Week One – Monday January 2, 2017
Purposes for Writing
1 John 1:4; 5:13
Author, John the beloved disciple
John, the beloved disciple, is the author of the books of first, second, third John along with the gospel of John and the book of Revelation. There are some who argue he did not write 2nd and 3rd John, but tradition holds John the beloved disciple wrote all five books.
Two Purposes for writing
John gives two purposes for writing 1 John.
Joy may be full
The first purpose is stated in 1 John 1:4:
“And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” (1 John 1:4)
John writes so the Christians’ joy may be full. He wanted the Christians to know and experience true joy, not just happiness, but joy. True joy is an inter contentment or delight; a positive experience that comes from the Holy Spirit within the Christian.
Know you have eternal life and to believe on His name
The second purpose is stated in 1 John 5:13:
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:13)
John writes 1 John to assure Christians, who have believed on the name of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, that they have eternal life, just as Jesus promised. He also says he wrote that all people would believe on the name of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who is the only way of salvation. Remember, it was Peter and John who said before the Sanhedrin ( when they commanded the apostles to stop preaching in the name of Jesus): “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
Have you turned from your sin and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? Help in becoming a Christian is found on the Home Page.
Week One – TuesdayJanuary 3, 2017
Word of Life
1 John 1:1-2
Word of Life Manifest – God’s Word Revealed
John begins his first epistle in a similar way that he started his gospel. John 1:1 says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) Then he concludes the prologue of his gospel with this amazing statement: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
In 1 John he begins:
“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.” (1 John 1:1)
That which was from the beginning
Clearly John is connecting the two introductions or prologues together. In John 1:1-14 he presented Jesus Christ as the Word of God, (1) who was in the beginning (when the world or universe came into existence proving Jesus, the Word of God, is pre-existent or eternal in nature. He also in the prologue makes clear (2) He is God. And God (the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ) (3) became flesh and dwelt among us.
Life was manifest
This moves us to the most important point John makes in his opening verses of 1 John. Jesus Christ was God - life made manifest. He states this in verse 2 when he says:
“(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.)” (1 John 1:2)
In this letter John starts speaking of Jesus as God incarnate (in flesh) using the title “Word of life” to speak of Jesus. John says we have heard, seen with our eyes, have looked upon (observed), and have handled the Word of Life with our own hands.
John says: we have (1) heard Jesus. The gospels are full of Jesus’ teachings. We have Jesus’ parables and long discourses recorded in the gospels. Even John’s gospel, although it does not have the Sermon on the Mount, which no doubt is Jesus’ most famous teaching, has the Upper Room Discourse, which is the longest private teaching event with His disciples. The Upper Room Discourse is recorded for us in John 13-16. In that great discourse Jesus teaches about servant hood, Heaven, Peace, the Coming of the Holy Spirit and many other important doctrines. John says one of the proofs Jesus was truly flesh or human was we heard Him.
John says not only did we hear Him we (2) saw Him with our own eyes. John was an eyewitness, along with hundreds, thousands of others. Throughout Jesus’ public ministry people saw Jesus in the flesh. He was real, not just a spirit that appeared to be flesh, which was one of the false teachings John was writing to refute. Jesus was not just an imaginary vision. They saw Him with their own eyes.
John then goes further by saying we didn’t just see Him we (3) observed Him. This speaks of more than just seeing, but living with Him and being in a personal relationship with Him. John and the other apostles lived with Jesus observing His life, work, and ministry day by day. This is the kind of witness you want to hear from. The best witness is not someone who saw Him briefly, but someone who lived with Him, knew Him personally and intimately. John was such a person. John’s gospel tells us that after John the Baptist introduced Jesus to Andrew, that they followed Jesus and wanted to observe Him. When asked why they were following Jesus they said they wanted to know where Jesus lived. Jesus invited them to come and see (See John 1:29-51). Then later Jesus called both Andrew and John to come and be His disciples (See Matthew 4:18-22). They lived with Him for three years. They observed Him every day. What they said as witnesses was not just hearsay or impressions from having just met with Jesus briefly or just being introduced to Him. They observed Him. They lived with Him.
And finally John says we didn’t just hear Him, see Him, and observe Him, (4) we handled Him. You can’t handle a spirit. Jesus was real. He was flesh and blood. He was truly human, even though He was the Son of God, the Word of life. He was manifested, revealed to us. This was true about every aspect of His life. His life, death, resurrection, and ascension were manifested to John and all His disciples. They were His witnesses. Are we being His witnesses? During this New Year let’s be the witness Jesus wants us to be!
Help in becoming a Christian is found on the Home Page.
Week One – WednesdayJanuary 4, 2017
Witnesses to Word of Life
1 John 1:3
“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.” (1 John 1:3)
We bear witness and show unto you
Jesus was from the beginning. He is the Word of life; He is whom John and the other apostles heard, saw, observed and handled. John now bears witness to the church about Jesus and shows Him unto the church. John declared the message of salvation to his readers (which includes us).
This is the work and ministry of all who are believers in Christ Jesus. We are not saved just to have the great benefits Jesus offers. We are called just like John and the other apostles to be a fisher of men to be a witness for Jesus. Some of the last words Jesus told the disciples was that they were to be witnesses for Him, starting where they were and expanding out to the uttermost parts of the world (See Matthew 4:18-22 and Acts 1:8). As one studies the first part of Acts we see the expansion of the gospel message, the story of Jesus. It started at Jerusalem at Pentecost. Then it moved on out to Judea and Samaria. The gospel then went as far south as the Gaza Road, then up into the Galilee area and even into a home of a Gentile, Roman Centurion. In the last part of Acts we see it move into Asia Minor, then into Greece and ultimately to the center of the known world in the first century, Rome.
There are still places that need to hear the story of Jesus. We must not neglect our great responsibility of telling the world about Jesus.
That you also have fellowship with us, Father, His Son Jesus Christ
John helped the church understand they were to have a fellowship with each other, and especially with the Father and the Son. This will become a major theme for John in this first letter. Love for God and for one another is a reoccurring theme seen throughout this letter. A loving church is a church that has an abiding fellowship with one another, and are in fellowship with God the Father, God the Son, Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit who binds them together as one.
Believers in fellowship with one another, with the Father and Son are evidences of a true relationship with Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Those that don’t love one another and have fellowship with the brethren are not bearing the fruit of a true believer.
Are we doing what John did? Are we bearing witness of the Word of life, Jesus? Are we bearing the true fruit of a disciple of Christ, our love for the brethren?
Commit in this New Year to tell all you can about Jesus!
Help to become a Christian is found on the Home Page.
Week One – ThursdayJanuary 5, 2017
“If we …” (Part 1)
1 John 1:5-7
John in 1 John 1:5-2:29 deals with walking in the light. In 1 John 1:5-10 John sets forth five conditional statements to argue that these who truly walk in the light have fellowship with God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the light. Today, we consider the first two of these conditional statements.
- If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we saw that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth;” (1 John 1:5-6)
To back up this statement John sets forth two premises: God is light and in Him is no darkness.
God is light
God is light. He is perfectly righteous and holy. There is no need for the sun, moon, or stars in heaven for the glory of God lights up all of heaven. The Lamb, who is light, lights up the New Jerusalem (See Revelation 21:23).
In Him no darkness at all
In Him, God and the Lord Jesus, there is no darkness at all. Light represents righteousness and perfection. Darkness represents sin and imperfection. God and the Lamb are perfectly righteous and holy. There is no sin in them. They are the perfect definition of sinless perfection.
Therefore we cannot walk in darkness and have fellowship with Him
Therefore since these two premises are true if we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness (sin) we lie. We cannot walk in darkness and have fellowship with pure light. It is impossible. To live a life that is in fellowship with the Father we must live a Christ-like lifestyle.
- If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)
When we walk in light, we have fellowship with Him
Because God is light when we walk in the light we have fellowship with Him. This is the positive statement of the first point. But John adds more to this.
When we walk in light we have fellowship with one another
When we walk in the light, we walk in fellowship with God and one of the side effects of walking in fellowship with God is we have fellowship with one another. So how can we have fellowship with one another in the church – walk in the light. For when we walk in the light we have fellowship with God and one another. We don’t have to strive to love everyone, we only have to walk in the light and when we do we have fellowship with all others who walk in the light.
In marriage counseling I talk about the holy triangle. John in verse 7 describes the holy triangle, even though he never uses the terms. In the Holy Triangle God is the base, and the husband and wife are the two sides. As the husband and wife draw closer to God, they draw closer and closer to one another.
That is the same thing that happens in church life. As we fellowship with and walk in the light (God and the Lord Jesus Christ) we are drawn closer and closer to one another.
When we walk in the light the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin
And when we walk in the light the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from our sin. We are made holy and clean as we walk in the light and fellowship with Him. This is another side effect of walking in the light.
Help in becoming a Christian, so you can walk in the light, is found on the Home Page.
Week One – FridayJanuary 6, 2017
“If we …” (Part 2)
1 John 1:8-10
Today, we continue our examination of walking in the light with the next three conditional statements.
- If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)
Deceive ourselves if we say have no sin
To say we have no sin in us is to deceive ourselves. The sinful nature continues to reside in us until we are glorified in Heaven. We are all sinners deserving God’s wrath and to believe anything else is to believe a lie.
We don’t speak the truth if we say we have no sin
John basically repeats this by saying that the truth is not in us if we say we have no sin. We are to have the Word of God abiding in us and if we say we don’t have sin the Word of God, which is truth cannot abide in us.
- If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
As important as the other five conditional statements are, this one is the most important and one every Christian should memorize, understand and practice it everyday.
To confess is to agree with God
“If we confess our sin,” what is John trying to teach us with this statement? To understand this statement we must know the full meaning of the word “confess.” To confess is to say the same – to completely agree. In this context to confess our sin is to say the same - completely agree with God about our sin. (1) We must agree with God that sin is in our life. Thus, we are not deceiving ourselves about our sin and our guilt before God. (2) We must agree with God that sin should not be in our lives . Sin and all kinds of evil should not be in our life. (3) We agree with God that we don’t want sin in our life now and forever. God doesn’t want sin in our life. When we confess our sin we agree with God and don’t want it in our life either. Therefore, we turn from sin with the intention of not returning to it (this third point is what we mean by repentance).
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
When we agree with Him about our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1) To forgive is to remove our sin. He cast it as far as the east is to the west away from us. He never remembers it again (See Psalm 103:12 and Jeremiah 31:34). (2) To cleanse us is to wash us completely. We are dirty and filthy because of sin and He washes us clean and makes us white. And because of that we are able to walk in the light and have fellowship with Him.
- If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
“If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:10)
Say not sinned we make God a liar
John comes back to the denial of sin. He says we are deceiving self and the truth is not in us, when we deny our sin.