1 John 1:1-4-
“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,

Concerning the word of life

The life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us

That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.”

Introduction

We began our study of these epistles by looking at the important background information that we must understand if we are going to get the most out of this study. We learned that the author was the Apostle John, the one whom Jesus loved. We talked about his life, and particularly about his important pastoral ministry to the 7 churches in Asia Minor.

We then went on to talk about his purpose in writing. Do you remember what that purpose was? – to combat the heresy of docetism that had developed from the gnosticism rampant during the first century. This heresy denied the dual nature of Christ by stating that Jesus was not manifest in the flesh, with the result that the gnostics gutted the Gospel that John had labored so hard to bring to these people.

We noted that John’s approach is to battle these deceptions with the force of the truth rather than to engage in hand to hand combat with the arguments of these wolves. He boldly sets forth “the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.” (1 John 1:1) In other words, John refutes by better instruction. He thrusts out error by confronting it with the reality it denies.

This type of teaching draws strong lines around what is true, forcing John’s hearers to make choices based on this truth. Those who are children of God are drawn to this truth, and any confusion in their minds is eliminated.

Let’s move on now to begin our examination of the text.

That Which Was From the Beginning

You have undoubtedly noticed that I presented the openning verses of this in a slightly different format than normal. I did this for a reason- to help us understand what John is communicating to us in these verses.

The first phrase- “That which was from the beginning,” stands alone in completeness. It is interesting to note that John did not say “He who was from the beginning.”

Why do you think he used “that” here rather than “He?”

The use of “that” here rather than “He” teaches us something about how John understood the nature of Christ. If John had used “He” we could conclude that Christ had but one nature, that of Godhead which existed from the beginning. Or we might conclude that there was one person from the beginning, and another who was seen or heard in the flesh, but that these were two different beings.

The use of “that” signifies and sets forth the dual nature of Christ. It expresses the eternal nature of Christ, and equates that eternal nature with God. He goes on then to describe the sensual aspects of Christ by saying that they, the Apostles, heard, saw and touched Christ. These are expressions of the Apostles’ interactions with the human nature of Christ.

By expressing it the way he did John teaches us that there were in Christ two natures, one which was from the beginning, and one which was heard and seen. In other words, there is the eternal and the sensual, both in Christ, and with no confusion of properties. John thus teaches that Christ was both from the beginning (eternal), and he was something seen and heard (temporal).

This first phrase can be read by itself as almost a title to the letter, and a statement of the great matter that John is addressing here. Remember that he is writing from his presuppositions, and what he believes about the origin of Christ and thus His nature. This base forms the foundation of what he is going to communicate to his readers throughout the rest of the letter.

What does he mean here by the word of life? What is he referring to?

In his gospel he uses a similar phrase. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . And the Word became 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.” (John 1:1, 14)

Notice that in these verses from His gospel the word “Word” is capitalized and is obviously referring to Christ. (See also Rev. 19:13) While here in the epistle the word “word” is not capitalized, so it is referring to something else.

John’s use of “word” here in his epistle is similar to other uses of this phrase by other New Testament writers. (See Phil. 2:16; John 6:68, and Acts 5:20) In these instances it is synonymous with “the Gospel,” the message of new life which the Apostles bear witness to and have experienced in its life giving power.

This is the same life that animates all of creation, from the largest star to the smallest creature living in the soil beneath our feet. John witnessed the supreme manifestation of God before his very eyes. He saw it, he heard it, he touched it. It is the only source of true life for all of mankind.

So we have the word, the Gospel, that which was from the beginning, entering into the Creation and taking on sensual form. It was thus manifested to man.

Manifested to Us

It is with great energy or enthusiasm that John asserts the actuality of this revelation. Three times in three verses he reiterates “we have seen,” twice he states “we have heard,” and twice “the life was manifested.”

Why such passion? Why is John so emphatic in his words?

The great truths that John is presenting here have been attacked, ignored, doubted, or denied by men through history. This is because any thinking man, if he fully understands these truths, will have great difficulty wrapping his mind around them accepting them. A mind which is not surprised and sometimes staggered by the claims of Christ and the doctrines of Christianity has not awakened to their full importance.

Remember Thomas after the resurrection? (see John 20:24-29) He met the report of the other Apostles about seeing Christ with the words, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” There is a sense in which he was so overwhelmed by the magnitude and significance of the facts being asserted by the other Apostles that he could not accept them until he came face to face with the facts himself. What was his reaction when he did? “My Lord and my God!” (vs. 28)

How much better is this type of reaction than what we see in our day. Today we see an unthinking, easy believism that accepts enormous theological truths and the deepest mysteries of the faith without so much as a blink of the eye.

The result of this easy-believism is that these great truths and doctrines are trodden under foot, ignored, disregarded as out of date, treated by many in the church as commonplace, rather than for the profundity that they deserve.

Either that or, sadly, modern men view the doctrines and truths of the faith as all being centered upon them- as if Christ died just to save them rather than to give glory to the Father. When faith is man-centered the result is that everything else in the faith is seen in terms of men and how it will benefit them. This produces a stunted and ineffectual faith.

John here knows that the truths he is declaring require the strongest evidence possible because they are so deep and profound. He has not believed them easily or lightly, and he does not expect his readers to do so either. His is a faith which is calm, rational, and discerning; a faith which understands the importance of historical truth.

He was perfectly certain of the things he attests, and believes them based upon commanding and irrefutable evidence; evidence both natural and supernatural, intellectual and sensible, experiential and practical.

Already by the time John was writing this epistle the detractors and deniers were circling the churches like wolves. As we have mentioned, the gnostics and their children were already hard at work undermining the historical accounts of Christ and the doctrines which the Holy Spirit had built on these facts. “How could an infinite, eternal god take on human flesh? This is impossible. It doesn’t make any sense at all!” Christ’s incarnation, His miracles, His resurrection and ascension were all spiritualized away as symbols of higher truths, and not something that really happened.

Sound familiar? We have these rationalists with us today. These gnostics and materialists are with us yet. They gut the Gospel and the faith by denying or spiritualizing the historical facts of the faith (ie: framework hypothesis).

John boldly confronts these men with his impressive declaration. Behind this declaration lies the whole weight of his character, intelligence and personal experience with Jesus. How can men today argue with him? “I tell you,” he says, “we have seen it with our eyes, we have heard it with our ears, we have touched and handled these things at every point, and we know they are so!” (see 1John 5:20)

Those who built the early church and wrote the New Testament were not fools. They knew what they had seen and heard. They knew what they were talking about. And God has born witness to these men through the ages by putting His seal on their testimony. And these are the truths John now manifests to us in this epistle. Why? That our joy might be full!

That your Joy may be full

In the first lesson of this series we referred to a verse in 1 Cor. 1:10- “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

We learned from this verse that true unity is only found only when it is based upon truth. And it is developing that unity that John is concerned with in this letter. That is why he is so emphatic in these verses about communicating the truth.

What is the basis for our joy with one another? Where does it stem from?

True joy is found in our fellowship with God through Jesus Christ, and our fellowship with our Christian brothers. (Ps. 16:11; Acts 2:42; Phil. 1:4-5) Founded upon the facts that John declares here is fellowship for men, both divine and earthly. John takes great delight in communicating these truths because he knows what the result will be. He has a strong desire to see this fellowship established. And it should be our delight as well.

What does John mean here by joy? Where does it come from?

Some people understand this term to mean the state we will enjoy when we get to heaven. But John, I believe, is being more practical here. I believe he means the joy we have here and now in the Holy Spirit because our sins are forgiven and we have fellowship with God and with our brothers.

This joy comes from:

  1. It is a joy which is spiritual, not only because the objects of it are spiritual (ie. union with Christ), but also the benefits which we reap from it are spiritual (ie. adoption, holiness, righteousness). But it is also spiritual because it is principally developed in us by the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 14:17)
  2. It is joy which arises from a conscience which is at peace with God and with men (Rom. 5:1-3). This peace arises from the knowledge that we have been justified before God (Ps. 51:8-12).
  3. Union with Christ (1Pet. 1:8). By faith we have been joined with Christ and receive all the benefits that come from that union (Eph. 1:14).

And this joy is not just partial joy, but it is fullness of joy. It is not like the joy we experience in this life, but is more full than that (Ps. 4:6-7). The joys of this life are fading and empty when compared to the joy we have in Christ.