1 John Bible Study: A War to Keep Christ's Image Intact (1)

1 John Bible Study: A War to Keep Christ's Image Intact

Beginning Text:

1 Jn 1:1-5 “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.”

Lesson Connection:

Gary Burge, in his commentary states the following -

“George Barna reports that in the United States over 90 percent of the population believes in a God or gods that have power over the universe.7 As a result, religious tolerance and experimentation are commonplace. Furthermore, when asked if all of the world’s religions essentially prayed to the same God, 64 percent of the adult public agreed. In the Christian church, among those who called themselves evangelicals, 46 percent agreed, and among those who labeled themselves “born again,” 48 percent agreed. Among adults who simply called themselves “regular church attendees,” fully 62 percent said that they believed all religions essentially prayed to the same God. This is astonishing. Within the pews of America’s churches, two-thirds of the people do not believe in the exclusive character of the Christian message, and almost half of all evangelicals say the same.”

Burge, Gary M.. The Letters of John (The NIV Application Commentary) (p. 57). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.

So let me break down what Burge was essentially saying:

If I go and remove 1/3rd of our chairs, that is how many of you would say that Apostolic Pentecostals pray to the same God that Muslims, Mormons, or even Jehovah’s Witnesses pray to.

Too often we fail to see that people have reimagined Christ in what they desire for him to be. However, this is not a new thing to be done. You see, those opposing John’s church did the same thing in his day. Yes, Pastor - even the Apostle John struggled with problem saints that like to cause trouble. These saints, however, were far from saints according to John’s epistles. They were more than problem saints, but secessionists that decided that they would change the image of Christ into something more acceptable for their day.

According to Barna, what amount of church goers believe that the same Christ is worshiped across all religions? 2/3rds

If you will, they were looking for a more likable Jesus. One that the community could get along with. One that would make them feel good even when they were doing evil in the sight of God.

What experiences have you had where you’ve noticed people changing Christ’s character into something that conforms into what they desire rather than what is in Scriptural?

John 3:20-21 “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

Nicodemus was a Pharisee meaning he was one of the spiritual elites of his day. We know that the Pharisees believed in life after death, where the Sadducees did not necessary believe in life after death. John 3:20-21 takes place during a conversation at night with Nicodemus, where Jesus had laid out the salvific message. In reply to one of Nicodemus’ messages, Jesus identifies that those who do evil hate the light because their deeds will be rebuked.

With this text in mind, my mind goes back to an occasion I had with a fellow believer. I can recall how he attended a large nondenominational church within the area on Sundays, but when we went TDY for work he would go chasing after women and often had two or three women staying with him at the hotel during our trips. While he was not married, this is still fornication which is a sin according to the Word. For many, they find Christ convenient when they want to be saved, but fail to represent him to those who are still in need of salvation. For many, they think they’ve began a relationship with Christ, but yet fail to have his Spirit.

If we aren’t careful, we can become so religious in our mindset that we see ourselves untouchable by sin. The reality is God takes pleasure in the humble. James 4:6 states, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”

John 3:20-21 tells us that those who hate the light do not come in the light because they don’t want there sins to be reproved

Understanding John’s Opposition

Let us look to the first verse of 1 John - “That which was from the beginning.” John was referring to Jesus - the Jesus that they had seen with their eyes and touched with their hands. We should understand that Jesus had been present with the disciples both before and after the crucifixion, whereas John portrays this a very real experience.

(Idea taken from Parsenios’ commentary) Two things we should note in regard to 1 John is 1. the similarities to John 1:1 and 2. the legal essence behind the phrase used in this text.

1. “In the beginning”

John uses this in his Gospel to identify the character of who God was. We know that the logos is defined as the original thought behind something. How many here have ever built something? Now let me ask you this, would that thing have ever been built if you didn’t think about it first? Or at least someone else who designed the directions you used?

The answer to that question is no. Someone’s thought is just a thought until it is put into action; hence, John 1:14 “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.” Jesus was the logos or thought of God made flesh.

What is interesting is that Paul identifies in 1 Cor 2:11-12 that the spirit of a man knows what is going on in their own mind, where the Spirit of God know’s the mind of Christ. Such a reality shows that through Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, we may know the mind of Christ. Philippians 2:5 states,“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”

The logos was the mind of Christ, where Christ was God manifest in the flesh.

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1 Cor 2:11-12 “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”

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John was making parallels to Genesis in the Gospel, whereas the epistle was making parallels to the witness of Jesus by the disciples.

Notice:

1 Jn 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;”

We would seemingly point to the Apostles testimony, as we are not guaranteed that everyone in the Johannine community had seen or touched Jesus. However, it very well may have been that the community of “our” had handled the word of life, which was the gospel of Jesus Christ.

By calling upon the beginning, John was identifying the original belief of Christ’s image that the community was following. Such image was formed through the testimony of those who had witnessed Christ.

Today, your testimony can be used to impact many. Your experience through the Holy Spirit demonstrates a personal witness with Christ that this world needs.

2. The Legal essence of “In the beginning”

The term in the beginning was used both in legal settings and dramatic settings. In a drama, the phrase’s usage signified that a full narrative was about to follow.

However, due to the defensive nature of this letter it could be seen that this letter is legally defending the truth. John’s testimony coupled with this phrase indicates that a defensive case was being made for the Christ that had been seen, touched, and experienced by the Johannine community and the original 12.

The question now is: who is the opposition that John is writing against? Further, is he writing against them or exhorting the Johannine community to stay in the light?

The opponents of the Johannine community were “Proto-Gnostics” or Docetists. Let us define these terms -

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.

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;)”

Jesus was flesh and blood, where we should understand that he was full God and fully man.

The primary argument that John is writing against is Docetism.

Conclusion

Today, we fight the urge of modern society to change the image of Christ. Living in a Post-Modern Society, people see facts as relative. In other words, they think truth is malleable or able to be changed based on how they interpret something. For instance, they think truth is defined as one thing as seen by one person and another for a different person. Truth is no longer seen as an exact science, but that which left up for debate.

When reading 1 Jn, we should understand that truth is defined by God.

1 Jn 1:6 “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:”

1 Jn 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

1 Jn 2:4 “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

The Gospel is how one would interpret the meaning of truth:

Jn 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Jn 14:17 “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

Jn 15:26 “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:”

Here we should understand the truth is defined by being Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus’ Spirit would lead disciples to truth rather than error. 1 Jn talks of a spirit of error, which we will get into in the following weeks.

Next week we will be discussing “Walking in the Light” and then touching on the “Antichrist” based on the teachings of 1 Jn.