1 John - The Word Made Flesh

1 John - The Word Made Flesh: Introduction & Chapter 1

Text

1 John 1 (KJV 1900)

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;

(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;)

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.

And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Have congregation read the chapter with you...

John’s Defends the Original Gospel

It is important to realize several factors when reading the first epistle of John:

1.) John wrote in defense of the truth.

2.) John prioritized love within his writings

3.) John’s text points toward two opposing forces; that is, darkness and light

(1) John was defending against Gnosticism

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) (Gnosticism)

the thought and practice especially of various cults of late pre-Christian and early Christian centuries distinguished by the conviction that matter is evil and that emancipation comes through gnosis

The Gnostics saw God as incomprehensible, unknowable and most importantly, transcendent.

In other words, Gnosticism sees the material world as evil and the spiritual world as divine. Further, they believe that one can only be saved through divine revelation or gnosis.

To recap - Gnostics believe that the material world is evil and the spiritual world contains the divine. A person can only be saved through a divine revelation - that divine revelation is filled with false doctrine and polytheistic elements.

Revelation 2 discusses the Nicolaitans - these were early Christians that fell into the gnostic-like false doctrine.

Docetism - this word is an important idea to the formation of Gnosticism in the second century. Docetism defined -

Jesus didn’t really come in the flesh, but came as a spiritual illumination that people could see. The transcendent or spiritual could not cross into the physical barrier.

John is writing in direct opposition of such an idea

1 Jn 1:2 “(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;)”

Let us look at this in parts -

FOR THE LIFE WAS MANIFESTED - The Life was God, which was manifest through Jesus Christ

The Apostles had bore witness to God manifest in the flesh and reported it to the recipients of the letter

The eternal life - the thought of God - “which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us”

The Spirit was originally with the father and was then manifested to the eye witnesses

Here we see Apostolic authority in action, as the author had experienced Jesus in person. He identifies that the thought or logos of God had indeed manifested himself in the flesh.

THIS WAS JOHN’S TESTIMONY

Let us look at Jn 1:14 - hence, the Gospel of John supports his first epistle to Ephesus as being a reaffirmation of true doctrine. As we will see later in 1 John 2:19, the ones spreading false doctrine came from out of the church. They did not, however, remain within the church.

They were no longer followers of the Apostles or their teaching.

This is a dangerous place to fall within the church today

Not to scare anyone, but the same spirit that deceived believers in the 1st century still is present and alive today.

Some aren’t to the point of denying that Christ is God verbally, but they dance on the line through:

Backsliding

Compromising core doctrinal truths

A failure to guard their heart

2 Jn 10-11 “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”

It is vital to understand that Christians would typically house traveling evangelists in teachers. What John is saying is this: those who enable false teaching are guilty in partaking in it.

(2) John Prioritized Love Within His Writings

1 Jn 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

Many of us will recall -

1 Jn 4:8 “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

John wasn’t throwing around the word love like our world does today.

He wasn’t talking about:

Two teenagers making eye contact for the first time and becoming attracted to one another

The love between a husband and a wife

Or even the love between a father and son

Agape means divine love that only God can produce within a person. However, agape still has a reactive nature that can be seen -

1 Jn 3:17 “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?”

The word used once again is agape. Agape doesn’t run out and shouldn’t be hindered from being poured out.

The darkness of greed can hinder agape from being in operation within one’s own life. This spiritual malignity can be present in the poor or the wealthy.

1 Jn points to something important when it comes to ‘divine love.’ - Fellowship

Here John is not talking about fellowship with those in the world or even people yet to be saved. He is simply talking about fellowship with those within the Church.

We all have sinned and none of us are blameless

If we do not love one another John simply states, “the light is not in you...”

Not having the light is a dangerous place to be. It’s a place where one’s Holy Ghost is and must be brought to question.

How can someone love again - in the terms of Agape, be filled with the Holy Ghost. Secondly, forgive.

Matt 6:9-12 “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

It doesn’t say forgive us with more grace and mercy than what we forgive our debtors, but it states, “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

Jesus implies that forgiveness is a two way street -

We are forgiven as we forgive others. The Scripture doesn’t leave a lot of room for harboring hatred, in fact it identifies it as a disqualifier for entering the Kingdom of God (today and the future) according to Gal 5:19-21.

With this being said, we ought to be able to fellowship with Christians. If we cannot fellowship with those who are in truth, the question is raised theologically - are we full of light?

(3) John’s text points toward two opposing forces; that is, darkness and light

Discuss how antiquity would use two polar opposites to define good versus evil

To walk in the light results in fellowship - one key factor that will tell if someone is running into trouble will be isolation.

Those who walk in the light aren’t trying to hide anything in the dark. Usually, they are comfortable being transparent because what you see is what you get.

Being filled with the spirit will cripple sin’s hold on one’s life…the key is to stay that way as temptation is everywhere within the world.

Closing

1 John 1 calls the believer to understand that we saved through Jesus Christ who was God manifest in the flesh. Without a death, there could be no atonement for sin. Without the Word of life, no one could inherit eternal life.

When in the light we will fellowship with those in the church.