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A STUDY IN 1 JOHN (9)

The Reality of the Word of Life

1 John 1:1-4

Victor M. Eskew

 

            In 1 John, we will learn that “many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).  The ends of false teachers are many.  One of their ends is to destroy the joy of Christians.  This was one of the consequences of the gnostic teachings of the first century.  They taught that Jesus, the divine Son of God, did not actually manifest Himself in the flesh.  Can you imagine what the Christians who heard this teaching thought?  They had made the good confession that proclaimed to the word that Jesus is the Son of God (Matt. 10:32; 16:16; Rom. 10:9-10).  Was the confession they had made a false confession?  Those who said they were endowed with knowledge, the gnostics, said that it was.  Surely, the Christians were saddened to hear these words.  John’s epistle was written to counter this consequence.  In 1 John 1:4, he writes:  “And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.”  Thayer defines the word “full” as “to make full, to fill up, to fill to the full.”  John wanted his readers to have the joy that Jesus came to give (See John 15:11). 

            John opens this epistle confronting the gnostic heresy.  In 1 John 1:1-4, he establishes “The Reality of the Word of life.”  John’s remarks center upon three main thoughts:  The Word, The Witnesses, and The Writing.  Let’s examine each of these thoughts in the remainder of this article.  In verse one, John sets forth this name of the Christ, “the Word of life.”  There are seven things John notes about Him.  First, he calls him “the Word.”  John had already used this description of the Christ in his gospel.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).  Words are used to describe concepts.  Jesus was sent forth into the world in order to describe the heavenly Father.  The Hebrew penman said that Jesus is “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person” (Heb. 1:3).  Jesus told His disciples during His earthly ministry:  “…he that hath seen me hath seen the Father…” (John 14:9). 

            Second, John told his readers that the Word was “from the beginning.”  Jesus existed prior to the creation of the heaven and earth.  He is an eternal being.  As John reveals in the opening verse of his gospel:  “…he was God” (John 1:1).  The third description of the Word in 1 John 1:1, is found in these words:  “the Word of life.”  Jesus came to give life.  “…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).  “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14:6).  Fourth, John revealed that Word was “manifested.”  In fact, he notes this fact two times in 1 John 1:2.  “For the life was manifested…and was manifested unto us.”  Strong defines this word as “to render apparent.”  Thayer’s definition of the word hits the nail on the head:  “to make visible or known that which had been hidden or unknown.”  No man had ever seen God.  “…the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18).

            Fifth, John referred to the Word as “eternal life.”  Jesus’ purpose transcended this world.  He came to give all man the ability to live forever and ever.  Only deity who is eternal can provide the blessing of eternal life.  Sixth, John assured His readers that Jesus was eternal.  He said that the Word had been “with the Father.”  The word “with” is important.  It reveals that the Father and the Word are two distinct beings.   They are not one and the same.  Seventh, John assure those first century believers that he is writing about the Son of God when he speaks of the Word of life.  The apostles confidently believed these six things about the Word.  This belief, he says, gave them “fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).  If John’s readers adhered to this belief, they, too, could have fellowship with the Father and Son as well.

            Having described the Word, let’s look at “The Witnesses” of this Word.  How could John be so confident that Jesus was God in human form?  It was because he had ample evidence.  “…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…and we have seen it, and bear witness…” (1 John 1:1-2).  God gave man five senses that enable him to accurately experience the world and the things that are in it:  hearing, seeing, taste, touch, and smell.  John said that he and the other apostles had experienced Jesus using three of these senses.  Their ears heard His words.  With their eyes, they looked upon His physical body.  In addition, they had literally touched the body of the Son of God.  This kind of testimony is what some might call “ungetoverable.”  In order to disqualify the witness of the apostles, one would have to prove that these men were not credible witnesses.  This has never been done by anyone.  These were good, honest, men who had absolutely no reasons to lie.  Too, their lives prove that they believed the things they proclaimed.  All but one of them sacrificed their lives for their beliefs. 

            The third point John makes in these opening verses involves “The Writing.”  What the apostles heard, saw, and touched was made known to the world.  John said:  “(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and shew unto you eternal life…” (1 John 1:2).  In verse three, he writes:  “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you…”  The words “shew” and “declare” are the same Greek word.  The word means:  “to announce, to bring tidings, to declare, to make known openly.”  The apostles announced their message to the world in two ways:  the oral word and the written word.  Ultimately, the written word was the declaration left to the world.  This letter was to be part of that final revelation.  John told his readers:  “And these things write we unto you…”  The written revelation would provide a permanent record of the testimony of these witnesses. 

            Yes, the gnostic teaching attempted to steal the joy of faith from the first century Christians.  John was not going to let that occur.  He told those early believers that he and the other apostles had personally evidenced the reality of the Word of life.  They heard Him, saw Him, and touched Him.  He was not a figment of their imagination.  He was a real man.  God was manifested in the flesh.  When those disciples heard those words, their joy could truly be full.