TUESDAY 24th
1 John 1:1
‘That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life’
John commences his first epistle with the words, ‘That which was from the beginning’. If we have a knowledge of his gospel, we will remember that he commenced that gospel with the words, ‘In the beginning’ and continues to say ‘was the Word’. He is telling us that the Word was already there at the beginning. In this epistle, John is referring back again to that which was from the beginning, and it is another reference to the Word, who we know he continued in his gospel to reveal was the Lord Jesus Christ.
So in his opening remarks, John in this epistle is wanting to point his readers back to the beginning, reminding them that the Word, Jesus Christ was already there from the beginning and John along with others, in particular the other disciples had heard, had seen, had looked upon, had touched him, he also says the Word was not only the word of God, he was the word of life.
I think that John is making sure that his readers and subsequent believers realise that it is important that they and we have a right understanding concerning the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, and who better among men to make the truths known than those who actually physically saw him and heard him, those who spent three years in intimate fellowship with him.
By referring back again to the beginning, John is not talking about the beginning of the Lord Jesus Christ, but back to the creation of the world and of time, and he is wanting us to grasp that Jesus as the Word was already there, he himself had no beginning, he co-existed eternally with God and as God, but in time he was made manifest, revealed to the world. (Galatians 4:4)
The doctrine of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ is essential within the Christian faith and the Christian community, we can only ever have true, real and meaningful fellowship with those who hold a correct doctrinal position on who Jesus really is. One commentator puts it this way, and I agree wholeheartedly with him, ‘right thinking about Jesus Christ is the fulcrum on which right theology is balanced’*, I add genuine fellowship can only take place when the fulcrum is in place. In these first few words in John’s epistle linked with his gospel, Jesus is the eternal Son of God, he always has and always will be, but of equal importance is what we will discover in our next devotion, he became a man. He took on flesh.
* The NIV Application Commentary – Letters of John – Gary M. Burge page 52