1 John Chapter 1 — part one
Reading First John and getting lost in First John are two different things. One could meditate in this book for hours. And, if you’re having problems with doubts about where you stand spiritually, then First John offers lots of scriptural confirmations for changes that should be going on in your life as a Christian. As you read and study, you should find yourself experiencing conviction of sin or conformation and comfort.
Let’s look at how this wonderful book opens ..
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| what we have heard, |
What was from the beginning, | what we have seen with our eyes, | concerning the Word of Life--
| what we have looked at and touched with our hands, |
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John starts off trying to put into words something indescribable to human experience — but, something that human experience longs for and craves for peace! He rewords things a number of different ways, that stress two things: (1) the truth of what he’s found and (2) the wonderfulness of what he’s found.
But then, before he can finish his original thought, he gets momentarily side-tracked. And we find that this is a common characteristic of John. His writings are circular. He starts off with one idea, and goes to another before returning back to finish up the first idea. So, we see that he does this when he writes: concerning the the Word of Life. He’ll finish his original thought a little later on … but for right now, he leaves off that original thought to expound a bit concerning how real this Word of Life is … about how he was privileged to know it beyond any doubt — and about how knowing Jesus, the Word of Life, causes a tremendous change in his life. He now has fellowship with God the Father because of that Word of Life — and this has become his greatest joy — the only thing he lives for.
Let’s look at the points he wants to elaboration on concerning the Word of Life.
and the life was manifested,
and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life,
which was with the Father and was manifested to us--
To me, the focus above is not that of analytical proof about who Jesus Christ was. It is not the goal of John to write something that merely proves that Jesus Christ was from the beginning, or that He was the Word of Life, or the eternal life which was with the Father, (although He certainly was all of these things). John wants to go beyond that; he’s describing the miracle of a God-given privileged personal EXPERIENCE — that he enjoyed KNOWING GOD! He does have two main points, which are: First, Who Jesus was — He was that which was from the beginning, the Word of Life, that which was with the Father. But more importantly for John, his main point builds on that point, which was, That John knew Him personally!
John walked with God and talked with God. I could stop right here and entertain my mind for hours, just trying to imagine the joy of John’s experience. I could spend hours meditating on what it must have been like for John. What was it like to stand in his shoes? What was it like to be him, walking with Jesus? As John said, he was privileged to know what it was like to live with Jesus on a day to day basis; he gives a few examples of things that he was able to enjoy. He was able to:
- hear Jesus speak to him audible with a human voice
- actually see Jesus personally, with his own eyes on a day to day basis
- physically touch Jesus, in everyday routine things of life, like passing food
What could possibly be greater than experiencing a beautiful personal relationship with God? I’m not talking about a Sunday-School answer — I’m talking about a human’s heart’s desire answer. What desire could you possibly have that would be greater than the desire to walk with and talk with God Himself? Let’s list a few things that we think might be some of the greatest things in the world for us. How about these things:
- all the riches of the world; the ability to spend it in a modern age and a modern country
- any great human ability or talent ( intelligence, strength, sports skills )
- recognition / fame ( Olympic Medals, Hall of Fame Awards, Nobel Peace Prize, etc )
- the greatest luxuries/comforts of the world ( endless vacations, etc ..)
- physical pleasures ( finest foods, unlimited sexual experiences, alcohol or drug highs, etc)
- longest healthiest life
- any marvel of technology (iphones, gadgets, computers, cars, planes)
- in short, ANY thing that competes for the affections of your heart’s desires
For John, none of these things, ( or anything else ) could come close to the way that he treasured the relationship he found with God, with the Word of Life from the beginning, the eternal life which was with the Father! From the way that John opens this book, you would suppose that John felt like he was The Most Privileged Person on Earth to Have Ever Lived! And this is what he’s writing about. This is the way he introduces what he’s going to write about, this is the way he feels about what he’s going to write about.
Do we see it like he did?
If you’re catching a glimpse of this, then reading First John is going to make you homesick for heaven and for Jesus and for those who are also awestruck from meeting God in all His Glory, and unimaginable forgiveness, and love, and supreme holiness! If your greatest heart’s desires find themselves to be in agreement with John’s heart’s desires, then you are catching a foretaste of what it’s like to be in the family of God. However, if anything else seems to capture your hearts affections, perhaps something that’s listed above — and you find this relationship with Jesus Christ stuff something that sounds a little churchy — well, you’re not going to “get it”! You’re not going to understand what this book is all about.
what we have seen and heard
we proclaim to you also,
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Now, John states his purpose for writing about this wonderful experience of KNOWING THE LORD. It’s so that we too may experience the same thing that he does.
The desire to share this relationship, and for others to experience this relationship is something that’s absolutely essential for John’s own joy. Let’s try to understand that a little more fully. Let’s look at a historical account of a very interesting story from the Old Testament and then make some general parallels. In 2 Kings 7:3–9 we are told about a city where the children of Israel were living, Samaria. In this account we are told that is under severe siege. An enemy, King Benhadad, had mobilized his entire army and surrounded Samaria. Nothing is being let in — no food, no supplies. Folks are starving to death in that city. Some details are so horrible, I won’t relate them here, but to get an idea about how bad it was, here’s one such detail: they were so hungry that they were selling bird droppings for enormous amounts of silver, as if bird dropping were a source of food! Now, there are four lepers outside the city gates. Remember, that lepers were always outcast from cities. These four lepers form a plan at a chance to survive. They decided to walk into the enemy camp and surrender. They reasoned that if their enemies kill them, no big deal — after all, they are going to die anyway. But, if their enemies take them prisoners, at least they would get food and live. So they start approaching the camp of the enemy to surrender. Here’s what they didn’t know … during the night, God caused this army to hear imaginary sounds of another might army … quickly approaching them! These solders panicked and thought they were being attacked. They thought that the city under siege was being helped by their neighboring Egyptians and Hittites armies. And they fled very quickly ( 2 Kings 7:6–7). Got the picture? City of God’s people starving to death due to being surrounded by an enemy army. God causes the enemy army to run away over imaginary noises. And four lepers are headed to the camp to surrender. What happens next? Well, when the lepers entered the camp they’re shocked at what they find. Their was NO ONE AROUND! No Enemy, only an enormous abundance of FOOD, WONDERFUL FOOD, and wealth — silver and gold, and clothing! They went from tent to tent and ate and ate until they could eat no more. They hoarded silver and gold and clothing until they could carry no more. Now, what happens next is the whole point of this story. They realize how ridiculously selfish they are acting while their own kinsmen are still needlessly starving to death back inside of the city walls. They said to themselves, “What we’re doing is not right!” … they understood that THIS GOOD NEWS should not be kept a secret! They felt a great need to share this good news with their kinsmen that needed to hear it!
Do you see the parallel here? John had found the greatest thing ever to be treasured ever! Acceptance, forgiveness, fellowship, and relationship with the greatest person in the world — THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. This was all his! He’s feasting on this wonderful ultimate relationship — enjoying all the blessings of God’s love and an eternal life to come with God … inside spiritual peace that’s beyond human understanding — and real! He could not do evil in keeping this to himself! He fulfills his own joy by sharing it freely with everyone! His desire is for everyone to enjoy this much treasured fellowship with the Father in the same way he has! His love came from God, and this is the kind of love God has, the kind of love he found from God. He has this new desire to love his own with the same love he found from God. There’s new life in him, as a result of meeting God — there are many people who need to come into the family of God, and to treasure God in the same way that he does — this fulfills his joy! And God is glorified by this. The old nature would say: “I’ve secured my future with God, now you get your own — you problems are not my problems!” But, this is not the nature that John has anymore — why? because he has met God, he’s seen the beauty and glory of God — and he’s experienced the goodness of God. Therefore, he was born again, he was touched by that God, and received a fellowship with that. Do you relate to this?
These things we write,
so that our joy may be made complete.
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you,
that God is Light,
and
in Him there is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and {yet} walk in the darkness,
we lie and do not practice the truth;
but
if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light,
we have fellowship with one another,
and
the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin,
we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and righteous 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.
More to come …