This is Real!
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The Beginning of Life
The Beginning of Life
John’s First Epistle is like a family photograph album. It describes those who are members of the family of God.
Just as children resemble their parents, so God’s children have His likeness too.
This Letter describes the similarities. When a person becomes a child of God, he receives the life of God—eternal life. All who have this life show it in very definite ways.
For instance, they acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they love God, they love the children of God, they obey His commandments, and they do not go on sinning. These, then, are some of the hallmarks of eternal life. John wrote this Epistle so that all who have these family traits may know that they have eternal life ().
13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Doubtless they knew each other well. Another remarkable thing about this lovely book is that extremely deep spiritual truths are expressed in such short, simple sentences, with a vocabulary to match. Who says that deep truth must be put into complex sentences? We fear that what some people foolishly praise as “deep” preaching or writing is merely muddy or unclear.
[1] MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 2307). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
Believer’s Bible Commentary IV. Background and Theme
Background and Theme
At the time John was writing, a false sect had arisen which became known as Gnosticism (Gk. gnōsis = knowledge). These Gnostics professed to be Christians but claimed to have additional knowledge, superior to what the apostles taught. They claimed that a person could not be completely fulfilled until he had been initiated into their deeper “truths.” Some taught that matter was evil, and that therefore the Man Jesus could not be God. They made a distinction between Jesus and the Christ. “The Christ” was a divine emanation which came upon Jesus at His baptism and left before His death, perhaps in the Garden of Gethsemane. According to them, Jesus did die, but the Christ did not die. They insisted, as Michael Green put it, that “the heavenly Christ was too holy and spiritual to be soiled by permanent contact with human flesh.” In short, they denied the Incarnation, that Jesus is the Christ, and that Jesus Christ is both God and Man. John realized that these people were not true Christians, and so he warned his readers against them by showing that the Gnostics did not have the marks of true children of God.
According to John, a person either is a child of God or he is not; there is no in-between ground. That is why this Epistle is filled with such extreme opposites as light and darkness, love and hatred, truth and lie, death and life, God and the devil. At the same time, it should be noted that the apostle likes to describe people by their habitual behavior. In discerning between Christians and non-Christians, for instance, he does not base his conclusion on a single act of sin, but rather on what characterizes the person. Even a broken clock tells the correct time twice in every twenty-four hours! But a good clock tells the correct time regularly. So the general, day-by-day behavior of a Christian is holy and righteous, and by this he is known as a child of God. John uses the word “know” a great many times. The Gnostics professed to know the truth, but John here sets forth the true facts of the Christian Faith, which can be known with certainty. He describes God as light (1:5); love (4:8, 16); truth (5:6); and life (5:20). This does not mean that God is not a Person, but rather that God is the source of these four blessings. John also speaks of God as righteous (2:29; 3:7); pure (3:3); and sinless (3:5).
While John does use simple words, the thoughts he expresses are often deep, and sometimes difficult to understand. As we study this book, therefore, we should pray that the Lord will help us to grasp the meaning of His word and to obey the truth as He reveals it to us.
Background and Theme
These Gnostics professed to be Christians but claimed to have additional knowledge, superior to what the apostles taught.
They claimed that a person could not be completely fulfilled until he had been initiated into their deeper “truths.”
Some taught that matter was evil, and that therefore the Man Jesus could not be God.
They made a distinction between Jesus and the Christ. “The Christ” was a divine emanation which came upon Jesus at His baptism and left before His death, perhaps in the Garden of Gethsemane.
According to them, Jesus did die, but the Christ did not die. They insisted, as Michael Green put it, that “the heavenly Christ was too holy and spiritual to be soiled by permanent contact with human flesh.”
According to John, a person either is a child of God or he is not; there is no in-between ground.
That is why this Epistle is filled with such extreme opposites as light and darkness, love and hatred, truth and lie, death and life, God and the devil.
At the same time, it should be noted that the apostle likes to describe people by their habitual behavior. In discerning between Christians and non-Christians, for instance, he does not base his conclusion on a single act of sin, but rather on what characterizes the person.
Even a broken clock tells the correct time twice in every twenty-four hours! But a good clock tells the correct time regularly.
So the general, day-by-day behavior of a Christian is holy and righteous, and by this he is known as a child of God.
While John does use simple words, the thoughts he expresses are often deep, and sometimes difficult to understand. As we study this book, therefore, we should pray that the Lord will help us to grasp the meaning of His word and to obey the truth as He reveals it to us.[1]
[1] MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 2308). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
I Seen Evidence (1:1)
I Seen Evidence (1:1)
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
a. Some Tangible Evidence (1:1)
None knew better than John that Jesus of Nazareth, the living Christ of God, was the eternal, uncreated, self-existing Word made flesh.
He was certainly no phantom. John had already put it all in writing in his gospel. Indeed, the first three verses of this letter appear to be a capsule summary of that gospel.
But a basic difference can be found between John’s gospel and his first epistle: the major emphasis in the gospel is on the essential deity of the Lord Jesus Christ; the major emphasis in the epistle is on the essential humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He was God. He was man. He was both!
Just so with the Lord Jesus. His deity and His humanity were perfectly proportioned and balanced. He was “God manifest in flesh” to such an extent that we can tell neither where His deity ends and His humanity begins nor where His humanity ends and His deity begins. As we trace His life on earth, as recorded in the four Gospels, we never note him acting now as God and now as man. He always acted as God and He always acted as man.
See Him, for instance, as He sat by Jacob’s well near Samaria. He was “wearied with his journey” (), revealing His humanity. Along came a woman from the nearby town. He asked for a drink because He was thirsty—further evidence of His humanity. But within a few minutes He was telling this woman, a complete stranger, all about her guilty past. Such supernatural insight is evidence of His deity. Where does the one end and the other begin?
I was there saw it!
See Him in Simon Peter’s boat. Again He was tired and went to sleep ()—evidence of His humanity. Shortly afterward a storm threatened to sink the vessel, but He commanded the howling winds and the heaving waves to be still, producing a total, absolute calm—proof of His deity. Where does the one end and the other begin?
See Him, next, in the stricken Bethany home. His friend Lazarus had just died and been laid to rest. His grieving sisters were inconsolable. John tells us that “Jesus wept” () and that He “groaned in the spirit and was troubled”—evidence of His humanity. A few minutes later He commanded dead Lazarus to come back to life—evidence of His deity. Where does the one end and the other begin?
You can not take that away from me!
Far from beginning and ending, the two natures were, in fact, so blended they evince that ever and always He was both God and man—the God-man.
John begins there. He does not introduce himself, nor does he follow Paul’s style and sign his letter. Rather, he gets right down to business: “That which was from the beginning,” he says. Here, beginning refers to the Incarnation, at which the wonderful story of Christ’s invasion of our planet begins.
John’s gospel begins with similar words—“In the beginning was the Word” ().
John continues, exclaiming, “We have heard! We have seen with our eyes! We have looked upon! Our hands have handled!”
The humanity of the Lord Jesus was genuine enough, as well John knew. So much for the “high sounding nonsense” of the Gnostics ().
John had heard Jesus speak many times, had seen Him with his own eyes, and had looked upon Him year after year.
Out side CCTV and DNA evidence an eyewitness account is the most accurate
The disciples were alarmed, thinking He was a ghost. He put their minds at ease and laid the imagined “ghost” to rest by inviting them to “handle” Him (), to assure themselves that He was real, that His body was solid and substantial. He also ate food before them to further convince them that His resurrection body was real. The word John used for “handle” () conveys the idea of moving one’s hands over a surface, so as to feel its texture. Doubtless, too, John recalled the Lord’s resurrection invitation to doubting Thomas to handle Him ().
John had drawn very close to the Lord and had often touched Him. Earthly monarchs like to keep their distance from their subjects and rarely allow them to come close. Not so Jesus. John, who was the closest to the Lord of all the disciples, actually leaned upon Jesus’ breast during the Last Supper (). Little wonder that John had no patience with the heretics who denied the actuality of the Lord’s body.
John describes Jesus as “the Word of life,” as “the Logos of life.”
In his gospel he says that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” ().
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The Word had adopted a new mode of being and “dwelt” (“tabernacled,” “pitched His tent”) among men. Moreover, as the tabernacle in the wilderness had been crowned with the Shechinah glory, so the Lord Jesus carried with Him everywhere the aurora of another world, the glory of His Father in heaven.
The Word! Thoughts remain invisible and inaudible until they are clothed in words.
With words, what we think and feel and are can be known. And just as our words reveal us, so, too, the Lord Jesus, as “the Word of life,” clothes and reveals the great thoughts and feelings of God regarding our sin and our salvation.
We saw it it was really real
Illustration ----- I saw the president, I saw it happen
saying this is no phantom
John, then, offers tangible evidence.
We have seen God work.....
My life
MY finances
My children
II Supernatural Evidence (1:2)
II Supernatural Evidence (1:2)
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
The Life which the apostles proclaimed is intensely personal.
Not only has that Life appeared, but it is nothing less than the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to people. The Incarnation is unquestionably in view[1]
The life Jesus manifested before His family, His disciples, and the world was a supernatural, eternal life, the life of God Himself.
“For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.”
Changing water into wine at Cana in - "the first of the signs"
The life Jesus manifested before His family, His disciples, and the world was a supernatural, eternal life, the life of God Himself.
Healing the royal official's son in Capernaum in
Healing the paralytic at Bethesda in
Feeding the 5000 in
Jesus walking on water in
Healing the man blind from birth in \
The raising of Lazarus in
27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!
“The life was manifested,” John recalls.
The life Jesus manifested before His family, His disciples, and the world was a supernatural, eternal life, the life of God Himself. That is why He said to the Pharisees who were plotting His death, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (). The truth of Jesus’ statement was displayed at Calvary. When all the relevant prophecies were fulfilled, He sovereignly dismissed His spirit () and died of His own volition.
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (). The truth of Jesus’ statement was displayed at Calvary. When all the relevant prophecies were fulfilled, He sovereignly dismissed His spirit () and died of His own volition.
“The life was manifested,” John recalls. The word he uses for “manifested” is emphanizō, meaning “to shine,” “to bring to light,” “to show plainly.”
The word he uses for “manifested” is emphanizō, meaning “to shine,” “to bring to light,” “to show plainly.”
The Lord Jesus, then, has displayed eternal life in terms we can understand.
For three and a half years John and the other apostles saw the life of God manifested in the life of Christ.
They saw One who was absolutely good and wholly without sin, feasting their eyes upon His miracles and lending their ears to His words.
They saw One who was completely unselfish, who never lost His temper, was never hasty, thoughtless, or unkind.
They watched Him as He “went about doing good,” never having to apologize for anything He said or did.
He was humble and holy, loving and lowly, and patient and pure. His wisdom, love, and power never ceased to amaze them.
He was never at a loss, never taken by surprise, never wrong, and He treated all men alike—rich and poor, powerful and weak, friend and foe—He loved and cared for them all.
He had command over demons, disease, and death, could turn water into wine, and make loaves and fishes multiply in His hands.
A word from Him and tempestuous winds and waves were hushed to rest. He could walk upon the waves or walk through solid walls and had eyes that could see through all of life’s little disguises.
He healed people with a word and never lost a case or charged a fee.
Speaking the truth without fear or favor, he taught the truth with an unparalleled pungency and potency. He was never deceived, never discouraged, never dismayed.
Such was the life He lived. Eternal life was manifested, and John declares himself and the other disciples as witnesses to it all.
His life and his miracles were exposed and for all to see!
It was not for the elite or the chose but for all.
John is saying this real stuff that can be denied...
III Relational Evidence (1:3–4)
III Relational Evidence (1:3–4)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
Good News (1:3)
All this is very good news indeed, and John tells us how true it all is: “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you,” he says (1:3a).
Our common fellowship is based up our relationship with Christ...
He further tells us how tremendous it all is: “that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1:3b).
John’s gospel sets forth the life of God in Christ; his epistle sets forth the life of God in us. We become partakers of the divine nature () when we are born again. Thus, the eternal life, which was inherent in the Christ, is now inherited by the Christian. And that inheritance makes it possible for us to have fellowship with the Father and the Son. Moreover, as we cultivate that fellowship, the life and likeness of Christ in us becomes evident to those around us.
Illustration here ------
In 1858, David Livingstone, already world famous, returned to Africa to find the source of the Nile. He reached the southern end of Lake Tanganyika in 1867 and moved on toward the interior of central Africa, then dropped out of sight. In 1869 the New York Herald sent Henry Morton Stanley on an expedition to find him. After many hardships, Stanley found Livingstone on October 28, 1871, and remained with the famous missionary-explorer until March 1872. These months made a profound impact on Stanley. He said,
In 1871 I went to him as prejudiced as the biggest atheist in London. To a reporter and correspondent such as I, who had only to deal with wars, mass meetings, and political gatherings, sentimental matters were entirely out of my province. But there came for me a long time of reflection. I was out there away from a worldly world. I saw this solitary old man there, and asked myself, “How on earth does he stop here—is he cracked, or what? What is it that inspires him?” For months after we met I simply found myself listening to him, wondering at the old man carrying out all that was said in the Bible—“Leave all things and follow Me!” But little by little his sympathy for others became contagious; my sympathy was aroused, seeing his piety, his gentleness, his zeal, his earnestness, and how he went quietly about his business. I was converted by him, although he had not tried to do it.[1]
We are given this new life in Christ so that we can have fellowship with God and with one another. The word used for “fellowship” here is koinōnia, meaning communion, sharing, having things in common.
What H. M. Stanley had seen was the life of God in one of God’s own.
The apostle Paul begins his letter to the quarrelsome Corinthian church by reminding the believers of their common bonds:
We are given this new life in Christ so that we can have fellowship with God and with one another. The word used for “fellowship” here is koinōnia, meaning communion, sharing, having things in common. The apostle Paul begins his letter to the quarrelsome Corinthian church by reminding the believers of their common bonds: “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1:9). He ends his second letter to this church with the often-quoted benediction, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion [koinōnia] of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen” ().
“God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1:9). He ends his second letter to this church with the often-quoted benediction, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion [koinōnia] of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen” ().
Fellowship was one of the spiritual pillars of the new-born church.
Those saved on the Day of Pentecost “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, and fellowship [koinōnia] and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” ().
Fellowship, however, is a tender plant. It must be nurtured and cared for and protected, or it can easily wither and die. Thus, one of John’s chief concerns in this epistle is to cultivate fellowship.[2]
At the very outset, John reminds us that we are brought into no ordinary communion. “Truly,” he says, “our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son.”
Glad News (1:4)
To be brought into fellowship with the various members of the Godhead, and with true believers everywhere, was not only good news, it was glad news. “And these things write we unto you that your joy may be full.”
John was fully aware of what a dark and dangerous world it was in which they were living.
The most horrifying persecutions attacked the church from without and the most heretical persuasions corrupted it from within. John could remember what had happened to Simon Peter when he had stepped out on the waves to walk on the water to Christ. When he took his eye off the Lord, he became overwhelmed by the perils all about him and would have sank beneath the angry billows and perished had it not been for Jesus ().
Believer’s Bible Commentary I. Prologue: The Christian Fellowship (1:1–4)
1:4 But why does John thus write concerning the subject of fellowship? The reason is that our joy may be full. John realized that the world is not capable of providing true and lasting joy for the human heart. This joy can only come through proper relationship with the Lord. When a person is in fellowship with God and with the Lord Jesus, he has a deep-seated joy that cannot be disturbed by earthly circumstances. As the poet said, “The source of all his singing is high in heaven above.”
That day, Peter and John and all the others had learned a valuable lesson: those things that threaten us are already under His control.
1:4 But why does John thus write concerning the subject of fellowship?
The reason is that our joy may be full. John realized that the world is not capable of providing true and lasting joy for the human heart.
This joy can only come through proper relationship with the Lord. When a person is in fellowship with God and with the Lord Jesus, he has a deep-seated joy that cannot be disturbed by earthly circumstances. As the poet said, “The source of all his singing is high in heaven above.”[1]
Is Christ real to you?
“Never mind threatening circumstances,” John says. “Get your eye on the Father and the Son and your joy will be full.” Joy, however, is not the same as happiness. Happiness depends upon what happens; joy wells up from within and is one of the fruits of the Spirit ().