I. Jesus- The Person Of John’s Message
A. The Message Of Jesus- 1That which was from the beginning…
1. That phrase “from the beginning” is used 9 times in 8 verses.
2. 8 times, it speaks of “from the beginning of the ministry of Jesus”.
a. 1:1; 2:7; 2:13; 2:14; 2:24; 3:11
3. 1 time it speaks of the beginning earlier than the ministry of Jesus- 3:8
4. John is reminding these Christians that what he is telling them, they have heard many times before.
5. Verse 1 doesn’t speak of the eternal nature of Jesus, but verse 2 does.
B. The Eternal Nature Of Jesus- 2eternal life which was with the Father
1. John described Jesus one who existed when the beginning started
2. Jesus existed before the beginning. Without beginning and without end.
3. Genesis 1:1 1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
4. Read John 1:1-3, 10-14
a. That attribute of existing “in the beginning” can only belong to God.
5. John is careful to point out the first two persons of the Triune Godhead
a. He is eternal, but eternally with the Father. Separate persons.
C. The Manifestation/Incarnation Of Jesus
1. John declares his own personal eyewitness testimony
a. 1b which we have heard,
b. which we have seen with our eyes- seeing w/mental perception
c. which we have looked upon- to contemplate, wondering regard
d. and our hands have handled- to examine closely through touch
i. As when blind Isaac examined Jacob with his hands, trying to determine if it was Esau. (Septuagint Old Testament)
Genesis 27:21, 22 Isaac said to Jacob, Draw night to me, & I will feel thee, son, if thou art my son Esau or not. 22 And Jacob drew night to his father Isaac, & he felt him, & said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are…of Esau.
ii. Luke 24:39 39Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”
iii. They examined the risen Christ w/their hands. He was not a ghost.
2. The eternal, formerly invisible life of Jesus, God the son, was made visible
a. Read V. 2—Like putting invisible white light thru a prism and seeing the different components of light that were formerly unseen.
. God was manifested thru the prism of the humanity of Jesus Christ.
ii. Varying components of the nature of God refracted thru Jesus.
aa. John 14:9b, 10a He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Do you not believe that I am in the Father, & the Father in Me?
iii. With the Father. Greek word pros, which means to face another. Jesus, a person, not a concept or force, was with (facing) the Father.
b. 3that which we have seen and heard we declare to you,
C. Called The “Word Of Life”- 1concerning the Word of life—“Logos”
1. Logos comes from legō, “to speak,” and refers to the total concept of something.
2. Jesus is the Logos of God in the sense that He is the total concept of God seen thru a human medium, His humanity consisting of His human body, His human limitations, & His human life lived on earth in the power of the Holy Spirit.
II. The Invitation To Fellowship
A. With Other Believers- 3b that you also may have fellowship with us;
1. Fellowship- Modern day definition: companionship, social intercourse
a. John would not have had the ability to have social intercourse with all the first century readers of this letter. Social interaction isn’t what he meant.
2. Fellowship- koinonia- Ancient definition- “having a joint-participation w/ another in something possessed in by both”. A shared life.
a. Acts 2:44 Now all who believed were together, & had all things in common. (Koinonia)
b. John knew that the Holy Spirit could take John’s words and reveal Jesus in such a way that He could be accepted and known first hand in the spirit.
c. John spoke of the koinonia, the joint participation of knowing Jesus, though He had already ascended to Heaven.
d. Common likes & dislikes w/Jesus: loving righteousness, hating sin, being merciful, prayerful, loving God’s word, being led by the Spirit. All these things Jesus did, & Christians do when they live in fellowship w/Jesus.
3. In essence, John said, “Come experience what I have. Know it & feel it w/me.”
4. I have fellowship (shared life) w/living & dead saints (who still live with God).
a. Jesus is still alive. Dead saints are still alive in glory. We are alive here.
b. As we share the person of Christ, there is a heavenly resonance & life.
B. Koinonia With The Father & The Son V. 3b
1. Read John 17:24-26 Jesus invites us into the same fellowship he had w/the Father before the foundation of the world. He prayed for that. He longed for it.
2. John wasn’t inviting people to his church, or to a philosophy.
3. He was inviting them to enter into relationship w/himself & w/God.
III. The Joy That Comes From Fellowship With God V. 4
“Yours” or “ours” both work. “Ours” points to John & the readers. “Yours”- the readers only.
A. Contrast Between Happiness & Joy
1. Happiness reaches a point where the desired goal needs to be changed, and a new object for happiness is sought.
2. Joy doesn’t look for a new source, it goes deeper into that source. It wants more.
3. Guzik- 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.
B. Fullness Of Joy Comes From Fellowship With Jesus
1. Fullness of joy is possible, but it isn’t automatic. There are many things that seek to compete and disrupt the Christian’s experience re. fullness of joy.
a. Satan seeks to disrupt fellowship between the Christian and Jesus
b. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, & the pride of life do the same.
c. We can choose to pursue happiness from things instead of joy from Jesus.
d. Our loss of joy is in direct correlation to our lack of seeking Jesus and chasing of things and people.
2. Conversely- The more we experience a shared life w/Jesus, the greater our joy will be. As w/any relationship, we need to purposely invest time, energy & emotions, but as we do, we find fullness of joy in a shared life w/Jesus Christ.