The Letters Of John

“I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.” – 1 John 5:13

Introduction

John wrote about the most vital aspects of faith so that his readers would know Christian truth from error. He emphasizes the basics of faith so that we can be confident in our faith. In our dark world, God is light. In our cold world, God brings the warmth of love. In our dying world, God brings life. When we lack confidence these truths brings us certainty.

1. JESUS CHRIST: THE INCARNATE GOD

“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. 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. 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[a] joy complete”.– 1 John 1:1-4

The man Jesus Christ is God: God incarnate, God in human flesh. This is John’s testimony in his letters, as it is in his Gospel In his Gospel he stated, “The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son.” (John 1:14).

In his letter he wrote, “We write to you about the Word of life, which has existed from the very beginning…. What we have seen and heard we announce to you also…”(vs 1,3).

John and the other apostles had lived, walked and talked with Jesus Christ. They had seen him eat and sleep. They had seen him cry. They had seen him bleed. They had watched him die. They knew he was a real human being. They had also seen his miracles, heard his claims to have come from the Father, to be the Son of the Father and to be one with the Father, they had seen his resurrection. They knew that he was truly God.

This, John knew, is a critical issue we all have to face: either to believe that Jesus Christ is true human and true God, without alteration or reduction of either; or to deny the true humanity and true deity of Christ, and in that rejection identify ourselves as his enemies (1 John 4:2,3;2 John 7)

 

2. JESUS CHRIST: THE WORD OF LIFE

“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. 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” –1 John 1:1-2

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”- 1 John 5:11-12

“We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” – 1 John 5:20

As Christians we usually speak of eternal life as something that Christ gives to us, and so it is. But John points out a deeper reality within that truth: that Jesus Christ actually is eternal life.

In his first letter he identifies Jesus Christ as life. In I John 5;20 he states of Christ’ This is …..eternal life’….In 1 John 1-2 he calls Christ’ the Word of life’ and refers to Christ’s coming as the life appeared ’and’ the eternal life which was with the Father and has appeared to us.’ Similarly, in his gospel John states, “The Word was the source of life” (1:4) and reports Jesus’ claims to be ‘the life’ (John 11:25,14:6).

Jesus Christ, because he is God, is the Giver and Source of all life, including, importantly, spiritual life.

Because Jesus Christ is ‘life’ or ‘eternal life’ all who receive Jesus Christ automatically at the same time receive eternal life: ‘God has given us eternal life, and this life has its source in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life… (5:11,12).

In his Gospel John records Jesus repeatedly promising life to those who believe and receive him. (John 3:15;16,4:13,14,5:24,40;8:12;10:10). In his letters John teaches that same truth: that those who believe in Christ have eternal life (1 John 2:25, 4:9; 5:13).

To receive Christ is to receive eternal life. To reject Christ is to reject life. It is as deep and as simple as that.

3. JESUS CHRIST: THE SON OF GOD

“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.” – 1 John 1:3

“We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.” – 1 John 5:20-21

John’s dominant understanding of Jesus Christ is that he is God’s Son. He refers to Jesus as God; Son twenty-three times in his first letter and thirty-one times in his Gospel. Indeed, the reason he included what he did in his Gospel was precisely so that we would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and, by that belief, have life in his name (John 20:31).

Just as Jesus taught that to see, know and receive him, the Son, is to see, know and receive God the Father (John 12:44, 45; 14:6-9), so John affirms that to deny the Son, Jesus Christ, is identical to denying God the Father, and to acknowledge the Son, is to acknowledge the Father also (1 John 2:22, 23).

To have fellowship and union with Christ the Son is also to have fellowship and union with God the Father (1:3; 2:24; 4:15; 2 John 9). It is this reunion with God, through acknowledging Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that constitutes eternal life (1 John 2:25).

It was Christ’s claim to be the Son of the Father, and therefore equal with God the Father, that was the decisive issue for the Jews; it exposed their fundamental ignorance of God and resulted in their final rejection of him (John 5:16-18; 8:19, 54-59; 10:30-33).

And it is this issue that decides our eternal destiny: if we do not know God by knowing the Son of God, then our ‘god’ is not the one true God, rather our ‘god’ is an idol (5:20,21). 

To be continued!

Remain Blessed!

Please note that the preaching program on Sunny 88.7 FM – Tuesdays at 5:30 am has been temporarily put on hold. However, please continue to join us on Asempa 94.7 FM – Sundays at 5:30 am and YFM 107.9 – Sundays at 6:30 am for our Radio Bible Study, as well as on Sunny 88.7 FM every Sunday at 3:30 pm for Hymns and Their Stories.

The post The Letters Of John appeared first on The Ghanaian Chronicle.

Read Full Story