the whole world.

Philippians 2:1–11 “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Illustrate:

Apply: Perhaps some of you have experienced what I’m talking about. I hope that more than some of you have been able to experience this and would agree with this.

But I recognize there are probably some here who might want to agree with me, but this has simply not been their experience. And what do we do with that? What do we do when we’re told that our mutual fellowship with God completes our joy, but our lived experience tells us that its more of a chore? If we do begin to feel that the fellowship of believers has become a burden, what are we to do?

I would suggest that we reassess what our fellowship is really based upon. When you come together, is it really fellowship with God that you participate in?

Because I can absolutely see a world in which spending time with the church could become burdensome; in fact I admit that this has been true for me at different times.

If when we are young we come together simply to play games, well then games get old.

If when we grow older we go to church because its become our habit, then it becomes mundane like every other habit.

If we go to Sunday school to talk theology, but we just have vain discussion and quibble over the meanings of words, then it could easily begin to feel like wasted time.

If we volunteer our time simply to fulfill our obligations, then we could easily grow bitter and burnt out.

But, what if we took a minute to refocus our attention? What if we remembered that we don’t have mere fellowship as the world would describe it? What if we remembered that when we come together, our fellowship is with the God who took on flesh to rescue us from sin and bring us into fellowship with himself?

Then what if we didn’t just try to keep our kids around with fun games, but we actually opened their eyes to the wonder and amazement of the God who died and resurrected for them?

What if we remembered that Sunday mornings are just habits, but sacred times when God’s Holy Spirit lifts us up to worship the almighty God with the angels in the heavenly places?

What if we go to Sunday School not just to quibble over theories, but to dig deeper into the wonderful truths that are saving us day by day?

What if we volunteered our time not to fill obligations, but to play our part as a member of the body of Christ so that we can participate in making disciples, maturing disciples, and multiplying disciples?

Then we would remember that our fellowship is anything but ordinary or burdensome; our fellowship is with the almighty God who saved us, and it is life-giving to us.

We might say, along with John, that this fellowship completes our joy; the ultimate joy which has been delivered to us by our faithful savior Jesus Christ.

The almighty God became Man, and he has brought us all into fellowship with himself — praise God for this life-giving truth, and for this church where we live in this fellowship with one another!