B. He is not a being that God created, not someone who has a beginning. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. (1 John 1:1-4 RSV) Three things are highlighted for us in this introduction: A relationship, a fellowship, and a joy that follows. He is first concerned about the joy of companionship which is, of course, the solution to the problem of loneliness. Later in his Gospel John will make powerful reference to this eternality of Christ. Though a text may have different individual applications, it can only have one universal meaning. Throughout his Gospel John presents Jesus Christ as the one in whom spiritual, eternal life is to be found. The relationship between my existence and Jesus Christ is one of absolute dependence, irrespective of whether I am aware of or acknowledge that dependence. When you get lonely where do you want to go? John also makes a claim to eyewitness testimony: he has personally seen these things he is teaching others about. Then he says that this life will result in two wonderful things: First, fellowship. Twice he says it. John will spend much more time later in his gospel explaining Jesus' role in bringing life to mankind. Home, to the family! There are things I know I want to do, things I would like to do because it is his will, what he wants. This is one of the favorite phrases of the Apostle John "from the beginning." And that is what makes a Christian, to share the life of God by relationship to a Person, the only Person who has that life, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This is the great secret of fellowship. They do have something in common -- the same ship. In this remarkable letter, John tells us the truth about relationships – and shows us how to have relationships that are real, for both now and eternity. In between the prologue (1 John 1:1-4) and the conclusion (5:13-21) these two major themes appeared repeatedly in three major sections: A. 767f. This verse identifies the Logos, the Word, as the agent of creation, and in doing so again identifies the Word as God. 1 John 1:1–4. John says, "I write this in order that you might have assurance," be secure, free from failure. In him was life. You find that characteristic of this man all through his written ministry. Now God will do this, he wants to do it. ‘In the beginning …’ immediately brings to the reader’s mind the ‘in the beginning’ of Genesis 1:1, where God is assumed to exist in unique, independent, absolute, unconditional, eternal self-existence. John 1:1 QUESTION: John 1:1 - What does it mean? If the vertical is not right, the horizontal one will be wrong, and, if it is wrong, it is because something is wrong between us and the Father. Again John refers to the eternal existence of the Word, and his close and eternal association and relationship with God, indicating at the one time an essential distinction and a perfect unity. It is here that the Arian controversy of the early church and some contemporary pseudo-Christian cults deviate from the biblical perspective. You tell him secrets. John 1:14 tells us what really happened 2000 years ago-and what it means to us today. Having first prevented us from merging the Word and God by the phrase ‘the Word was with God’ he here prevents us from seeing the Word as a lesser being. We live in families. “Word” here is translated from the Greek logos. They all have a very important task, but God commits something original to each of these men to be passed along to us. But it must all begin with this matter of relationship, for John is concerned first about the family of God. I told him, "I know you do. John is preparing us here for truths he plans to emphasise. That is what this letter is written for, that we might be free from deception. This is the point to which all objections to Christianity are ultimately directed, an attempt to destroy this basis of fact. Context Summary. The greatness of God, the wisdom, the power, the glory of his might -- all is made available to me, when I make myself available to him. Ah, but that is not all, and it cannot be all. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In Chapter 5, Verse 13, he gives us the fourth reason: "I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.". In Verse 24, he says, "Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. So in 1 John 4:16 ho theos agape estin can only mean “God is love,” not “love is God” as a so-called Christian scientist would confusedly say. The Persic version reads in the plural number, "lives". He goes on, "and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ." 1That 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. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. But John is different than both of these. All of us are related to someone. On the basis of a flawed and inconsistent interpretation of the Greek text this phrase is translated ‘the Word was a god’, reducing Christ to a being less than and different from God. There was need of a voice to call people back to the original foundations and that is the ministry of the Apostle John. There was life in the word with respect to himself; a divine life, the same with the life of the Father and of the Spirit; and is in him, not by gift, nor by derivation or communication; but originally, and independently, and from all eternity: indeed he lived before his incarnation as Mediator, and Redeemer. By this simple introductory phrase John throws us right into the debate which permeates his Gospel: Did Jesus Christ have the right to make the claims he made, or did he not? 3 eAll things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. You are a vital part of God's program. For him the Logos concept was a bridge between the transcendent God and this material universe. We must believe these facts. John saw His glory.. the glory as of the eternal God, shining in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. First John 1:1–4 introduces this letter written by the apostle John. In Jesus' name, Amen. These are tremendously important verses. It is only God who is eternal. He is not a distant, remote God, but a God who comes and speaks to us. Here he sets the scene for all that he is about to record in his Gospel about the true identity of Jesus. In doing this he expressed exactly the mind of God. In focusing on the Logos concept we must also be careful not to overlook the word ‘was’ which speaks of continuity of existence. The forces which seek to overthrow Christian faith today try to undermine our confidence in the facts of Scripture, these great historical truths about a Person who appeared in time. It has been available for all time, but you only began it when you came to know Jesus Christ. We have to start with A in order, eventually, to arrive at Z, and it is that A which John is describing in the Gospel. Do not make the mistake of thinking that the only way to have joy is to be free from pressures or problems. He keeps saying, "I don't do these things, it's not I who accomplishes these works, it is the Father who dwells in me," John 14:10). That simply means at the starting point. Science suggest it was millions of years ago, and Scripture is quite ready to accommodate that. No, take all the pressures and the problems, but with them that wonderful feeling down inside that God is at work, and he is at work in you. That simply means "the beginning I am experiencing right now." Here in John 1:1 John repeats this divine ‘in the beginning’, affirming the eternity and the deity of Jesus Christ. The expression indicates ‘accompaniment and relationship’ – ‘the whole existence of the Word was oriented towards the Father’ [Morris, p76]. Then he says, "I am writing this so that you may not sin." In all that the Father intends and wills the Son is ‘with’ him, in the sense that he is not against him or acting contrary to him or apart from him. 1 aIn the beginning was bthe Word, and cthe Word was with God, and dthe Word was God. Without this verse the rest of the story has no meaning. The fellowship is based upon the relationship. Not because we are inherently wonderful people or remarkable personalities, or that we are naturally gracious, kind, loving, and tender all the time -- for at times we are grouchy, scratchy, and irritating to others. To a Hebrew, "light" was the ultimate value. He took that life and laid it down in order that we might have it. To the mind steeped in the Old Testament John’s statement here is just as confrontational and disturbing as his previous statements affirming the eternal existence of the Word. Verse 11, "For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.". We must come down at last to factual things, facts, acts of God in history. John 1:1 is the first verse in the opening chapter of the Gospel of John.In the Douay–Rheims, King James, Revised Standard, New International, and other versions of the Bible, the verse reads: . But I can only do them as I make myself available to him, depending upon him to come through from his side, making himself available to me. [List all the names and titles used.]. It is, however, important, for John warns all through this letter that we must cling only to that which is "from the beginning." He tells us what he himself experienced. I have my mind, my body. John 1:1 – Was the Word = “the news spread” (eén ho lógos) 3. This ‘life’ that is in the Word, is the ‘light of men’. But we are still to love one another. Now he goes on to say, in Verse 2, that this life was made manifest, made visible. Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. What do these references teach us about the eternality of God? Here John does not mean either the time of creation or the unbeginning beginning, the timeless beginning. He was there ‘in the beginning’; his existence did not commence at some point after the beginning. Here John comes to the most beautiful thing about family life -- fellowship, companionship: ...that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us... (1 John 1:3a RSV). This means that he makes available to me that which I desperately lack, wisdom and power, the ability to do. In Jewish Targums there is such a sense of awe of God that they avoided using his name, and often substituted ‘the Word’ for his name. God is using you to do his eternal work. In other words, Christian faith rests upon great facts, the acts of a human being in history. 3 e All things were made through him , and without him was not any thing made that was made . When I do I discover something most remarkable. Jesus Christ, the Word, is eternal. Now that is where John begins. It is that simple. So in John 1:14 ho Logos sarx egeneto, “the Word became flesh,” not “the flesh became Word.” Luther argues that here John disposes of Arianism also because the Logos was eternally God, … Our Father, we pray that thou will take our eyes that have been so befuddled by false concepts, superficial, childish, teddy-bear concepts of Christianity, and help us to see the truth. Joy is an excellent word here, but perhaps it will be more helpful for us to understand what John means if we use the word, excitement. When John was called he was found mending his nets. With this message, we begin a study of the first letter of the Apostle John. 2 He was with God in the beginning. Well, what do I have? It is good for us to remember here that the Old Testament scriptures attribute eternity to God. You cannot have the fellowship until you first come to Christ and receive him. And in this is a miracle and a manifestation of incredible and unexpected grace: that the Word, Jesus Christ, continues to sustain our physical existence, despite the fact that we, from Genesis 3 onwards, have insisted that we exist and live apart from him, independent of him, as autonomous, self-supporting, self-sustaining, self-determining beings. That beginning goes back before creation. "This life was manifest," John says, "and we are going to tell you about it, we are going to proclaim it to you." This site affirms that God has provided in and through Jesus Christ his eternal Son, a way of forgiveness in which we can live in his presence guilt free, acquitted and at peace. There is not only the horizontal relationship but that, in turn, depends upon a vertical one. He makes the bold statement ‘the Word was God’. The disciples were aware of Jesus' conflict with Jewish authorities and the danger that it presented. He said, "I think I see what you mean, but I have a great deal of difficulty with this." First, he is talking about a relationship: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life -- (1 John 1:1 RSV). Three things are highlighted for us in this introduction: A relationship, a fellowship, and a joy that follows. But now, in this letter, there is still a third beginning, "that which was from the beginning." We are finite creatures and we must always have a starting point. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. Jesus began by washing the disciples' They are overwrought with excitement, with joy. God and I, working together, a partnership. The Word Became Flesh. And here we must stop and ask: is John alone in this perception that the Word, Jesus Christ, is the Creator of all things, upon whom all things depend for their existence? There are at least three "beginnings" in the Bible: The Bible opens with the phrases, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," (Genesis 1:1). John and Peter and Paul all have different ministries, as I have suggested. When you have something in common with another you can have fellowship with him. Make a list of the truths from John 1:1-4 that are significant for you. The revelation of Jesus Christ is spiritually manifested. Look at the earthly life of Jesus and this is exactly what you see. I learned early that in order to be a success I had to have self-confidence. Is `` from the Biblical perspective God to us through the cross and that is eternal Father the! John 1:1 – was the light of men with God bringing life mankind. 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