#1 His Life, Our Fellowship. Scripture I John 1:1-4

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1 Series I John This Message #1 His Life, Our Fellowship Scripture I John 1:1-4 This is the first lesson in a series of messages from the First Epistle of the Apostle John. Since we are beginning a new portion of Scripture, I want to give some background information to help us understand John s style and purpose in writing this letter. John was an old man when he wrote this letter. He wrote like a grandfather giving advice to his spiritual children. In fact, John addresses his readers as my dear children several times in the letter. The tone of the letter is warm and caring. John was concerned about the spiritual health of his readers, his spiritual family. This Epistle of John was probably written about 90 A.D. John was well into his eighties at the time of writing. He was the last of the apostles still living, the last man who could say of Jesus: "I heard him; I saw him; I touched him." John had a vivid memory of Jesus and His teaching, even though it had been more than 50 years since the ascension of Jesus. In this letter, he summarized and restated the basics and essential teachings of Jesus those teachings which have become the central, eternal, unchanging truths of the Christian life. That s why this letter is so beneficial to study. The Apostle John had a unique style of writing. It is very Jewish which means that his thoughts tended to jump around from topic to topic; the letter doesn t seem to be very organized. In fact, it doesn t even seem like a letter there is no greeting, the identity of the recipients is unknown, and John doesn t give his name. Now let me explain the purpose for this letter. On one occasion, Jesus told His disciples, By their fruits you will know them. Jesus said this to explain that the behavior of people is evidence of what they believe. Jesus said, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven. John seems to have picked up on this thought because, in this letter, he lists a number of proofs whereby believers will know that they are members of God s family. John mentions about 25 of these proofs. According to him, there should be plenty of evidence in the believer s life that he/she belongs to God, is born from above, and has eternal life. 1

2 According to John, the evidence of faith can be measured by the authenticity of the believer s lifestyle. For example, any believer who claims to have fellowship with God would be authentic only if he/she obeyed the commands of God. And any believer who claimed to be righteous would have to actually live the righteous kind of life that would be pleasing to God. Any believer who claimed to be filled with God s love would have to manifest God s supernatural love in relationships with others. There are several other such measures of authenticity in this Epistle. We will give attention to these proofs because they relate to John s overall purpose in writing this letter. This purpose is stated in chapter 5, verse 13: I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. John was concerned about the personal relationship of the believer with Christ and with other believers. He wanted his readers to maintain a faithful and consistent walk in the ways of Jesus. There are sections in this letter which warn believers about false and heretical teaching that would adversely influence them. This false teaching concerned the human and divine natures of Jesus Christ. John insisted that true Christian faith required the acknowledgement of Jesus as the Son of God; that he was the Christ in human flesh; that He lived a human life; and that his suffering and his dying make up the essential aspects of the salvation story. John wanted his readers to adhere to the teaching of the Apostles, not teachers who came later with different and incorrect ideas. After all, it was the Apostles who knew Him best. They were the ones who had been with Jesus, listened to His teaching, and observed His uniqueness. John s desire for his readers was that they might stay focused on the characteristics which would make them the most like Christ. This is the kind of teaching that the members of Christ s Body, the Church, needs to be reminded of over and over. We will study the First Epistle of John in order that we might hear in a fresh way the teachings of Jesus. There is no obvious way to outline this letter, although later I will call attention to the recurring themes or cycles in the form of the letter. I intend to cover a few verses in each lesson and, for the most part, I will emphasize the most important themes. For example, in the passage for today, the two important themes are life and fellowship. Read I John 1:1-4 2

3 These four verses are the introduction or preface to the letter. Linguists and translators tell us that these four verses are one long sentence in the original Greek language. The subject and main verb are at the end of verse 1, the words we proclaim (apangellomen). The objects of the verb are the four clauses at the beginning of verse 1 That which was from the beginning, (that) which we have heard, (that) which we have seen with our eyes, and (that) which we have looked at. These object clauses are given before the verb in order to emphasize their importance. Verse 2 is like a parenthesis which enlarges on the statement, the Word of life. Verses 3 and 4 contain two purpose clauses which indicate the direction of the author s thinking: that you may have fellowship with us and to make our joy complete. The grammatical tangle is mostly a problem of translation. The sentence would be easily understood by a reader of the Greek language. Greek readers would quickly recognize the strong intensity of John s feelings. Although his personal interaction with Jesus had occurred many years previously, those experiences were deeply impressed in John s mind, and these come out in his writing. Even after many years, John was still overwhelmed and captivated by his understanding of the person and work of Jesus, the Word of life, and he wrote in a style to draw his readers up to his level of enthusiasm he wants them to have fellowship with us so that his personal joy might be complete. The first phrase of the preface links the reader with two other passages with the same words. The first words in the Gospel of John are In the beginning was the word, and the very first words in the Bible are In the beginning God. The Apostle John was deliberately reminding his readers of these previous verses when he began the letter with the words That which was from the beginning. The pronoun that refers to the One who was both God and the living Word. This is the deep understanding that John had about Jesus, and it shapes the writing of the entire letter. The phrase in Genesis explains the preexistence and power of God He preceded creation, time, and history. The Gospel describes how the eternal God was brought into time and space the Word of Life became incarnated. He had a body which could be seen, touched, and handled. This is the life, the eternal life, that John wants to proclaim to his readers. That s the first theme which is introduced in this letter. John was among those few individuals who were with Jesus for more than three years. The Apostles had the opportunity to hear the teaching of Jesus with their own 3

4 ears, and to touch and handle the physical person of Jesus. John stresses this fact at the beginning of the letter in order to refute the false teachers who denied that Christ came in a human body. Because the incarnation of the Son of God is the crucial point of John s argument against heresy, he restates it in verse 2. Notice the verbs in verse 2: The life to which he was referring, the life that was from eternity, appeared. John had seen it (heorakamen ), could bear personal witness to it (martyroumen ), and could make an apostolic declaration concerning it (apangellomen ). As he stated, this was the life which was with the Father and has appeared to us. Verse 3 begins with yet another repetition of the phrase we proclaim to you. John really, really wants his readers to understand that he is a credible reporter of the information he is going to share in this letter. Verse 3 also introduces us to the second theme of the Epistle: that you also may have fellowship with us. The word translated fellowship is the Greek word koinonia. Koinonia is not easily put into English. It can also mean communion, participation, common experience, and partnership. In the New Testament the word is used to describe believers who hold things in common because of their faith in Christ. Different passages in the New Testament describe how believers share a common faith (Philemon 6), share possessions (Acts 2:44; 4:30), and are partners in the work of the gospel (Philippians 1:5). New Testament fellowship is a personal experience. It's the pleasure of being in the kind of group in which you see eye to eye on important matters. It's having similar values and responding with the same kind of affections to what really counts. And koinonia is not just human interaction; it represents the eternal life that comes from the Father through Jesus Christ. The last phrase in verse 3 explains that our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. To say you have fellowship with the Father and his Son means that you share their values. You believe what they believe and love what they love. And so you delight to spend time together. You love to include them in all that you do. You cherish the thought of spending an eternity getting to know them better. 4

5 It is not possible for humans in their natural life to have fellowship with God. We cannot fellowship with God unless we have God s life. Fortunately this was made possible through Christ who is the eternal Son of God, and Who, at a certain time in human history, entered into a human body, was born of the virgin Mary, dwelt among people, suffered and died on the cross, all to qualify us to be in fellowship with God. All believers are part of the community of people who share the same life. We belong to each other, we have come to the same source of life. We are part of God s family. We have fellowship with the Father, and with His Son, and with John and the other Apostles, and with all other believers of the past 2000 years. Verse 4 explains another reason that John wrote this letter. His joy in the Lord would not be complete unless his readers understood the reality of koinonia fellowship. John realized that some of his readers had been influenced by heretical teaching, and he knew that this false teaching could not possibly provide them the joy and peace that he himself knew. In this letter John will present lots of tests whereby the readers will be able to assess the reality and purity of their faith, and the more completely the readers meet the criteria of fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, the more joy there will be for everyone. Verse 4 is very similar to a statement made by Jesus to His disciples: I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (John 15:11). John recognized that he would be fulfilled as a Church leader when his readers followed the teaching he was about to explain to them in the remainder of his letter. Summary of this message 1. Christ, our Life, eternally existed as God. 2. Christ, our Life, was manifested in the flesh. 3. Through the work of Christ on earth, we were qualified for fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4. We should seek to draw others into this fellowship because we long for the fullness of joy that comes when others share the delight we have in the fellowship of the Father and the Son. 5