seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
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Here's the link to the commentary I read.That which was from the beginning: The beginning John wrote of is not the beginning of this world; nor is it the beginning of creation. It is the beginning of Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1, the beginning there was before there was anything, when all there existed was God.
Which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled: This indicates that this eternal being — the One from the beginning — came to earth, and John (among others) personally experienced this eternal One.
The Word of Life: John identified this eternally existent being, who was physically present with John and others (note the repetition of our, and not “my”), as the Word of Life. This is the same Logos spoken of in John 1:1.
The idea of the Logos — of the Word — was important for John and for the Greek and Jewish worlds of his day. For the Jew, God was often referred to as the Word because they knew God perfectly revealed Himself in His Word. For the Greek, their philosophers had spoken for centuries about the Logos — the basis for organization and intelligence in the universe, the Ultimate Reason which controls all things.
It is as if John said to everyone, “This Logos you have been talking about and writing about for centuries — well, we have heard Him, seen Him, studied Him, and touched Him. Let me now tell you about Him.”
The life was manifested: This life was manifested, meaning that it was made actually and physically real. John solemnly testified as an eyewitness (we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you) that this was the case. This was no fairy tale, no “Once upon a time” story. This was real, and John tells us about it as an eyewitness.
Eternal life which was with the Father: In calling Jesus eternal life, John remembered the words of Jesus (John 5:26, 6:48, and 11:25). He also repeated the idea expressed in his first words of this letter: that Jesus Himself is eternal, and therefore God.
Which was with the Father: This refers to the eternal relationship between the Father and the Son. There was an eternal relationship of love and fellowship between the Father and the Son. Jesus referred to this in John 17:24: “For You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
Was with the Father: The word with indicates that this being, who is eternal, and is eternal life Himself, is distinct from the Father. John builds the New Testament understanding of the Trinity — that one God exists as three Persons, equal and one, yet distinct in their person.
That you may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ: The purpose of John’s declaration about this eternally existent, physically present, Word of life who is God, yet is a person distinct from the Father, is to bring his readers into fellowship with both God’s people and God Himself.
You can enjoy this fellowship even though you do not understand all the intricacies of the trinity. You can use your eyes even though you don’t know every detail of how your vision works. You can know God and believe in Him as He has revealed Himself, even though you can’t understand everything about His person or nature.
Fellowship: The idea of fellowship is one of the most important ideas in this letter of John’s. It is the ancient Greek word koinonia, which speaks of a sharing, a communion, a common bond and common life. It speaks of a living, breathing, sharing, loving relationship with another person.
Fellowship… with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ: This simple and bold statement means that one can have a relationship with God. This idea would surprise many of John’s readers, and it should be astounding to us. The Greek mind-set highly prized the idea of fellowship, but restricted to men among men — the idea of such an intimate relationship with God was revolutionary.
Fellowship… with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ: The kind of relationship John described is only possible because Jesus is who John says He is in 1 John 1:1-2. If someone invited you to have a “personal relationship” with Napoleon, or Alexander the Great, or Abraham Lincoln — or even Moses or the Apostle Paul — you would think them foolish. One cannot even have a genuine “spiritual” relationship with a dead man. But with the eternal God who became man, we can have a relationship.
The word fellowship has in it not only the idea of relationship, but also of sharing a common life. When we have fellowship with Jesus, we will become more like Him.
Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ: We have the potential of a relationship of a shared life with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. It is as if the Father and the Son agree together to let us into their relationship of love and fellowship.
This idea of a shared life is essential. This doesn’t mean that when Jesus comes into our life He helps us to do the same things, but simply to do them better than before. We don’t add Jesus to our life. We enter into a relationship of a shared life with Jesus. We share our life with Him, and He shares His life with us.
That your joy may be full: The result of fellowship is fullness of joy. This joy is an abiding sense of optimism and cheerfulness based on God, as opposed to happiness, which is a sense of optimism and cheerfulness based on circumstances.
That your joy may be full: Fullness of joy is certainly possible for the Christian, but it is by no means certain. John wrote with the desire that believers would have fullness of joy — and if it were inevitable or very easy to have, he would not have written this.
This is the message: This is a claim to authority. John isn’t making this up; these are not his own personal opinions or ideas about God. This is God’s message about Himself (which we have heard from Him), which John now reveals to us (and declare to you).
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all: We must begin our understanding of God here. John declares this on the simple understanding that God Himself is light; and light by definition has no darkness at all in it; for there to be darkness, there must be an absence of light.
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all: Therefore, if there is a problem with our fellowship with God, it is our fault. It is not the fault of God because there is no sin or darkness in Him at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with Him: John first deals with a false claim to fellowship. Based upon this, we understand that it is possible for some to claim a relationship with God that they do not have. We can also say that it is possible for someone to think they have a relationship with God that they do not have.
Many Christians are not aware of their true condition. They know they are saved, and have experienced conversion and have repented at some time in their life. Yet they do not live in true fellowship with God.
But if we walk in the light: This means to walk in a generally obedient life, without harboring known sin or resisting the conviction of the Holy Spirit on a particular point.
If we say we have no sin: John has introduced the ideas of walking in the light and being cleansed from sin. But he did not for a moment believe that a Christian can become sinlessly perfect.
To think this of ourselves is to deceive ourselves, and to say this of ourselves is to lie — the truth is not in us.
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John's first letter is really heavy. I would encourage you to follow the link to the commentary. I think there is twice as much there about these verses than I copied and pasted here. You really should read it.
I'm not a preacher. I'm an old woman with an online Bible and some online commentary. I don't know how a preacher would approach these verses. I've never heard one try. This is some deep stuff!
See the commentary above where I highlighted it in purple? I had a thought when I read that.... and I want to pass it along.
I thought of Facebook. I have family and friends that I knew long before I got my Facebook account. I still know them all. Some have "unfriended" me. Some are still reading my posts but basically, my posts annoy them. Some of my friends still follow and post just like we were in the kitchen making dinner.
I think that's an easy way to explain the relationship offered to Christians. We have all heard about Christianity. We have all heard that Christmas and Easter are Christian Holidays. Some celebrate because of the presents. Some celebrate because it's the polite thing to do. Some will go on to other religions, still there, but not really, same God but not really. Some celebrate because they have made a Public Confession of Faith and they truly believe, so they are honestly celebrating the Birth and Resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah.
God and His Son, have learned how to allow sculpted humans to live forever. God sculpted you and even counted the hairs on your head as He made you. Jesus was there watching. Jesus used that knowledge on Lazarus and Himself. When Christians die, Jesus is able to bring them back to life, even if they are stinky.
Some of you will live forever, because you will choose to Believe. Some of you are pew warmers and you will not get to live forever. Forever is a long, long, long time and I'm sure you will appreciate having "friended" someone who will always be your "friend". They won't die, or unfriend you. They know what you are going to post before you post it even if you are on earth and they are on Jupiter.
I'm not making this any easier.
Let me try it this way.... "I have a 'friend' in Jesus". He will never "unfriend" me. He will never send me dick pics. He will never send me fake news. He will never send me a virus. Our "friendship" will go on forever. He's always there. All I have to do is call Him up!
I'm not a perfect friend of Jesus. I'm a forgiven friend of Jesus.
John is writing these letters because he wants to share that "friendship" with everyone.
You can have a "friend" in Jesus too!
