1 JOHN 1
(The scriptures quoted below are from the NASB, unless otherwise indicated.)
The first chapter of First John may seem like Christianity 101 to some. What it teaches is very basic theology, from a Christian perspective, the language and concepts are easily understandable, and it makes no attempt to appeal to our intellect. Campus Crusade for Christ used to distribute a pamphlet on college campuses called "Jesus and the Intellectual". I never read it, but somehow I doubt if it quoted this chapter. Unlike the book of Revelation, there seems to be few doctrinal debates among Christians about what this chapter means.
However, if we are willing to step back for a moment into a world which is largely unfamiliar with Christ, we may find some hidden treasure here which is valuable to the most mature and committed Christians.
1 John 1:1 "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life--
1:2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us--
1:3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
1:4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete."
The first five words "What was from the beginning" or "That which was from the beginning" in other translations, are an echo of both John 1:1-4 and Genesis 1:1.
John 1:1 (NIV) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1:2 He was with God in the beginning.
1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
1:4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men."
Genesis 1:1 (NIV) "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
What was from the beginning, before time as we know it, was the pre-existent Christ.
Hebrews 1:2 (NIV) "but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe."
Hebrews 1:5 (NIV) "For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father"? Or again, I will be his Father, and he will be my Son"?"
Although the verse above uses the term "today", that "today" is outside of time as we know it. Even though we refer to Jesus as the Son of God, we cannot regard him as a created being. Rather, we must regard him as pre-existent and eternal. I don't believe there ever was a moment when Christ did not yet exist. When we think of someone being a son, we think of a created being. My sons are certainly created beings who were conceived and born at distinct moments in time, yet the Bible speaks of Jesus as the everlasting God, who always was, is and always will be.
Isaiah 9:6: (NIV) "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
I don't want to belabor this point, because it's not what the letter, or even this chapter of it is about, but it's worth noting before we go on that there are things about the deity of Christ, or the godhead in general, which are difficult for us to grasp. Rather than causing us to doubt what we can't fully understand, we ought to be grateful that God is greater than we are. Only idolators want to serve a god who is their size or smaller.
John then goes on to say that "we" have heard him, seen him and touched him with our hands. In other parts of the letter, he uses the word "I", so he is not just using the plural first person form because he prefers it. Some might argue that this letter was actually written by someone associated with the apostle John who also knew Jesus, who they refer to as John the elder. But I believe that he wrote this late in the first century, at a point in time when everyone else who knew the incarnate Jesus was already dead. I believe that by saying "we", he is referring both to his own testimony and to the testimony of the other apostles, who were no longer living. He is speaking for them, because he knows they also heard, saw and touched Jesus.
Two things need to be said about John's experience with the incarnate Jesus, and why he is writing about them at this point. Some people had apparently departed from the belief in the incarnation of Christ, claiming that Jesus only had a spiritual existence. Though they may have pretended to honor Jesus by referring to him as an only spiritual being, if Jesus had no physical body, the virgin birth, the crucifixion, the resurrection, fasting in the wilderness, and many other things he did would have no meaning, wouldn't have to be taught or defended, and they could even be regarded as ridiculous. So those who taught this really had no more faith in the Jesus John saw, heard and touched than the Pharisees did, and John's concern about this is certainly part of what motivated him to write all three of his epistles.
More importantly for us, we tend to take for granted how extraordinary this story is. John is telling us he heard, saw and touched God in the flesh. Students of the Old Testament will recall the passage in Exodus 33:18-23, in which not even Moses was allowed to see God's face. John not only talks about seeing Jesus face to face, but Matthew 17:1-9 and Mark 9:2-10 speak about Peter, James and John seeing Christ transfigured before their eyes. Moses and Elijah appeared with him, but they never saw God in this form during their earthly lives. Because we have heard about this most of our lives, we Christians tend to forget what an incredible thing John is saying. Only when we begin to compare John's experience and his witness with our own does it occur to us how remarkable this is. I have not heard, see or touched God in the way John was allowed to do, and that provides me with real incentive to pay close attention to John as he continues to speak about Christ.
John says he is writing this so we may have fellowship with the apostles, and their fellowship is with both the Father and the Son. His joy will be complete when our relationships with God and with each other are completely restored and unhindered by our sins. Until the return of Christ, we may not see him physically, but John wants us to know and experience the glorified Christ.
But we cannot have fellowship with God until we understand and acknowledge some things about God's nature and our own human nature, which are covered in the rest of this chapter:
1 John 1:5 "This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us."
When John says that God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all, it may remind us of the following passage from Genesis:
Genesis 1:3 (NIV): "And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
1:4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.
1:5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
Creating light was God's first act on the first day of creation. However, it is not the light we see which John is talking about here. He is telling us here that God prefers life over death, laughter over tears, love over hatred, joy over sorrow and kindness over cruelty. This is in contrast to the nature of the gods pagans believed in, gods who were capable of cruelty and needed to be appeased.
Though many of us have never been pagans, we live in a world in which sin, disease, accidents and natural disasters cause us to have experiences which are beyond our control. It would be easy for us to conclude, therefore, that if God exists at all, he is arbitrary and capricious, and he cannot possibly care about us. Yet John says the problems we face on earth have nothing to do with God's nature. Some of them may be the consequences of our own behavior, some may be because of the sins of others, and some may be because Romans 8:19-23 says creation itself is in bondage to decay because of the sin in the world. But John states that God is good, completely good, unimaginably good and incorruptibly good. In order to be in a right relationship with God, we must be willing to acknowledge and appreciate God's mercy, grace and kindness toward us, regardless of our past experiences, our current circumstances, or our apprehensions about the future.
If we want to have continuous and unbroken fellowship with the Father and the Son, we have to say and do things which are according to God's nature, not our own. We cannot truthfully claim to know God, while continuing to hate others, to steal from others, to gossip about or flatter others in an effort to gain an unfair advantage for ourselves. We cannot behave in ways which are contrary to God's nature.
We must walk in the light, as he is in the light. Yet that is an impossible assignment for us, because our human nature is opposed to God's nature, and we're going to fail sometimes in spite of our best efforts. As we all know, things can be concealed in darkness, but light makes things visible. One of the interesting things about the Bible is that it doesn't conceal anyone's sinfulness. For example, Peter denied that he knew Christ three times, and all four gospel writers recorded it for millions of people to read for thousands of years. Perhaps no one has been so openly and frequently called out for their sins as Peter, yet Jesus responded by getting Peter to tell him that he loved him three times, and he allowed Peter to become the spokesman for the early church in Jerusalem.
Peter's problem is common to all of us, because we all sin from time to time. When we sin, we need to restore our fellowship with God by confessing our sins. Because of his nature, Christ's atonement for us on the cross, and the new covenant in his blood, he is faithful to forgive our sins and to purify us from all unrighteousness.
Yet no amount of walking in the light and confessing our sins, which hopefully become fewer and fewer over time, will cause us to become the light. It is possible for us to stop sinning, only to the extent that God's life is in us and lived through us. Through years of faithfulness, we may become more and more like God, but we will never be God. In fact, we are in the very humble position of needing to rely on God completely for the righteousness
which we could never achieve on our own.
The first chapter of First John may seem like Christianity 101 to some. What it teaches is very basic theology, from a Christian perspective, the language and concepts are easily understandable, and it makes no attempt to appeal to our intellect. Campus Crusade for Christ used to distribute a pamphlet on college campuses called "Jesus and the Intellectual". I never read it, but somehow I doubt if it quoted this chapter. Unlike the book of Revelation, there seems to be few doctrinal debates among Christians about what this chapter means.
However, if we are willing to step back for a moment into a world which is largely unfamiliar with Christ, we may find some hidden treasure here which is valuable to the most mature and committed Christians.
1 John 1:1 "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life--
1:2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us--
1:3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
1:4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete."
The first five words "What was from the beginning" or "That which was from the beginning" in other translations, are an echo of both John 1:1-4 and Genesis 1:1.
John 1:1 (NIV) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1:2 He was with God in the beginning.
1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
1:4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men."
Genesis 1:1 (NIV) "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
What was from the beginning, before time as we know it, was the pre-existent Christ.
Hebrews 1:2 (NIV) "but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe."
Hebrews 1:5 (NIV) "For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father"? Or again, I will be his Father, and he will be my Son"?"
Although the verse above uses the term "today", that "today" is outside of time as we know it. Even though we refer to Jesus as the Son of God, we cannot regard him as a created being. Rather, we must regard him as pre-existent and eternal. I don't believe there ever was a moment when Christ did not yet exist. When we think of someone being a son, we think of a created being. My sons are certainly created beings who were conceived and born at distinct moments in time, yet the Bible speaks of Jesus as the everlasting God, who always was, is and always will be.
Isaiah 9:6: (NIV) "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
I don't want to belabor this point, because it's not what the letter, or even this chapter of it is about, but it's worth noting before we go on that there are things about the deity of Christ, or the godhead in general, which are difficult for us to grasp. Rather than causing us to doubt what we can't fully understand, we ought to be grateful that God is greater than we are. Only idolators want to serve a god who is their size or smaller.
John then goes on to say that "we" have heard him, seen him and touched him with our hands. In other parts of the letter, he uses the word "I", so he is not just using the plural first person form because he prefers it. Some might argue that this letter was actually written by someone associated with the apostle John who also knew Jesus, who they refer to as John the elder. But I believe that he wrote this late in the first century, at a point in time when everyone else who knew the incarnate Jesus was already dead. I believe that by saying "we", he is referring both to his own testimony and to the testimony of the other apostles, who were no longer living. He is speaking for them, because he knows they also heard, saw and touched Jesus.
Two things need to be said about John's experience with the incarnate Jesus, and why he is writing about them at this point. Some people had apparently departed from the belief in the incarnation of Christ, claiming that Jesus only had a spiritual existence. Though they may have pretended to honor Jesus by referring to him as an only spiritual being, if Jesus had no physical body, the virgin birth, the crucifixion, the resurrection, fasting in the wilderness, and many other things he did would have no meaning, wouldn't have to be taught or defended, and they could even be regarded as ridiculous. So those who taught this really had no more faith in the Jesus John saw, heard and touched than the Pharisees did, and John's concern about this is certainly part of what motivated him to write all three of his epistles.
More importantly for us, we tend to take for granted how extraordinary this story is. John is telling us he heard, saw and touched God in the flesh. Students of the Old Testament will recall the passage in Exodus 33:18-23, in which not even Moses was allowed to see God's face. John not only talks about seeing Jesus face to face, but Matthew 17:1-9 and Mark 9:2-10 speak about Peter, James and John seeing Christ transfigured before their eyes. Moses and Elijah appeared with him, but they never saw God in this form during their earthly lives. Because we have heard about this most of our lives, we Christians tend to forget what an incredible thing John is saying. Only when we begin to compare John's experience and his witness with our own does it occur to us how remarkable this is. I have not heard, see or touched God in the way John was allowed to do, and that provides me with real incentive to pay close attention to John as he continues to speak about Christ.
John says he is writing this so we may have fellowship with the apostles, and their fellowship is with both the Father and the Son. His joy will be complete when our relationships with God and with each other are completely restored and unhindered by our sins. Until the return of Christ, we may not see him physically, but John wants us to know and experience the glorified Christ.
But we cannot have fellowship with God until we understand and acknowledge some things about God's nature and our own human nature, which are covered in the rest of this chapter:
1 John 1:5 "This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us."
When John says that God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all, it may remind us of the following passage from Genesis:
Genesis 1:3 (NIV): "And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
1:4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.
1:5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
Creating light was God's first act on the first day of creation. However, it is not the light we see which John is talking about here. He is telling us here that God prefers life over death, laughter over tears, love over hatred, joy over sorrow and kindness over cruelty. This is in contrast to the nature of the gods pagans believed in, gods who were capable of cruelty and needed to be appeased.
Though many of us have never been pagans, we live in a world in which sin, disease, accidents and natural disasters cause us to have experiences which are beyond our control. It would be easy for us to conclude, therefore, that if God exists at all, he is arbitrary and capricious, and he cannot possibly care about us. Yet John says the problems we face on earth have nothing to do with God's nature. Some of them may be the consequences of our own behavior, some may be because of the sins of others, and some may be because Romans 8:19-23 says creation itself is in bondage to decay because of the sin in the world. But John states that God is good, completely good, unimaginably good and incorruptibly good. In order to be in a right relationship with God, we must be willing to acknowledge and appreciate God's mercy, grace and kindness toward us, regardless of our past experiences, our current circumstances, or our apprehensions about the future.
If we want to have continuous and unbroken fellowship with the Father and the Son, we have to say and do things which are according to God's nature, not our own. We cannot truthfully claim to know God, while continuing to hate others, to steal from others, to gossip about or flatter others in an effort to gain an unfair advantage for ourselves. We cannot behave in ways which are contrary to God's nature.
We must walk in the light, as he is in the light. Yet that is an impossible assignment for us, because our human nature is opposed to God's nature, and we're going to fail sometimes in spite of our best efforts. As we all know, things can be concealed in darkness, but light makes things visible. One of the interesting things about the Bible is that it doesn't conceal anyone's sinfulness. For example, Peter denied that he knew Christ three times, and all four gospel writers recorded it for millions of people to read for thousands of years. Perhaps no one has been so openly and frequently called out for their sins as Peter, yet Jesus responded by getting Peter to tell him that he loved him three times, and he allowed Peter to become the spokesman for the early church in Jerusalem.
Peter's problem is common to all of us, because we all sin from time to time. When we sin, we need to restore our fellowship with God by confessing our sins. Because of his nature, Christ's atonement for us on the cross, and the new covenant in his blood, he is faithful to forgive our sins and to purify us from all unrighteousness.
Yet no amount of walking in the light and confessing our sins, which hopefully become fewer and fewer over time, will cause us to become the light. It is possible for us to stop sinning, only to the extent that God's life is in us and lived through us. Through years of faithfulness, we may become more and more like God, but we will never be God. In fact, we are in the very humble position of needing to rely on God completely for the righteousness
which we could never achieve on our own.
posted by TAPIOCA at 5/11/2007 09:12:00 AM
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