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Chapter 1 |
Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
1 ¶ 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, concerning the Word of Life-- 2 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, 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. 4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. 5 ¶ This then is the message which we have heard from Him and declare unto you: that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. 7 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. 8 ¶ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us. |
v1-4 Introduction. v1 The Word of Life "was in existence from the beginning," did not come into existence, always was from before the creation of the universe. John said that they have heard, listened to, seen and touched "this Word of Life," a person, Jesus the Son of God. This is not a story, it is real!! v2 "Eternal Life" is reveal or "manifested," nothing has been hidden. God has revealed Himself. Rom 1:20 tells us that creation itself shows us God, but this can never tell us about His love for the creation, we can only see this by His presence with us. God has finally revealed Himself through His Son, Jesus, John 14:9. Giving Jesus the name "the Word" is a strange title, why? The way we speak shows how we think, our mind, Jesus is showing us the mind and heart of God the Father. v3 John has no question in his mind on who Jesus was. John will give a number of warnings in his letters on false teachers who do not give the truth about Jesus, 1 John 2:22; 1 John 4:2,3; John 3:3,6,7; 1 John 5:1. Ask yourself if you are a true child of God or am I a fake Christian? Consider Matt 7:22,23; Rom 10:13. v3 "Declare we unto you," John had met Jesus before and after the crucifixion and wanted to tell others of the fellowship available with God through Jesus. "Fellowship" has the meaning of being the same, having the same interests and aims in life. As a sinner we have nothing in common with God, but through His grace we are able to approach a pure and holy God through the blood of His Son Jesus. 1 Peter 2:24,25. A Fellowship which will be forever, Matt 28:20. v4 Because of all these wonderful things we should be full of joy. This thought runs through this letters, John 15:11; John 16:22, a joy which will never leave us. v5-10 Fellowship conditions. This part of the letter is concerned with how the believer lives their life, the "walk and talk" of the believer. In this passage we find our life is full of dangers and contrasts. "God is light," sin is darkness, if we say we are in the light of God yet live a life which is full of sinful behaviour then we must be lying as God cannot have fellowship with the darkness of sin. If we are "walking" in what we believe, the light of God, then our lives will reflect this belief. 1 Peter 2:9; 1 Thess 5:4-6. We can see that one of the contrasts John is using concerns ‘saying’ and ‘doing’, John uses "if we say" or "He that said" a number of times showing that "talk" also involves "walk". This ‘walk’ of the believer starts with the step of faith when Jesus becomes our Saviour. A believer must then learn to walk in fellowship with God by "walking in His light," living a life of truth. Unfortunately, the believer still has that sinful nature and though we may say we are not sinful this in practice cannot be true. Sin may not be a direct disobedience to the commands of God, more often it is an attitude of the believers minds, their pride of life, their desires. 1 John 2:15-17; 1 John 3:6. Only the Holy Spirit can provide the power for a believer to "put to death" the old nature, Rom 8:12,13; this will produce the fruit of the spirit, Gal 5:22,23. v8-10 Sin can very easily spread, "If we say we have no sin," we deceive ourselves, yes but the next stage is "if we say we have not sinned" we "call God a liar" because His Word is not in us, there is no truth in us. What a situation to be in, no fellowship with God, no fellowship with His people, as a result prayer life will become empty, worship will not be attractive. v6,v7. What to do? v9 Confess our sins, and God will forgive us and make us right with Him. |
Easy English Translation
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