A Study of the Book of 1st John
“Back To the Basics”
Sermon # 1
“A New Kind of Life”
1 John 1:1-5
Does it matter what you believe? Within the pews of America’s churches, two thirds of the people do not believe in the exclusive character of the Christian message, and almost half of all evangelicals agree. Yes, it matters, because it makes the difference between whether you go to Heaven or Hell. That is why I am calling this new series “Back to Basics.”
The letter that we are going to begin a study of today was written by John, the apostle, son of Zebedee, one of the original twelve disciples of Jesus. He was known “as the one whom Jesus loved” (Jn. 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 20) because of his especially close relationship with Jesus. He founded churches in the Mediterranean World and was known as the pastor of the church at Ephesus, which was founded by Paul. He wrote the Gospel of John, three letters (I, II, III John) and the book of Revelation. He spent several years exiled on the isle of Patmos for his beliefs. The apostle John wrote this letter late in his life near the end of the first century when he would have been pushing ninety years of age, and the only surviving apostle.
As had been previously predicted by the Apostle Paul false teachers had arise (Acts 20:29-30) and were infecting the churches with their false doctrine. The heretical teach-ing that John faced was the beginning stages of a heresy known as Gnosticism. Gnosticism was the real enemy of Christianity, and, it still is. Gnosticism took many forms. However, one primary principle ran through this philosophy: matter or material was essen-tially evil; only the spirit was good. The same principle is in modern liberalism which maintains that there is a spark of the divine in everyone and that each person is to develop that spark of good.
“Gnosticism is the opposite of agnosticism. Agnosticism holds that the reality of God is unknown and probably unknowable. There are many agnostics in our colleges and universities, as you know. Charles Spurgeon used to say that agnostic is but the Greek word for the Latin ignoramus. So one might say, “I don’t believe the Bible, because I am an ignoramus!” The agnostic says, “I do not know.” The Gnostic says, “I do know.” The Gnostics were a group which came into the church claiming to have a superior knowledge which simple Christians did not have. They considered themselves super-duper saints, knowing more than anyone else knew.” [J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible Commentary. (Thomas Nelson: Nashville -electronic ed. 1997, c1981)]
John is writing to a community where there is considerable disunity. As we read the epistle we discover that it is at least in part directed to a situation in the church to which he was writing, which had been produced by the fact that shortly before this some members had left the fellowship in an uproar (2:18-19). These disgruntled former members had taken others with them and now they were actively recruiting - trying to convince some of the faithful members who remained to come away and join them (2:26). They claimed that things were not as they should be. Those that left were critical of the church leadership and pointed out what they perceived as the imperfections in the church. Naturally it left some of the other members of the church confused. Were these people right?
John writes with a sense of urgency which springs from a desire to restore fellowship and joy in an otherwise divided community. I think that it is worthy of note that in this letter John is especially concerned with the conflicts and struggles facing the church of his day.
Actually there is a fourfold purpose expressed in 1 John: (1) Promote Fellowship - 1 John 1:3, “… That you also may have fellowship with us [other believers]: and … with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ;” (2) Provide Joy - 1 John 1:4, “… That your joy may be full” (3) Prevent Sin - 1 John 2:1, “… That you may not sin” (4) Provide Assur-ance - 1 John 5:13, He wants you to be saved - “That you may believe on the name of the Son of God.” and he wants you to know you are saved “… That you may know that you have eternal life”
John says that there are some things that he wants you to know, about real Christianity. In fact the word “know” comes up at least twenty-five times in the letter of 1 John. It is as if John is saying to the false teachers (the Gnostics), “You think you know some things but here is what you need to know!”
John begins his letter in verse one by stating, “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— (2) 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— (3) 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. (4) And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. (5) This is the message which we have heard from Him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”
What does Real Christianity look like? Is it possible to know? We live in an era that looks with suspicion on any type of certainty or conviction about the truth. Our society has abandoned the very idea that of any absolute truth, choosing rather to grant validity to every religion and philosophical position. Can a person really know anything for certain? Are there any absolutes? Is there anything that will be true not only today, but tomorrow and day after that as well?
Christianity in its essence is not a system of thought. It is a relationship with a person – Jesus Christ – who has been historically validated, personally experienced and authoritatively proclaimed by the apostles.
Three Things About Real Christianity.
First, Real Christianity is Jesus Christ Revealed. (vv. 1-2)
“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.”
In the very first verse John speaks of “that which was from the beginning” and in so doing he points out that Jesus is eternally real. Christ was in the beginning.
John begins his letter with a statement about the person of Jesus Christ which he makes as an eye witness. John’s objective evidence is centered in a first-hand historical evidence of Jesus possessed by himself and all the other apostles - “that which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes… and our hands have handled.” So John begins by asserting that He knows what he is talking about, because he was there from the beginning with Jesus.
He uses three verbs to describe his experience with Jesus.
•That Which We Heard.
John was with the Jesus throughout His earthly ministry and he records more of the words of Jesus than any other Gospel writer.
John begins to think back to the words of Christ that he was privileged to hear from three years of following him. He remembers the parables of the Lord that were so compelling, mysterious, and that dealt with such deep issues of the heart. He remembers the powerful preaching of Jesus, calling men from lives of sin and offering them words of hope. Even his enemies, said of his teaching "No one ever spoke as this man speaks." (Matt. 7:46) John also remembers how Jesus reached out with in compassion with personal words of encouragement to a leper, to a blind man, even to a woman who was caught in adultery to whom He said:"Neither do I condemn you." (John 8:11) He remembers all those things that the Lord said to people, and his mind is filled with the words of Christ. He is in his eighties now and although his physical sense of hearing may have diminished, he can hear the words of Jesus in his heart as clearly as on the very day that he heard them.
•That Which We Saw.
There are three main Greek words for“saw” and we find all of them in John 20:5-8, which is the story of the events on the day of Resurrection. The chapter tells that Peter and John learning from Mary that the body of Jesus was missing; ran to the tomb to investigate. When John who was the younger reached the tomb first he “looked down and saw the linen clothes lying there.” (v. 5).The word “saw” here (blepo) indicates only that object had impressed itself on John’s eyes. In a few minutes Peter arrived and he did stop at the door but pressed his way in that “he saw the linen cloths lying there.” (v. 6). This time it is a different word (theoreo) meaning to behold with intelligence. Apparently there was something about the grave clothes that puzzled Peter. Finally, Peter and John, noticed that the napkin which had been around the head, as well as all the other grave clothes were in exactly the same position as when they had covered the body of Jesus. At this point the significance of position of the grave clothes finally penetra-ted John’s consciousness and according to (v. 8) “he saw (orao) and believed.” It is this last word that John uses three times in 1 John 1:1-3.
The Apostles saw Jesus turn the water into wine, they saw him walk on water, they saw him heal the multitudes and they saw Him raise the dead. The 35 miracles recorded in the New Testament are only a fraction of those that the apostles witnessed. John says in his gospel (21:25) “that if all the things that Jesus did were written in detail, the whole world could not contain the books.”
•That Which We Touched.
There were differences between what the false teachers were teaching, but all of them denied that Jesus the Messiah. I believe John had them in mind when he wrote in 1 John 2:22, “Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son” They denied the Incarnation, reasoning that God could not have taken a human body because all flesh is evil. John had distinctly declared in his gospel account in John 1:14, “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.” And in later in this letter in (4:2-3) he wrote: “By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God: (3) And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God: And this is that spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming; and is now already in the world.” It is my firm opinion that John wrote his first epistle to answer the errors of false teachers concerning the person of Jesus Christ. It was an effort to counteract false teaching about the nature of Christ.
John wants the reader to understand that he was a personal witness of what Jesus Christ was, what he did and what He said.
Contrary to what the false teachers taught, much like the New Age Teachers of our day, experiencing Christ and being a real Christian is not some mystical, secret knowledge that only the enlightened few could achieve. Men in our day talk about knowing the secret of life! They say "Come to this seminar and for only $500.00 we will reveal the secret!” John says there is no secret - Life has been revealed in the Word of Life – Jesus!
John is absolutely clear as to what he has heard and seen and touched, and he draws conclusions about it. "Let me tell you what it means," he says. "This one was the Word of God himself. This one was Life made plain. This one was eternal Life from the Father." (v. 2)
Not only is Real Christianity is Jesus Christ Revealed but…
Secondly, Real Christianity is Jesus Christ Experienced.
There is a difference between knowing about someone and KNOWING them. Real Christianity is rooted in a revelation but it is realized in a relationship. It really does not matter how much you know about Jesus if you do not know him.
According to verse two this life is to be experienced. John had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. His was no second hand religious experience inherited from somebody else, or discovered in some book, taught at some seminar. No - John knew Jesus face to face. Now you might be thinking John had an advantage. You might say, “I’ve never seen Jesus, never heard Him talk. I’ve never touched Him, I was born 20 centuries too late!” Listen catch this - it wasn’t the Apostles physical nearness to Jesus that made them what they were. It was their spiritual nearness.
The disciples had committed them-selves to Him as their Savior and by trusting Christ they experienced Eternal life. Being born of the spirit opens the door to really experience this life! A person can try all they want to imitate Christ! Clean up their act - seek to change their ways and clean up the outside. But if they are not born again - there will be a break down somewhere.
It is through repentance and trusting Christ that you are born into family of God. But remember there are no 2nd generation Christians! Each individual must decide! Jesus was manifested and it was for purpose: we might experience life in Him
Not Only Is Real Christianity is Jesus Christ Experienced but ….
Third, Real Christianity is Jesus Christ Proclaimed. (v. 5)
“This is the message which we have heard from Him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”
John Stott says it well when he stated, “The Christian message is neither a philo-sophical speculation, nor a tentative suggestion, nor a modest contribution to religious thought, but a dogmatic affirmation by those whose experience and commission qualified them to make it.” [John Stott. The Epistles of John. Tyndale N.T. Commentaries. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964) p. 62-63]
The Christian life is meant to be shared! Like good book or new dessert or song on the radio. Joy is derived in being able to pass on something blessed you! The Christian life is the same way, if you keep it to yourself you are missing out on one of the true purposes for being a Christian! The Christian life takes on a whole new meaning and a whole new appreciation when you realize it is a thing to be shared !
Conclusion
Some people believe in a Jesus of their own making and have an emotional experience that they constitute as “being saved.” But when their problems are not magically solved, or they go through difficult times, they conclude that Christianity does not work. The problem is that they did not have real Christianity. They did not believe in the “real” Jesus as revealed by the Apostles in the New Testament and therefore were never really saved.
Real Christianity is determined by what you believe about Jesus. “That” Jesus is revealed in the Bible, is experienced by new life from within and fellowship with God and other believers, and is proclaimed with joy. Make sure you have the real deal!
“A New Kind of Life”
1 John 1:1-4
Fourfold purpose expressed in 1 John:
(1) Promote____________ - 1 John 1:3 “… That you also may have fellowship with us [other believers]: and … with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
(2) Provide ______- 1 John 1:4
(3) Prevent ______ - 1 John 2:1
(4) Provide ____________ - 1 John 5:13.
He wants you to be _______ and he wants you to ________ you are saved.
First, Real Christianity is Jesus Christ _______.
Three Verbs describing his experience
•They have _________ (Matt. 7:46, Jn. 8:11)
•They have _________ (Jn. 20:5-8)
•They have _________
Secondly, Real Christianity is Jesus Christ ______________.
Third, Real Christianity is Jesus Christ ______.
