1 John 1:1-4
True Christianity
“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, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” - 1 John 1:1-4
Introduction
As has been established, John put pen to paper to make the marks of true Christianity clear in opposition to the heresies, and false professions spreading in his day. What we end up with, is an epistle for all believers in all generations to test the validity of their professions of faith and find lasting assurance that they are in fact saved. John knew something powerful about the love of God in that he was a part of Christ’s “inner circle,” and only identified himself by the love that Jesus had for him. John was also known as a “Son of Thunder,” meaning that he had a ferocious zeal for truth. As we begin this study through 1 John, we will find both sides of John (his love and zeal) speaking to us, exposing false converts, as well as encouraging true Christians in the saving power of God.
One of the most helpful discipleship tools I have ever read is undoubtedly the Westminster Shorter Catechism. I think every Christian needs to read it at least once in their life, if anything just for the powerful truth contained in the first question. The catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?” To which the answer is provided, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy Him forever.” If every child could learn this truth from their earliest days, they would have more knowledge of true Christianity than even some of the most seasoned believers in the modern Church. We do not merely live to glorify God in blind submission and obedience, but to enjoy God in intimate fellowship and communion. Our happiness and God’s glory are not at odds with one another, but are inseparably linked by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our greatest joy as humans comes when we live for God’s greatest glory in our lives.
In the passage before us, John essentially says that he longs for us to experience the enjoyment of God through living the true Christian life. Christianity is about knowing Jesus personally, fellowshipping with Him and His people intimately, and having a genuine all-satisfying joy in the new life of faith. In this message, I’d like to focus on those aspects of the faith that John emphasizes: the knowledge of Jesus, fellowship, and joy. I pray that the Word of God would confirm you in the people of God through this message, and that your joy would be complete.
Know Jesus
The truth of Christianity does not depend on the success of an individual church, the numbers of its adherents, or the popularity of it’s message. The truth of Christianity is established only by the cornerstone of a person named Jesus Christ. That is why John begins this pastoral epistle with doctrinal and devotional statements about Christ; he wants us to know the real Jesus, and rest our faith upon Him. Dr. Daniel Akin explains this well in his exposition of 1 John:
“Christianity stands or falls on the person and work of Jesus Christ. It succeeds or fails on whether or not a true and genuine incarnation actually took place in space and time. The options as to who Jesus is and what Jesus did can basically be reduced to four. He could have been a liar—someone who simply was not who he claimed to be and knew it. He could have been a lunatic—someone who thought he was somebody, but in fact he was not. He could have been a legend—someone who was not who others later imagined him to be. Or He could be the Lord—He is who He said He is, and His birth, life, death, and resurrection prove it to be true.”
John makes it clear for us that there are certain things we must believe about Jesus in order to be Christians. You and I are not allowed to make Him into whoever we want Him to be in accordance with our own personal preferences. Either we believe He is who He said, or we worship an idol. The choice really is that simple.
The two most important statements John makes about Jesus in these four verses concern His true divinity and humanity. First, John tells of the divinity of Jesus, echoing the words of his Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:10). So here, John tells us of the Word that was from the beginning. Whereas the other apostles wrote to proclaim Christ as Messiah, John wrote to proclaim Jesus as God. This reality makes belief in the Trinity essential to our faith. God is one being, eternally existent in three persons, otherwise John’s understanding of Christ in his writings simply doesn’t work. The Son of God’s existence did not begin with Jesus’ birth in a manger, rather He was eternally begotten of the Father. There was never a time when the Son was not. Jesus was there when the universe was spoken into existence and established upon the waters. The God of Genesis 1:1, is Jesus of 1 John 1:1.
Second, John tells of the humanity of Jesus, saying twice that He was “manifested.” Again, this is the same teaching John gave in the first chapter of his gospel when he said, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). John uses the title “Word” to describe Jesus, because He is the way God has communicated eternal life to us. God’s message and plan of salvation is not found in another list of dos and don’ts for us to fail under the weight of. Salvation is found in the knowledge of God clothing Himself in the flesh of humanity to redeem us from sin and death. Jesus is our Emmanuel, He is God with us (Matthew 1:23).
If we had a chance to walk with Jesus during His earthly ministry, we would be shocked by how unspectacular He’d appear at first glance. We would see Him eat physical food and grow hungry if He skipped a meal. He would have sores on His feet from walking all day, and probably smell for lack of modern deodorant and shampoo. If we asked Him a question, He would have no idea what we were saying, because He didn’t speak English in the years of His life on earth. He would need sufficient sleep or He wouldn’t be able to function, and so on. He was not a phantom, or some strange mirage of a man. Jesus was and is truly human. At first glance, He would appear to be just as normal and mundane as every other guy. It would only be as we continued to walk with Him, and talk with Him, that we, like the rest of the disciples, would begin to understand that this fisherman from Galilee was no ordinary man.
That was the experience of John. The God of eternity took on flesh, and called this apostle to follow Him, and testify of His works so that we too could believe and know we have eternal life. John says that he heard, saw, and touched what he now testifies to us. This is an incredible statement. The God who put the stars in the sky preached sermons that John had the chance to listen to. The God who made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sat down for meals where John had a chance to lean his head against His chest. The God who split the sea and gave the Law at Mt. Sinai hung on a cross for sinners, and John beheld Him through every agonizing second. More than doctrinal assent, John had experiential certainty that He was who He said, and now proclaims that Word of eternal life to us. I think we ought to listen.
Once I was able to share the gospel with a Muslim in a largely Islamic country. I barely knew how to say “hello” in his language, and he only knew a bit of english. Luckily, he pulled up Google Translate on his smartphone to make communication possible! He would make a statement about Islam, Google would translate it, I would read the translation on his phone, and then respond back through the same process. The man had no problem believing Jesus was a great man and a prophet, and was extremely friendly with me so long as that was the Jesus we were talking about. But when Google translated my statement “Jesus is God,” his demeanor quickly changed. “NO.” He retorted in english without the translator, as if I had uttered the most blasphemous thing his ears had ever heard.
The world has no problem believing in Jesus so long as He is just another person like them. But when the Biblical assertion is made that Jesus is the only one true God of the universe, the cordiality quickly dries up. When Jesus claimed the divine name that only YHWH bears, He was met with attack. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 5:58). It may be difficult for modern audiences to understand the significance of that, but Jesus’ audience knew exactly what He was saying. Only God is allowed to talk that way. Only God can say, “I AM.” Only God is from the beginning. That is why they took up stones to execute Jesus, and that is why the world balks at our proclamation of His divine supremacy today. If He was just a man, he can be forgotten with the passing of time. But if He is God, He cannot be ignored. If He is God, then we owe Him ultimate allegiance simply by virtue of His being. True divinity and humanity were bound together in one Christ, come to save us from sin. Is this what you think of when you hear the name Jesus?
Know Fellowship
John’s goal in writing is for our fellowship to be with this God He just described, as well as the people God redeems. First, concerning our fellowship with God, I find it so encouraging that he mentions fellowship with the Father and the Son. I fear that many Christians live with a false dichotomy about the Father being this mean Old Testament deity who is only defined by His wrath and petty desire for vengeance; whereas they think Jesus in the New Testament is the loving God who only exists to show mercy and compassion. When people hear of how Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross redeems us from the wrath of God (Romans 5:9), they have this idea of the loving Jesus of the New Testament, saving us from the angry Father of the Old Testament. That mindset makes them afraid and indifferent toward God the Father.
Dear Christian, it was the providential plan of the Father to redeem you just as much as it was the power of the Son that brought it about. When looking at all the Bible, we find that Jesus has wrath, just as much as the Father has love. The Old Testament is filled with grace, just as much as the New Testament is filled with judgment. The first covenant of the Bible was not between God and man, but between God the Father and the other two persons of the Trinity. The Father proposed to redeem, the Son chose to obey, and the Spirit applies the finished work when we believe. The Christian life was meant to be lived with an intimate knowledge and fellowship with God the Father, just as much as Jesus the Savior. I’d also like to say here that it isn’t wise to project the failures (or even the success) of your earthly dad onto God the Heavenly Father. The Heavenly Father does not reject or leave you to live like an orphan; He is faithful to the end, and without failure. It was the Father’s idea to save you, let His perfect parental love shield, defend, and empower you to live the Christian life.
Second, John makes it clear that our fellowship is to be with the Son, Jesus Christ. After giving the correct understanding of Christ doctrinally, John makes it clear that our fellowship is to be with Jesus devotionally. It’s not enough to nod our heads in agreement as orthodox christology is expounded to us. In Matthew chapter seven, Jesus Himself made it clear that on Judgment Day, He will send many people who claimed to know Him into hell. “I never knew you” will be His dreadful words. As if to say, “You said you knew me, but you never followed me as a disciple. You never experienced the new birth. You never fellowshipped with me as a friend.” An old preacher used to say, “Jesus is not a thing to be studied, He is a person to be loved.” Knowledge of Christ does not always equal fellowship with Christ. One cannot exist without the other.
John Wesley, “I know Jesus is the Savior of the world.” Yes, said the Moravian, “but has He saved you?” - Do you know Jesus? Are you known by Him?
Thirdly, you notice that John says he writes “that ye also may have fellowship with us (v. 3).” I do not believe it is possible to have fellowship with God apart from the people of God. John could have easily said he wanted the fellowship of his audience to only be with God, but he went out of his way to link that fellowship with him and the church. This is something we will deal with more later, but John does not see a difference between love for God, and love for God’s people. As we continue the study we will find passages like 1 John 2:11, “But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness…” This is not talking about the “brotherhood of humanity” but the spiritual family of the Church. Or again in 1 John 3:10, “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” The assumption is that to be a child of God is to be a brother or sister to other Christians. The Spirit of God living in one believer will always unite in love with the Spirit of God in another. If hatred exists between two professing Christians, then one or both of them are not saved.
Sometimes I’ll go to Walmart because only they have something I need. Of all the supermarkets in the world, Walmart is my least favorite! It’s packed with people, it doesn’t feel clean, and it’s way more expensive than other stores Sarah and I know of. But when we have to go there, typically we speed through the isles and head back home as quickly as possible. At some local places, we love to see people we know and stop for a while to visit, but we don’t really like to hang around or have conversations at Walmart because it’s just kind of a stressful place for us personally. When we are at Walmart, we are thinking of two things: getting our stuff, and getting out!
Dear friend, church is not meant to be like a spiritual supermarket where you get your soul food and leave without interacting with people. Oh how I long for FBCLW to be a place of genuine fellowship for the family of God! One of the surest signs of an unhealthy church is that the people show up late and leave early. If they are only here because they think they have to, and they only stay for as long as they need to, something is dangerously off. In a healthy church, the people long to attend Sunday service so they can fellowship with their spiritual family, just as much as they know they need to hear the sermon! Friend, you weren’t meant to live the Christian life on your own, and it is a possible sign of false conversion if you do. I pray that we would be able to genuinely sing from the heart, “I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God!”
Know Joy
Lastly, John says he writes so that our joy would be full. John is repeating to us almost the exact teaching he heard from Jesus, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11). The Christian life is a life of joy. When a person looks to the cross, and like Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress, feels the weight of sin fall from their backs, a heavenly happiness is meant to fill their heart. The second fruit of the Spirit Paul lists in Galatians 5:22 is joy! Yes, there are burdens in the Christian life. Yes, there is discouragement and even guilt that a true believer experiences as they come face to face with their remaining inner corruptions. But in the midst of it all, there is a deep and abiding satisfaction and peace with God that ultimately wins the day. This is because we know in whom we have believed! Christ and conquered sin and death for us, how can we not smile? Worldly happiness may come and go as circumstances change, but joy abides deep and remains through the good times and the bad.
Most cults have a practice of either denying expressions of joy, or faking them. One sure mark of a cult is the practice of what’s called “joy-bombing,” where the existing members surround the new comber and “bomb” them with flattery; they smile and laugh constantly in an attempt to win the new convert. Another cult I know called the Church of Wells, fixates on imitating Jesus as the “man of sorrows, acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). They will never be seen with smiles on their faces, because they think it is unchristlike to be happy in any way! Each of these examples miss the mark. Christianity does not offer a fake joy, or the suppression of joy. Rather it produces the only lasting joy, the fruit of our faith.
If your faith is in the God-man Jesus Christ, and you have true fellowship with Him and His people, joy will be the defining mark of your life. You may fall to sin, but you rejoice because His mercy is new every morning and His grace gives you strength to stand again and keep persevering. You may suffer with sickness or losing a job or friend for His name’s sake, but you rejoice because He has overcome the world and His smile is worth more than the world’s frown. Humans were created to live with God, that is why our joy is only found in knowledge and fellowship with Him.
