MESSAGE - 1John 1:1 – JOHN’S TESTIMONY OF PERSONAL INTERACTION
INTRODUCTION
We are going to embark on a journey of exploration in the First Letter of John with select passages from this letter. John is a very loving writer and had an intimate knowledge of his Lord that remained and matured over the 65 or so years since the Lord ascended into heaven.
John wrote his three letters, The Gospel of John and the Apocalypse (Book of revelation, all around the year AD 96. Today we will begin the Letter with the opening verses.
{{1John 1 v 1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life - 1John 1:2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us - 1John 1:3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.}} These verses speak of inclusive fellowship which is what the members of The Body of Christ have. The passage deals with the fellowship existing between Father and Son, and our fellowship with the Father and the Son. Verse 4 states the reason why John wrote this letter – {{1John 1 v 4 “These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.”}}
JOY THAT IS MADE COMPLETE
Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit and God does not want us to be joyless. There is a difference between joy and happiness. I remember a line from a Sunday School chorus, “Happiness happens but joy abides in the heart that is stayed on Jesus.” We are emotional beings and battle with this joy and happiness and I like to think of it this way – Happiness is like the butterflies that flit in and out of the scene, but joy is the earth below that is unmoving and stable.
The events of life affect our happiness. We can be happy and sad and fearful and just so many other emotions, but joy is like the deep well, secure and eternal and not affected by happiness. Therefore it is possible to be unhappy on the outside because of some calamity or tragedy or failure – the reasons are legion – but on the inside joy is that steadfastness that links us with God. I am reminded of a verse here that says, “We KNOW whom we have believed . . .” That is joy. It is settled in an unshakable faith and is able to watch the butterflies and storms come and go overhead, but is itself unaffected by those events.
You will notice though the wording John used here, “that our joy may be complete.” This word “complete” in the NASB means to cram up as if stuffing clothing into a case, and also means to level up, such that the top has been reached and there is no more room for any more.
The Apostle John is very big on the joy in a Christian and is this any surprise? It is one of the fundamental teachings that he records in his Gospel that was written about the same time as his first letter. From where did he get this concept? Here are the relevant verses from the Gospel:
(a). We have John the Baptist speaking - John 3:29 “He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice, and so this joy of mine has been made full.”
(b). Jesus in the upper room or on the way there said this - John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” John 16:24 “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive that your joy may be made full.” John 17:13 “Now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world that they may have My joy made full in themselves.”
(c). In his second letter John stated this - 2John 1:12 “Having many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, that your joy may be made full.”
Now we must ask, “What were the things John refers to when he wrote, “These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete?” Well, the answer is not difficult. He has his thoughts and memories fixed exactly on his precious Lord. His Saviour and Friend occupied his whole being. That is the secret. Do you want this fullness of joy, a joy that is filled up? Don’t go around looking for it and trying one thing after another. There is only one thing you must do. Look at the Lord Jesus from the scriptures and feast yourself on the glorious facts of the Lord. Occupy your thoughts and mind with the blessed Lord. That is the way. There is no other.
Just one other thing before we leave the matter of joy in verse 4. You will notice in his statement that he includes himself. He did not say “your joy” but “our joy”. I find this very encouraging. John is not speaking TO his readers but sharing the common faith together. That is so wonderful. This is the simplicity of relationship, not some pontifical position sadly the church adopted later on. We should always relate to our fellow Christians, and preachers must do that. A preacher must not separate himself from his hearers. Never talk down to your hearers and readers.
Now we will look at these verses together to see the wonders here that will complete our joy so it may be full.
VERSE 1 EXAMINED
“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life –“
VERSE 1. This letter seems to begin in an unusual way with the translation “What” in the NASB and “That which” in the KJV and the NIV and ESV. That Greek word is translated in other places as “That which, whose, whosoever, whoever, what”, and many more. Of course, the context here makes it clear as to what John is referring. The link is made at the end of verse 1. What (or “that which”) was from the beginning, is the Word of Life. If you are confused, then think of it as “The One who was from the beginning, is the Word of Life”. What is lovely about the Apostle John is his preciseness. He personally knew the Lord Jesus Christ as The Word, and as The Life, so these things, he passes on.
In all his writing it is interesting to see the key aspects that are occupying John’s mind through the Spirit. Very much to the fore are those two words just mentioned, “The Word” and “The Life”. As they were so important to John and to God who ensured they were in the scripture, then the Lord as the Word and the Life must become very important to us as well. As John wrote elsewhere, when speaking of the Word, he said, “In His was life and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4)
There is a parallel in this opening verse here, with the opening verse in John’s gospel which is, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John is the only New Testament writer to call Jesus, “the Word”. In John’s long life, the Holy Spirit taught him many things, and these he recalled and applied to his time with the Saviour on earth, and he saw as clear as crystal that Jesus was the Word of God. It is the Word he sets forth, the Logos, who has come from God, into the world. There are parallels right through all of John’s writings, but this is not surprising because he wrote them all in AD 96 when he, himself, was thought to be about 90 to 96 years of age.
I repeat again, occupy yourself with the life in Christ Jesus as John did. It was crucial to John so it must likewise be crucial to us.
THE FULNESS OF JOY
Although the opening verses of the gospel and this letter are similar, there are distinct differences. In the gospel, he sets out, in the opening thoughts, Jesus as the majestic Creator, the sublime, Divine One rising above all of time and eternity, the One who came in flesh to bring us everlasting life. In verse 14 of chapter 1 in the gospel, John states that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and they all beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten Son of God. There, in that gospel, there is grandeur, the sublime Person of the Divine God, becoming a human being, but in that humility, they all beheld His glory. In the gospel’s opening, it is like the portals of heaven are opened, and we see the majesty and glory of God, as God comes to die for the sins of the world.
That is so grand, almost too much to take in. It lifts our spirit to the realms above, and I can almost see Charles Wesley rising to those heights as well, to cause him to write the opening stanza of his hymn
And can it be that I should gain
An int'rest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me?
That was written on his conversion and he was caught up in wonder with the blessed Lord. Ahh, his joy that flowed through that hymn, line after line. That is what sets these hymns apart, the fullness of joy that the Spirit imparts and must have expression in writing, prayer, thanksgiving and other outlets.
When we come to this first letter of John’s, it is not grandeur or majesty we see, but the closeness and intimacy of connection and fellowship. It encloses itself in Oneness and heartfelt communion and fellowship, and the great work and necessity of the Saviour. John introduces the Lord of Life, the Word of Life to his readers from his personal companionship, as the apostolic authority. John was the witness who shares his absolute truth with the readers in his heartfelt concern for them, that they walk in truth and love, and that their actions and reactions with one another, also be in truth and love. This is seen as he progresses through his letter.
Looking now more closely at {{verse 1. “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life”}} – John sets out his intimate knowledge of the Saviour as they lived together over 60 years beforehand. My mind likes to wander, and wonder, and I try to think things through, and at times I try to imagine what it was like when John departed the body to be with the Lord. How would that reunion have been in heaven? It will be wonderful for all of us who know the Saviour when we personally enter into His very presence, but it must have been especially special for the Apostle John as he entered the presence of the Lord he loved and served, and knew personally in the flesh.
The reunions in heaven will be glorious, but if you have not received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, do not delay that, but give your life to Him fully, repenting of sin. Surrender your life to Him. By the way, the Apostle John and Jesus were cousins because Mary, and John’s mother Salome were sisters. John and Jesus were connected through Discipleship, Apostleship, Service, Salvation, Love, and Relationship, both spiritually and family. What a reunion in heaven that would have been! What a joy in heaven for us when we actually see the Saviour who died for us.
I don’t want to go down some strange track, but these days we speak of DNA. That means that Jesus and John must have shared around 800 cM of DNA.
HEARING, SIGHT AND TOUCH
Verse 1 expresses the closeness of companionship. John uses 3 of the 5 senses to confirm his own experience, but by using the plural “we”, he is including the whole group of disciples. The senses are hearing, sight, and touch. I want to look at these, beginning with hearing. The disciples heard Jesus for over three years, both publicly and privately, and incidentally, John’s gospel is the only one that gathers many of the great discourses of the Lord, though it does not include the Sermon on the Mount, and deliberately so, because Matthew is the Gospel to the Jews. There is a lot of hearing in the content of the gospel.
The second sense is sight and as you read the gospel, you see over and over, John as an eyewitness of the miracles of Jesus. The disciples were in the boat in John 6 when the ocean and storm roared and they saw Jesus quell the power of nature. There was a man born blind in John 9 who could not see, but Jesus gave him sight sand the disciples saw it. In chapter 11 there was a man who could not see physically because he had died, but Jesus raised Lazarus up and the disciples saw it as witnesses. Incidentally, the Greek word for “witness” is from the verb “µa?t????” from which “martyr” comes as these men and women witnessed for their faith, usually in death, for the world was not worthy of them. Here is an important passage – {{John 15 v 26 When the Helper comes whom I will send to you from the Father, that is, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me, John 15:27 and you will bear witness also because you have been with Me from the beginning}} - for it seals the disciples’ calling in witnessing what they have seen and heard and touched. By the way, the word “witness (testify)” occurs 42 times in the gospel. I will close the witness of sight with two quotes – {{John 19 v 35 “He who has seen, has borne witness, and his witness is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth so that you also may believe.” And John 21 v 24 “This is the disciple who bears witness of these things, and wrote these things, and we know that his witness is true.”}}
The next statement John makes in verse 1 seems to be a repeat of the one before it. John says, {{“what we beheld”}}. Bishop Ellicott says this about this phrase – [“A more deliberate and closer contemplation; for which John had special opportunities, as one of the inner three, and again as he who lay on Jesus’ bosom. There is a change of tense implying emphasis on the historic fact, “which in those days we gazed upon.”]
The third sense is that of touch, described by John as {{“our hands have handled”.}} We think of John at the Last Supper who reclined on Jesus’ breast at the table. There was an intimacy among friends during His time here on earth where you interact with others, and touch, and bump into others, and helping another to rise to his feet is all part of touch. Thomas in chapter 20 was invited to touch his Lord and his God by feeling the wounds in his hands and side, but I believe faith at seeing Jesus, meant he did not do that. There was no sadder touch in John’s gospel, and it did not include the Apostle John this time, than that occasion when Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus from the cross and lovingly prepared it for entombment.
There was no more joyous touch than this one recorded in this incident with Mary – {{John 20 v 11 Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping, and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb John 20:12 and she beheld two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been lying, John 20:13 and they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” John 20:14 When she had said this, she turned around and beheld Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. John 20:15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” John 20:16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to My brethren and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” John 20:18 Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.}}
Why do you think it is that Jesus is called “The Word of Life” at the end of verse 1. There are several valid reasons for this.
1. He is eternal life, for God is life – Consider these verses – {{Revelation 1 v 17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man, and He laid His right hand upon me saying, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, Rev 1:18 and the living One, and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”}} That follows on from a previous glorious truth - Rev 1 v 6 “and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father - to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Rev 1:7 Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so, Amen. Rev 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
2. He is the source of everlasting life. John portrayed this at the start of his gospel – {{John 1 v 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. A bit later in the gospel we have the most famous verse of all - John 3:16 for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.}} (everlasting life is the correct translation).
3. He is the strength for Christian living now in the flesh. This is what Paul could testify to – {{Galatians 2 v 20 I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.}}
Oh, try to sit next to John and share with him these great facts about his Lord. What we know on earth will one day give way to real sight and hearing when we stand in His presence. Be immersed in the joy of your Lord!
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
