Since we have completed our time in the Gospel of John, I am continuing with John through his epistles, 1,2, and 3rd John. This week we are considering 1 John 1:1-4 in which John wrote, “That which was from the beginning,” and addressed his experience, the Word of Life, and the reason he wrote.
His Experience
John and the other disciples lives changed. They experienced Jesus. John wrote that it is about what they saw with their own eyes, not some photo shop, what they heard, not gossip, but from the source Himself. He remembered laying on Jesus’ breast, of watching Him day in and out for the years He lived on earth. Then they witnessed the cruel treatment He received, His death on the cross, His resurrected body and His ascent into heaven.
The Word of Life
John wrote about the Word of Life. He witnessed this Life. The Life that is eternal, the Life which came from the Father, and they experienced it with their own senses as they lived life with Jesus, the exact image of the Father. They saw it, they witnessed it and they declared it to others at great cost to themselves personally.
Reason He Writes
John declared these things from what he experienced of the Word of Life but why? There is a unique bond for followers of Jesus. It involves relationship with the Father and His son Jesus Christ. John invited his readers into this fellowship by his declarations. He desired that they too experience full joy, the biproduct of such a fellowship.
We don’t just take what John has declared as words on a page, but we too experience the Living Word through the Holy Spirit, the Word of Life. By faith we too experience Jesus in our lives, the Living Word, and thereby enjoy a unique bond with God the Father and Jesus the Son and with His children. Amazing joy!
This week we have considered 1 John 1:1-4 in which John addressed his experience, the Word of Life, and the reason he wrote.