Eye-Witness to the Word of Life | 1 John 1:1-4 | Walking in the Light
The Apostle John wastes no time. Rather than opening with a traditional greeting, he goes straight to his foundation: that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and touched with our hands — the Word of Life.
In this opening sermon of our series on 1 John, Pastor Mark unpacks why John begins here. Against the early Gnostic teachers who denied the goodness of the physical world and insisted Jesus only appeared to have a human body, John responds with the boldness of a man who was there. He heard. He saw. He touched. This is no private mystical experience or secret enlightenment — it is a public declaration of a real Savior in real history.
Our deepest problem, John reminds us, is not psychological or political. It is that we have sinned against a holy God, and we will face judgment. No amount of self-actualization or moral achievement can bridge that chasm. Our only hope is in what Jesus accomplished in an actual human body: the payment for sin, the defeat of death, and the promise of resurrection. This is what the apostles proclaimed, and it is what gives us both fellowship with the Father and Son, and joy that is complete.
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Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon from First Reformed Church in Edgerton, Minnesota. Each week we dig into God's Word, trusting that the Holy Spirit will continue the good work of sanctification in us.
If we were to go out and conduct a man-on-the-street type of interview asking what the nature of Christianity is, We would get a variety of answers, many different ideas of what people think Christianity is all about. I think many of the answers would likely be psychological in nature because in our time we see an emphasis on the internal. And so answers would likely be about how God helps people to be self-actualized or how it helps people to cope with the struggles of life. For many who would answer this way, it wouldn't matter if Christianity is actually true. It only matters that it's helpful. It's all about pragmatic results. It doesn't matter what you believe about who God is. If Jesus is the way that you cope Well then, good for you. Well, others might answer that the nature of Christianity is moral. A belief in the teachings of Christianity help you to not only live a good, moral, personal life, but also helps to provide an excellent framework for society. Again, it wouldn't ultimately matter if any of the events of the Bible actually took place. All that would matter is that the ideals and system of morality found in the pages of the Bible are better or more helpful than other systems that compete with it.
Now, of course, the Christian faith does help with our internal experiences and does provide us with a godly structure for both personal morality and social morality. Societal governance as well. But were these the categories that the apostles preached and the early church was persecuted for? Were the majority of the apostles martyred because the pagan system of morality was being preached against? Or was it because they proclaimed Christ and Him crucified? Resurrected and ascended. Did these pillars of the faith die because they were telling people that they could experience their best self-actualized life with Jesus? Or because they insisted that Jesus is Lord and that he is reigning as the true King at the right hand of the Father? And we know the answer to this. The followers of Jesus were put to death because they believed and confessed that Jesus was Lord. That was the message they proclaimed, and that was the message that got them martyred. They testified to what they had heard, seen, and touched, and it was true that Jesus of Nazareth had resurrected from the dead, and they could not say otherwise. The disciples did not recant their testimony even in the face of death.
Jesus came to redeem a people for Himself and to save them from sin, death, and hell. They understood that our deepest problem is not psychological, but that we have rebelled against a holy God and we deserve hell. But Jesus came as a real Savior. Jesus was not a concept and he wasn't an ideal. He was a true Savior. And they couldn't keep their mouths shut. And so those who opposed them killed them to keep them quiet. And now because the Gospel is objectively true, as Christians we do have inner peace and we do desire to live godly lives. But that's not the ultimate purpose of Christianity. It is a result of the saving work that is done in our lives because we have received this amazing gift of salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so as we come to 1 John this morning, we see John making his case for this truth by appealing to eyewitness testimony. Eyewitness testimony of a Savior who they heard, saw, and touched. Now, as we look at these opening words of John's letter, you might notice right off the bat that this doesn't have a traditional opening like most letters.
There's not a traditional greeting and salutation found here. John gets right into it. And we find language here that's going to remind us of how his Gospel starts. Let me remind you of what John 1 looks like when it says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." What we see here is John is speaking about the beginning not only here in his Gospel, but in 1 John. And notice also the use of the word "word." Jesus was the— in the beginning was the Word, Jesus. But then we also see in 1 John 1:1 that He is the Word of life. The opening of John's letter really reflects what he says there in the prolog of his Gospel. And as we consider then this connection between the two, we get a real sense that John is using the word beginning here in more of a way than just alluding to the fact that at some point the earthly ministry of Jesus started. That is not what he is talking about here with the beginning. And it is also not even talking about the beginning when Jesus came and He arrived in a manger in Bethlehem, right?
That which is from the beginning— Jesus, God the Son. And the ramifications of this are that the one he is speaking of here is one who is eternal. And so what would be the natural assumption if you're talking about this Word of Life being eternal? Well, that if Jesus is from the beginning, he must be nothing but a spirit. Because we know our flesh decays and that bones and joints wear out. I'm guessing if I were to take a survey right now, how many of you got a reminder when you got out of bed this morning that your joints are decaying? I think nearly every hand would go up, right? We know very well that our flesh is decaying, that life is temporary. So for someone to be around from the beginning, this would cause people to assume that Jesus is nothing but a spirit who only appeared to be human. So this is where we're going to take a minute and understand the context of 1 John. At the time that 1 John was being penned, what we call Gnostic cults were beginning to infiltrate and attach themselves to the church. Now, in Greek, the word gnosis means knowledge.
And so these Gnostic cults were pretty common movements that would attach themselves to religions, not just Christianity. They would attach themselves to all kinds of religions, including Judaism. And as Christianity started to become a greater movement, it was starting to show up in some Christian communities. And so these Gnostic groups denied that the body was good. They taught that the material world was evil. Well, if the material world is evil, then the God who created it must be evil as well, right? They taught that God was evil. So how were you saved in Gnosticism? Well, it was through this secret knowledge. This knowledge was how you came to shed the evil physical body that you had And through this secret knowledge, you would get rid of your flesh that was nothing more than a cage for your spirit. The physical world is bad. The material world is bad. You need to get this knowledge and you can ascend to a higher plane and shed the evil body. Well, as I said, at the time John is writing this, this is just starting to appear in Christianity. It's in a very early form. And Gnosticism is like a parasite that attaches itself to a healthy host and steals nourishment and slowly eats away at it.
It doesn't kill the host, right, because it needs it to survive. Maybe you like to watch some of these TV shows, nature shows. Particularly, I'm thinking of the ones about sharks. How often do you see— I think they are called lampreys— attached to a shark? The shark is fine, but it has this parasite latched onto it. It is taking nourishment. It is harming the shark, but it is doing it slowly because it needs the host to survive. And so, Gnosticism was like that as well. It steals nourishment from the church and it slowly eats away at the truth. Of the Gospel. And John is writing this letter because he wants his readers to be aware that what these secret knowledge cults will come at them with is not compatible with their Christian faith. Because for Christians, our bodies aren't evil and merely cages for our spirits. Now, yes, our bodies have been affected by the fall. It was because of sin. When God created the world, the material world, he called it very good. The material world, our bodies are good. It was our sin that broke creation. It was sin that causes pain and suffering.
It's not the creation of the material world itself. And we know this because what did Jesus do? He took on our actual human flesh to redeem us and to reverse the curse. So John is making it infinitely clear that God the Son stepped into creation in the person of Jesus when he says, "That which we have heard, seen, and looked upon and touched with our hands. See, these Gnostic groups that would infiltrate these churches would insist that the material world is bad. And so Jesus only— He only appeared to have a human body. Jesus couldn't have had actual flesh because the human body, material world is evil. But John with these statements, making these bold statements, what was heard seen and touched, what he's saying is, oh really? Jesus only appeared to be human? Well, we are eyewitnesses to the fact that He is real. He had a real corporeal body because we not only heard, we saw, and we touched Him. And right out of the gate, John makes it clear that Jesus is eternal because he says He's from the beginning. But he did something spectacular. By coming to earth. He didn't come as an apparition or as a specter of some kind.
His arrival followed the promised genetic line through the Old Testament, and he was born of an actual woman into a real corporeal body. And through what Jesus has done, John tells us that this is the Word of Life. This is how the one from the beginning brings life to his people. Not a mystical, disembodied existence somewhere in the ether, but the promise is the resurrection of the body. Actual life. An actually redeemed creation. And John expands upon his insistence of the physical nature of the one who brings life As we move on to verse 2, he says that the life was made manifest. In other words, it's been brought to light. It isn't something secret. Those infiltrating the church with the Gnostic ideas, they're claiming secret knowledge. John is making it clear that the truth of Jesus was brought to light, and it didn't happen in dark corners or in secret rooms. Jesus came. He threw on the light switch and the darkness scattered. The ministry of Jesus was public. He taught on hillsides. He walked among the masses. He ate. He drank. He not only had disciples, but He had friends. He went to Jerusalem.
He participated in the religious feast days. As Paul says at one point in the book of Acts, "None of this was done in a corner." It was publicly observed. Think about 1 Corinthians 15 where Paul says that more than 500 people saw Jesus after the resurrection. And in his gospel, John is also deliberate to make the physical nature of the resurrection body very apparent to us. We all think about the story of doubting Thomas, right? We, we think about that at Easter. But do you remember what Jesus encourages him to do when he sees Him? When he doubts? He says, "Touch My side." And Jesus, we're told in the Gospel of John, eats post-resurrection. He also breathes upon His disciples. The Word of life was manifest both before and after the resurrection. And this was the apostolic witness. It is what they saw. It's what they testify to. And it's what they proclaim. It's all about the eternal life that comes to the people of God through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. John wants his readers to understand that the hope that they have is real eternal life, a redeemed creation, a redeemed body, a resurrection.
This hope is a reality because it was accomplished by a real Savior in real time and space history. Jesus was not just a spiritual being making appearances in Galilee to give people enlightenment and advice so that they can get enough knowledge so that they can shed these flesh suits and go to a higher spiritual plane. Jesus came in a real human body for His people. And as this letter of John unfolds, it's going to spell out for us that This victory that Jesus accomplishes over death for his people turns aside the wrath of God because once again, our greatest problem is not psychological. Our biggest issue isn't moral or political. Our most serious issue is that we have offended a holy God, and one day we will breathe our last and we will face judgment. And on that day, what will my plea be? That I was a good person who had a high level of self-esteem? When I'm in the presence of a holy God, should my argument be that I had good positions on the issues of my time? None of the things that I have done or will do can make me right before a holy God.
My only hope is that Jesus, in a real human body, paid the punishment for my sin and satisfied God's wrath, and now he is victorious over the grave. That's the only hope I have, and it's all you've got too. And that's why this matters to John. Jesus was more than an enlightened teacher or a wise sage. He is the Messiah. Who came to rescue his people from sin. And because of that victory he accomplished, that is the message that John proclaims. It isn't secret enlightenment. This message of the gospel isn't just a message for some few elite guys who followed Jesus around for 3 years. It's for all who hear and believe. Those that John is opposing in his writing of this letter, they're claiming secret knowledge. John is publicly proclaiming a public gospel. Those who hear and believe and come to faith in the Lord Jesus have fellowship with the ones who proclaim this message. The message of the One that they have heard, seen, and touched. And notice that word there: fellowship. So the word in the original language is the word koinonia. It has a very deep meaning. It means fellowship. It means partnership.
It means communion. Participation. So John doesn't say that those who hear and believe can only hope to achieve the high level of enlightenment that he has. Instead, what the apostles are proclaiming when they proclaim the truth of the Gospel is that those who come to faith in Jesus have fellowship and partnership in the rescue that was accomplished by Jesus. It's not just something for the elite. It's for all who have faith. We have fellowship. We have participation together. And notice that it's more than just fellowship here with other believers and with the ones who are proclaiming this message. It's fellowship with the Father and the Son. The one who is from the beginning is not merely some distant deity. He has come to us. We have fellowship and participation with Him. What an amazing truth that is. He came to us to be near to us. The false teachers were peddling secret knowledge that supposedly allowed a mystical ascent from this physical world. And John is saying, no, I'm proclaiming the truth that God has come near to us. Us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. That's real victory. That's real hope. The Gnostics were promoting spiritual separation and elevation away from the body, but the gospel is about real salvation, real redemption of the body that addresses our greatest problem—death.
And as our passage for today closes up, we see why John is writing this letter. He says, so that our joy may be complete. He wants his readers to have confidence, to have assurance in the salvation they have in Jesus. The apostles have heard, they've seen, they have touched the Lord. They've experienced the lowest of lows as their beloved Master was crucified. But then they had joy that came from His resurrection and ascension. A joy that comes from knowing that salvation has come and now is continuing through their ministry of proclamation of the truth that Jesus has won victory over death. They were eyewitnesses to this. They heard. They saw. They touched. They knew firsthand what Jesus accomplished, and they can't keep silent. They proclaim the truth that others might not only hear, but believe and proclaim it themselves. And for us today in the 21st century, the story is the same. Throughout history, our greatest problem has not been a lack of enlightenment, but the reality that the curse comes for each and every one of us. No amount of philosophy or wisdom can save us from death. Our hope is in the real work of Jesus for us that was testified to by the eyewitnesses of the word of life.
Jesus really lived. He really suffered. Really died. Really resurrected. And really ascended. Sisters and brothers, this is true hope. The call for us is to believe and proclaim this same message that our joy might be complete What great joy there is in the fellowship of believers knowing that others have received this gift of faith and have been saved from God's wrath. And from this truth then flows how we live. It influences who we are, what we do, and what we focus on. And I started out speaking of the confusion in the world about the nature of Christianity. There is confusion on this because we are prone to putting things in the order that we prefer. We become rightly concerned with morality, but then we make that our focus and we lose sight of the fact that none of our works can save us. We believe we can ascend to God by our actions But we can never do enough to bridge the chasm between us and God. So we must keep our focus on Jesus and what He accomplished to save us. And from that flows a desire to live a holy life in gratitude for what Jesus has done to rescue us.
We also so easily get concerned with internal struggles. And then we start to think that it doesn't really matter what we believe as long as we have inner peace. But once again, that gets things out of order. We can't have true peace without the confidence that Jesus paid the price for our sin and accomplished salvation and eternal life for us. The testimony of John in this letter pushes us to keep our eyes on Christ and on what he has done. The Christian life flows from there, and it's a life that is lived to the glory of God. So may we, as the people of God, keep our gaze on Christ and proclaim His saving work, that others might come to hear and believe the testimony of the Gospel, that our joy may be complete in seeing the fellowship of believers. As well. Amen. Let us pray. Great and merciful God, we thank you for the testimony of your Word and the testimony of the apostles, that it tells us about true victory, about true hope. We pray that we would keep our eyes on Jesus, that we would let our lives be built on the foundation of the Gospel, that knowing that Jesus has paid the price for our sin, we would live holy lives and we would proclaim the gospel to all those around us to hear, that they might hear and believe as well, that our joy may be complete.
It's in the name of Jesus we pray.
Amen. Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon. For more information about First Reformed Church, head to our Facebook page or website EdgertonFRC.org.
We hope this message has been an encouragement to you. If you'd like to follow along as we work through 1 John together, you can find the full Walking in the Light series on our website. You can also browse our complete sermon archive for past messages from First Reformed EPC.
