The Word Of Life Series

Scripture

I am starting a new sermon series on the Letters of John.

Most scholars believe that the Apostle John wrote all three letters. They also believe that John wrote the Gospel and the Revelation. John wrote the three letters most likely around the start of the final decade of the first century.

John, along with many other Christians, probably left Jerusalem just before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 67 A.D. He carried on his apostolic ministry in the city of Ephesus, where he was the elder statesman responsible for a number of churches in the vicinity.

After serving in Ephesus for a number of years, a group left the church because they denied that Jesus was the Messiah and Son of God (cf. 1 John 2:18-23; 4:1-3). This generated a lot of hostility (cf. 1 John 3:4-10). So, John wrote these letters to do damage control and to assure the Christians of their salvation. John’s purpose in writing these letters is given in 1 John 5:13, where he states, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” Hence, the title for this sermon series: “That You May Know That You Have Eternal Life.”

In his First Letter, John dispenses with the regular earmarks of a first-century letter. The letter is in the style of a sermon rather than a letter. Moreover, because there is no linear progression throughout the letter, it is difficult follow. John uses the ancient style of “amplification,” which includes cyclical repetition (in this case of moral, social, and doctrinal tests), hyperbole, and stark contrasts.

So, with that very brief historical background, we note that John began his First Letter about the word of life.

Let’s read about the word of life in 1 John 1:1-4:

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. (1 John 1:1-4)

Introduction

Vishal Mangalwadi, a Christian scholar from India, shared the following story on his blog after visiting America:

In November, 2011, I visited two classes at a Christian university in North America. I asked both: “How many of you would still believe Christianity if you found out tomorrow that Christianity was not true. That is: God never became a man; Jesus did not die for our sin; or, that he did not rise from the dead?”

Twelve hands went up in the class of about 25 students. These sincere and devout students had grown up in Christian homes, gone to church all their lives, and studied in Christian schools. Some had been in that Christian university for three years! They respected their elders who taught them that Christianity was all about faith—with little concern for truth.

Christianity lost America because 20th-century evangelicalism branded itself as the party of faith. Secularism (science, university, media) became the party of truth. This is one reason why 70 percent of Christian youth give up meaningful involvement with the church when they grow up…. Secularism acquired the “truth” brand by default because evangelicalism began defining the Church’s mission as [just] cultivating faith, not [also] promoting knowledge of truth.

In his commentary on this letter, John MacArthur begins with this comment, “We live in an era that looks with suspicion on any type of certainty or conviction about the truth.” Our society grants equal validity to every opinion and philosophy—except to Christian truth claims. One of our greatest challenges at the present time is the sexual revolution. Biblical truth and morality are now openly and widely criticized as out of date and irrelevant for a modern society.

That is what makes the Letters of John so important for us to study at this time. Although John is particularly concerned to help believers be assured of their salvation, he grounds all his teaching in the eternal truth of God’s word.

John begins his presentation regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ, whom he refers to as the “word of life.”

Lesson

First John 1:1-4 gives us five certainties about the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. The Word of Life Is Eternal (1:1a)