What A Fellowship! Series

Introduction: Words That Matter

Tim Gustafson is the Editor of Our Daily Bread and shares his story: Early in my days of working as an editor for Our Daily Bread, I selected the cover verse for each month’s devotional. After a while, I began to wonder if it made a difference.

Not long after that, a reader wrote and described how she had prayed for her son for more than twenty years, yet he wanted nothing to do with Jesus. Then one day he stopped by to visit her, and he read the verse on the cover of the booklet that sat on her table. The Spirit used those words to convict him, and he gave his life to Jesus at that very moment.

I don’t recall the verse or the woman’s name. But I’ll never forget the clarity of God’s message to me that day. He had chosen to answer a woman’s prayers through a verse selected nearly a year earlier. From a place beyond time, He brought the wonder of His presence to my work and His words.

John the Apostle called Jesus “the Word of life” (1 John 1:1). He wanted everyone to know what that meant. “We proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us,” he wrote of Jesus (v. 2). “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us” (v. 3).

There is nothing magical in putting words on a page. But there is life-changing power in the words of Scripture because they point us to the Word of life—Jesus.

Source: Tim Gustafson

I. The Word Was Proclaimed 1

1 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 —

A. In The Beginning 1a

1. This is reminiscent of both Genesis 1.1 and John 1.1

a. Genesis

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

—Genesis 1:1

b. John

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

—John 1:1

2. Do you think this is accidental?

a. In the Gospel of John, the Apostle purposefully tied the beginning of the World with the proclamation of the Word.

b. In the 1st Epistle of John, the Apostle purposely ties the beginning of the Epistle with the beginning of the Gospel.

B. More Than Mere Words 1b

1. John is writing in order for his readers to understand that he was an eyewitness to the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

a. Which we have heard

i. John heard Jesus preach! John heard Jesus teach!

ii. John heard Jesus rebuke the Pharisees!

iii. John recorded the conversion of Nicodemus (was he there?)

b. which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon

i. John saw Jesus turn water changed to wine

ii. John saw Jesus heal Nobleman’s son

iii. John saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead.

iv. John saw Jesus after he had been crucified, buried, and resurrected.

c. Which we have handled with our hands

i. John took some portion of 5 loaves and two fish and distributed that to 5,000 hungry people.

ii. It was John who leaned on Jesus at the Last Supper and asked, “Who the Traitor?”

C. The Word Of Life 1c

1. It was important for Jesus to

a. Preach and teach

b. Do various miracles to establish that He was who He said He was.

c. Have a discipleship ministry with leaders of the first church.

2. None of that would have matters if he was not the Word of Life.

a. Let’s go back to John 1.1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

—John 1:1

b. Jesus is God!

c. It took the disciples a while to appreciate the fact that they had spent 3 ½ years dealing with God in the flesh!

3. But once they got it they got it!

a. This the reason that little band of men could make such and impact on the world!

b. Men like John, the only Apostle not to die a violent, premature death!

i. John not only got to live a long life and preach many sermons, but

ii. He also authored the following books

a. The Gospel of John

b. The Epistles of John I,II, & III

c. The Revelation of Jesus Christ.

c. Probably no human author of a Biblical book that has had more impact.

i. He wrote about the Word in the Gospel of John

ii. He wrote about the Word in the Epistles of John