Walk in fellowship with God: (chap.1)
Christian faith is historical: (1:1):
The first thing John tells us is that the Christian faith is based on facts, not fiction. “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.”
John testified that this Jesus he proclaims is someone he saw, heard, looked at, and touched. Jesus was a real person, who lived at a real time in history.
We need to understand how significant and important it is. John is reminding us that he is not sharing some philosophy he’s come up with. This is not some theory that he is propounding. He is telling us what he saw and learned from the Jesus of History.
Now-a-days many god like characters or gurus are appearing with superstitious beliefs. But here John wants us to know that He is going to tell us about a real person. We can check John’s facts with history. We can check facts about Jesus with other historians; even secular historians.
John brought out number of conclusions about Jesus because
- He saw Jesus heal the sick, restore sight to the blind, and make the lame walk
- He listened to the wisdom of His words.
- He was with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration.
- He was in the boat when Jesus walked on water and again when He calmed a raging storm with a word.
- He was present when He took the five loaves and two fish and fed nearly 5,000 hungry people.
- He was there at His crucifixion and remembered that Jesus had predicted it would happen exactly.
- Finally he saw the resurrected Jesus. Three days after He was dead and buried, and had dinner with Jesus!
- In the letter to Hebrews: “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will” (Heb. 2:3-4).
John isn’t asking us to believe his theories. He’s asking us to believe his eyewitness testimony.
Christian Faith is Relevant and personal: (1:2-4):
Further John says: “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.”
Ex: Every one of us is going to die someday. As we stand at the bedside of someone who is dying, or at the grave of someone who is about to be buried, we want to know, “Is this all the end?”
If this life is all there is, Solomon is right: “Meaningless, Meaningless, it is all meaningless” (Eccl.1:2). There is no real justice and there is no reward for doing what is right. There is no real motivation to do anything of some good value.
John tells us that he has the evidence that this life is not that meaningless life, because we have the evidence through the life, death and resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ. John tells us that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father, except through me.” (Jn. 14:6)
If there is an eternity beyond this temporal life that we are now living, then knowing about eternal life is of the utmost importance. This is the most important issue of our lives! This is not superficial information; it is vital, practical, and life changing. That’s why John says:
“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. We write this to make our joy complete.” (1:2-4).