Month: January 2015

To Sin Or Not To Sin.

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My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. – 1 John 2:1 ESV

John opens up chapter two of his letter by referring to his audience as “my little children.” It was a term of affection, spoken from the heart of a pastor who saw the believers to whom he wrote as his personal responsibility. He was concerned about their spiritual well being and wanted to make sure they understood what he was trying to tell them. Like children, they were somewhat gullible and susceptible to outside influences. They were too tolerant of other people’s opinions about the gospel, which is the whole reason John is writing his letter in the first place. He knew that, if he was not careful, much of what he had just written could be misunderstood or misconstrued by his readers. He had made it quite clear that anyone who claimed to be sinless or who refused to accept God’s declaration of sin in their lives was deceived and guilty of calling God a liar. Rather than deny our sins, we should confess them. “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 ESV). It would have been easy for someone to conclude that the availability of confession and forgiveness was like a get-out-of-jail-free card allowing them to sin without consequences. Knowing human nature like he did, John knew that the doctrine of God’s grace, made available through Jesus Christ’s death, could be abused. The apostle Paul knew the same thing. In his letter to the believers in Rome, he spent the first five chapters establishing the guilt of all men and their unrighteous standing before a holy God. “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” ( Romans 3:22-23 ESV). But Paul, like John, knew there was good news for sinners. “…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 ESV). Paul follows this wonderful news with the sobering question: “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2 ESV). He knew that someone was going to make the seemingly logical conclusion that more sin would lead to more of God’s grace and forgiveness. In other words, they could keep on sinning, but always just ask for and receive forgiveness. Both Paul and John rejected this dangerous notion.

In fact, John said that the reason he was writing was so that his readers would NOT sin. God’s grace was not a license to sin. Christ’s death on the cross was not to be used like some miracle elixir to magically remove the guilt of our sins. Yes, if we sin, we can confess those sins and receive God’s forgiveness and cleansing. But forgiveness is not the goal. Sinlessness is. Paul would have agreed. “How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:2-4 ESV). Both Paul and John knew that their readers were going to end up sinning, because they knew their readers had sin natures. As long as we live on this earth, all of us as believers in Jesus Christ will wrestle with the presence of our sin natures. But that does not mean that we HAVE to sin. It does not mean that sin is inevitable and unavoidable. We can walk in newness of life. But to walk in newness of life we have to learn to walk in the light – in fellowship with God and His Son. We must allow the penetrating and purifying light of God reveal hidden sin in our lives so that we might confess it and receive forgiveness for it. So much of the time, we are busy confessing for sins we have committed, but fail to ever see the root source behind our sins. We tell God that we’re sorry for lying. We admit to him that we had a lustful thought or an angry outburst. But we never see what’s behind those acts. We can’t see our heart or know that those symptoms are the result of something far more insidious and dangerous – our own pride. It is only when “we walk in the light as he is in the light” that we begin to realize just how deep-rooted our sin nature really is. The great King David wrote, “How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin” (Psalm 19:12-13 NLT). Our goal is to live lives free from sin. But for that to happen, we must live in the light, in close fellowship with God, the Son, and the Word, allowing the Spirit of God to use the Word of God to penetrate and expose those hidden sins that are the root cause of all our wrong attitudes and actions. “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires” (Hebrews 4:12 NLT). One of the primary ways we can walk in the light is by spending time in God’s Word. The Psalmist knew the reality of that truth. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:9-11 ESV). “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105 ESV).

The more time we spend in the light of God’s Word, the more hidden sins will be exposed. But John reminds us “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1 ESV). He stands beside the Father making intercession for us, and providing forgiveness and cleansing because of His sacrificial death on the cross.

If we say…

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If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. – 1 John 1:6 ESV

Talk is cheap. Or so the saying goes. In this section – 1 John 1:5-2:2 – John starts out by writing, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you…” (1 John 1:5 ESV). In other words, he says that what he is writing was given to him by Jesus Christ Himself. The same Jesus Christ who “was from the beginning” (1 John 1:1 ESV), who was “the word of life” (1 John 1:1 ESV), “the eternal life” (1 John 1:2 ESV), and “was made manifest to us” (1 John 1:2 ESV). This same Jesus, the Son of God, gave to John the message contained in his gospel and in his three letters. And as a good disciple or student of Jesus, John was passing on what had been taught to him. This was exactly what Jesus had told him to do as part of His great commission. “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20 NLT). 

And yet, while John was busy proclaiming or declaring the message of Jesus, there were other voices communicating ideas that were contradictory and confusing. The early church was being bombarded by a cacophony of mixed messages – many of which sounded reasonable and logical. There were opinions being shared and options being offered concerning everything from sin to salvation and even the nature of Jesus Himself. The apostle Paul had repeatedly run into the same thing and was forced to confront the believers in Corinth about this problem. “You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed” (2 Corinthians 11:4 NLT). As far as John, Paul and the other apostles were concerned, the content of the gospel was not open to options or other opinions. And a big part of the gospel message was the recognition of man’s sinfulness. It was the very presence of sin in the lives of men and the reality of God’s judgment against it that made it necessary that God provide a Savior. “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:23-25 ESV). In spite of this, there were those who were claiming to have fellowship or an intimate relationship with God while walking in darkness. They boasted of having a right standing with God, but their behavior didn’t reflect it. Their lives were a lie, a walking contradiction of the truth and the transformative power of the gospel. There where others who said, “We have no sin” (1 John 1:8 ESV). In other words, they were denying the reality of their own sin nature. Those who believe themselves to be sinless have no need of a Savior. Jesus addressed this misconception when He was confronted by the Pharisees who demanded to know why He associated with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus simply responded, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do” (Matthew 9:12 NLT). This was not a declaration of the Pharisees’ righteousness, but of their refusal to admit their own sin and their need for a Savior. Recognition of our sin and guilt is the first step in receiving the free gift of salvation made possible through Jesus Christ.

There was yet another group that John had to address. They were saying, “We have NOT sinned” (1 John 1:10 ESV). Their boastful claim was a direct rejection of the assessment of God Himself. Throughout the Scriptures, God’s declaration of man’s sinfulness had been made clear. “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20 ESV). “What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?” (Job 15:14 ESV). “Who can say, ‘I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin’?” (Proverbs 20:9 ESV). To reject God’s declaration of our sin is to call Him a liar. Paul summarizes the condition of all men soberly and succinctly. “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else” (Ephesians 2:1-3 NLT). But Paul, like John, knew the good news that followed the bad news. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5 NLT). John wanted his readers to know that acknowledgement of sin through confession (agreement with God about it) was the key to finding forgiveness and cleansing. Recognition of our sin leads us to seek a Savior – Jesus Christ the righteous – the propitiation for our sins. What we say about ourselves carries little weight with God. What He says about us is what matters. He says we are sinners in need of a Savior. He says we are sick and in need of a physician. He says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 17:5 ESV). And Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30 ESV).

Light in the Darkness.

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If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. – 1 John 1:6

John used the theme of light and darkness repeatedly. In his gospel, referring to Jesus, he wrote,  “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5 ESV). “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:9-11 ESV). The imagery of darkness and light was a common one among the Jews of John’s day. Darkness was associated with evil. Even in the creation account recorded by Moses in the book of Genesis, it describes the state of the universe by using the imagery of light and darkness. “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep” (Genesis 1:2 ESV). Darkness was the prevailing state. It permeated everything. But God did something. He was not content to leave things as they were. And Moses records, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1:3-4 ESV). In his letter, John describes God as light. Light is not just an expression of God’s power, it is the essence of His being. It speaks of His holiness and righteousness. It describes His penetrating, permeating nature. Darkness is the absence of light. Darkness and light cannot coexist. At the beginning of creation, darkness prevailed. But God penetrated the darkness with His very being. His presence changed the condition of the world. He created physical light to eliminate the darkness. He separated one from the other. And this is the very same thing God did when He sent His Son into the world. The apostle Paul tells us, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV). The state of affairs when Jesus arrived on the scene was marked by spiritual darkness. So God penetrated that darkness with His presence once again. But John records, “the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:19-21 ESV). Jesus came into the world as the very light of God. He came to expose sin by expressing the holiness of God. He lived without sin (Hebrews 4:15) in order to demonstrate the kind of righteousness God’s holiness required. He lived the kind of life that God demanded. And His example exposed the darkness that was so prevalent at the time – even among the people of God. But Jesus didn’t come simply to expose darkness. He came to deliver men from it. He said, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (John 12:46 ESV). Darkness was not intended to be the norm. The presence of darkness is evidence of the absence of light. Jesus came to change all that. And John makes it clear that because God is light, He cannot tolerate darkness. “In him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5 ESV).

Yet in John’s day, there were those who claimed to have a relationship with God, but who were living in darkness – in sin. John said that to say one thing and do another was to “not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6 ESV). There was a disconnect between their expressed beliefs and their behavior. They claimed to be in the light, but lived lives characterized by darkness. These same individuals were even claiming to be without sin. They were denying any darkness in their lives. And John said there were self-deceived and void of the truth in their lives. Light exposes darkness. The closer we get to the light, the more flaws get revealed. Increasing intimacy with God makes our sin all the more evident. But John reminds us, “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 ESV). Jesus came to pay for our sins. “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2 ESV). Our sins have been paid for. But we must still acknowledge them. We must allow the light of God to penetrate our lives and expose them. We are to confess them and turn from them. Our lives are to be marked by light rather than darkness. Our behavior is to reflect our beliefs and our fellowship with God and His Son. The apostle Paul would remind us, “Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them” (Ephesians 5:11 ESV). “For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5 ESV). “The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12 ESV).  “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true) and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8-10 ESV).

Fulness of Joy.

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And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. – 1 John 1:4 ESV

In the book of First John, the apostle John is writing to believers. He is reminding them of the tlmeless significance of Jesus Christ. Which is why he opens his letter with a reminder of the non-negotiable reality of Jesus’ divinity – “that which was from the beginning” – and his humanity – “which we have heard, which we have seen … and have touched with our hands.” He is unapologetically proclaiming his belief in the incarnation of Christ. He had been a first-hand witness of Jesus’ humanity, having spent three years of his life in close proximity to Him. But John had also seen Jesus put to death and buried in a borrowed tomb. But then three days later, he had personally witnessed Jesus’ miraculous resurrection. He had talked with Him, ate with Him, and then watched as Jesus ascended back into heaven, having just promised to return some day.

John tells his readers, “And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete” (1 John 1:4 ESV). In other words, his purpose for writing the letter was to instill in his readers the same joy he knew and had experienced. God had come in human flesh. Jesus had ended up being far more than John initially perceived or expected. He was more than just a human Messiah or earthly king. He was the Son of God, the Word “that became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14 ESV). But it didn’t stop there. Jesus took on “the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-8 ESV). He had died a sinner’s death on behalf of men. And His death made it possible for men to have a restored relationship with God the Father. John says that truth, that reality should produce in us a joy that is full and complete.

But many believers today lack joy. They have Christ, but their joy seems to be less than full. In John’s estimation, joylessness is nothing less than Christ-lessness. We can have Christ, but not take full advantage of all He has to offer. Instead, we can easily make Christ a means to something else … our happiness, the hope of a better life or even eternal life. But John would have us realize that Jesus is not a means to finding joy, He is our joy. Many today are suffering from spiritual starvation because they are surrounded by information regarding Christ, but fail to ingest it and feed themselves from it. Starvation doesn’t take a complete absence of food, just an inadequate amount of it for survival. I can starve to death standing the aisle of a well-stocked grocery store. The presence of food does me no good if I don’t take advantage of it. I can also starve by eating a steady diet of the wrong things. A diet of Twinkies and Moon Pies will not end well. I may feel full, but I will starve my body of the nutrients it needs to survive and thrive. Many of us as Christians do the same thing with Christ. We seek satisfaction and joy in the wrong places. We turn to something or someone other than Christ for what we need and end up starving to death spiritually.

Perhaps you lack joy because you don’t get enough of Christ. John said that what he was writing would lead to complete joy – full, abounding, full-to-the-brim joy. Jesus Himself made a similar promise when He told His disciples, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11 ESV). He had just finished teaching the about what it means to abide in Him. He had told them that fruitfulness would be a direct by-product of abiding or remaining in Him. Because apart from Him, we can do nothing. It would seem that John believed fulness of joy was directly tied to our fulfillment in Christ. Is Christ enough? Or do we require more? Is it not enough that the God of the universe sent His own Son to take on human flesh and die a sinner’s death in our place? Is it not enough the a holy God would provide a means by which sinful men could be made right with Him and enjoy intimate fellowship with Him now and for eternity? Many of us lack joy, because we are not fully satisfied with Christ. We believe He is enough to save us, but not enough to fulfill us and bring us joy – even in the midst of uncertainty, sorrow, pain and suffering. The apostle Paul would have us understand that it is Jesus Christ – God in the flesh – who alone can provide salvation and satisfaction. He prayed, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19 ESV). Fulness of God brings fulness of joy. Christ is enough. Christ is sufficient. And when we finally realize that truth, we will find true joy.

God Made Visible.

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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… – 1 John 1:1 ESV

The very idea that God became a man is a difficult one to reconcile. From the earliest days of the church, there have been those who have attempted to discount it as nothing more than a myth, dispute it as an impossibility, or simply rationalize it away through various man-made explanations. Even the Jews of Jesus’ day, who were desperately awaiting the coming of the Messiah, were not expecting God to come in human flesh. They were looking for a human savior, a warrior-king in the same vein as David. Their greatest conflict with Jesus was not so much that He claimed to be the Messiah, but that He claimed to be God. That concept was unfathomable and unacceptable to them. In fact, it was His claim of deity that led them to seek His death. “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18 ESV).

Yet, at one point, Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Matthew 16:13 ESV). Peter’s response was most revealing. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16 ESV). And Jesus commended Peter for his answer. “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17 ESV). Jesus went on to say that the very essence of Peter’s confession would be the foundation on which He would build his church. Rather than deny or dispute Peter’s statement, Jesus fully agreed with it and acknowledged the indisputable necessity of it. In yet another confrontation with the Pharisees, they sarcastically said to Jesus, “So the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am’” (John 8:57-58 ESV). Jesus knowingly used the very words that God spoke when revealing Himself to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). And His words did not escape them, because they immediately picked up rock with which to stone Him.

The Pharisees could not reconcile Jesus’ claim to be divine. They could not make it work within their understanding of God, so they wrote Jesus off as a blasphemer. He was little more than crazy. But there are still those today who would deny the divinity of Jesus. The late Robert W. Funk, founder of the Jesus Seminar, once wrote, “We should give Jesus a demotion. It is no longer credible to think of Jesus as divine. Jesus’ divinity goes together with the old theistic way of thinking about God.” His rejection of Jesus as divine was clear. “A Jesus who drops down out of heaven, performs some magical act that frees human beings from the power of sin, rises from the dead, and returns to heaven is simply no longer credible.” But Funk and his fellow members of the Jesus Seminar are not alone. Unitarians and Universalists reject the deity of Christ, teaching that He was merely a man. Over the centuries, there have been countless attempts to either rationalize away Jesus’ deity. What we cannot explain, we tend to reject. But the gospel of Jesus Christ hinges on the deity of Jesus Christ. He was not just a man sent by God to live an exemplary life and die a martyr’s death. He came to live a sinless life and die a sacrificial, substitutionary death as the unblemished Lamb of God. But even with this Robert W. Funk and others take issue. “The doctrine of the atonement—the claim that God killed his own son in order to satisfy his thirst for satisfaction—is sub-rational and sub-ethical. This monstrous doctrine is the stepchild of a primitive sacrificial system in which the gods had to be appeased by offering them some special gift, such as a child or an animal.” At the core of man’s rejection of Jesus’ deity is the notion that we don’t need a savior. Either we reject God’s assessment of our sinfulness or we somehow think we can fix the problem ourselves. We can be our own saviors. But God knew the only solution to our problem was to send His Son to do for us what we could never have done for ourselves. “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3 ESV). God entered time and space in human flesh. Unbelievable? No doubt about it. Inconceivable? From a human perspective, yes. But God became visible so that salvation might be made possible. Sin required a sacrifice. That sacrifice had to be a man. The righteousness of God required that man be without sin. The unbelievable, inconceivable, inexplicable nature of Jesus as the God-man, made it possible for Him to meet that requirement and satisfy the just demands of a holy God. He came. He lived. He died. He rose again. God became visible and made man’s salvation possible. I don’t have to explain it, but I do have to accept it.

Christ, the Eternal Life

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…the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us… – 1 John 1:2 ESV

There is a certain sense in which the Christian church has turned eternity into some kind of a reward to be had. We have too often offered salvation based on the promise of eternal life or the threat of eternal separation in hell. In doing so, we have turned Jesus into little more than a ticket to a preferred future. But John would have us understand that Jesus is not just the means by which we get eternal life – He IS eternal life. Throughout his gospel and letters, John would have us understand that Jesus is to be the focus of our desire, not eternal life. If we make eternity the object, we are guilty of turning Jesus into little more than a tool to get the reward we want. But in John’s estimation, Jesus IS the reward. In one of His confrontations with the religious leaders of His day, Jesus made the sobering statement, “You study the scriptures thoroughly  because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures  that testify about me, but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life” (John 5:39-40 ESV). Jesus was accusing these men of making eternal life the focus and in so doing, walking right past the very one who was eternal life. Like the Pharisees, we can become so obsessed with eternal life that we miss out on the relationship Christ has come to offer us with Himself. In His High Priestly prayer recorded in John 17, Jesus makes the statement, “Now this  is eternal life  – that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,  whom you sent” (John 17:3 ESV). In Jesus’ own estimation, eternal life is about a relationship with God and Himself. It is about intimacy with God and His Son – something that would be impossible without Christ’s work on the cross. Eternal life WITHOUT fellowship with God and His Son would not be a reward, but a punishment. That is the essence of hell. All men will experience eternity. The question is whether they will experience it in intimate fellowship with God and His Son, or without them.

We know from John 3:16, that the gift of eternal life is based on belief in God’s Son. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV). But again, it would be so easy to turn that verse into a formula for eternal security. Belief + Jesus = Eternity. And while that would be partially true, it misses the whole point. This isn’t about getting what we think we want (eternal life). It is about getting what we need (Jesus). He is eternal life. That is why John seemed to teach that eternal life was not some future promise, but a present reality for those who believed in Jesus. Jesus said, “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life” (John 6:47-48 ESV). He then compared Himself to the manna that was provided by God for the Israelites, so that they might eat and not die. It was a temporary solution that forestalled death from hunger while they wandered in the wilderness. But Jesus says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever. The bread  that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:51 ESV). Jesus is the source of eternal life. It is a relationship with Him that gives us life. Listen to His words: “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears  my message  and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24 ESV). Jesus is the reason we need not fear death. We don’t have to worry about future judgment or condemnation. We already have eternal life because we have Him. He is eternal life. He is ALL we need.

But too often we live as if something is missing. We exist as if the best is yet to come. And while it is proper and right to long for Christ’s return and to desire a time when sin will be no more, it is essential that we understand that eternal life is not some future commodity to be had, but a present reality to be enjoyed. John reminds us, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us insight to know  him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This one  is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20 ESV). Jesus isn’t the golden ticket to the prize of eternal life. He IS eternal life. He is the prize. The point of heaven is not to escape hell, but to experience an intimate, unbroken relationship with God and His Son forever. And that relationship begins the moment we place our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and see Him as our source of eternal life.

The Incarnation.

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It has been interesting to see some of the responses to my recent posts concerning the book of First John. Much of what John was dealing with in his letter head to do with heresies entering the early Church. As Christianity spread, so did the variety and numbers of different interpretations of the gospel. The book of First John is a pastoral letter addressed to believers and designed to both warn and encourage them. His intention was to provide them with assurance concerning their beliefs in Christ. Throughout the letter John used the phrase, “by this we know.” He wanted them to know, without a shadow of doubt, that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. But He was much more than just a human savior, an earthly deliverer who would provide them with victory over their earthly enemies. He came to be their Savior from sin and their means for enjoying a right relationship with God. For generations, the Jews had believed that the Mosaic Law was the key to achieving a right relationship with God. Human effort had been the accepted means by which men could find favor with God. The sacrificial system, given by God, was used by men to have their sins cleansed and forgiven. The very fact that the sacrificial system existed was proof that men were incapable of keeping God’s commands. Paul writes, “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,  so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:20-21 ESV). The law revealed man’s sin, but could do nothing to remove it. The law simply exposed man’s inability to meet God’s holy standards. Which is why God provided a Savior.

But it is at that point that so many continue to stumble today. I have received comments from some who refuse to accept the deity of Christ. They argue that Jesus was nothing more than a man, created by God. This is not a new view. John battled the same errant belief in his day. One of the comments I received stated, “‘And the Word was made flesh’ talks about the Word or the Speaking which became a reality, namely a man of flesh and blood, who after his resurrection proved to his disciples that he was not a Spirit (though God is Spirit) and told them so.” It is subtle, but what he is saying is that Jesus was nothing more than a man into whom the Word or Spirit of God entered. He was flesh and blood. But the disturbing point about this teaching is that it rejects the deity of Christ. For John, the deity of Christ was a non-negotiable ingredient to the gospel. “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…” (1 John 1:1 ESV). He was not speaking of some disembodied Spirit or force, but of Jesus Christ Himself. He was from the beginning. He was the eternal life. As John states in his gospel, “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:2-3 ESV).

There are those today who still reject the deity of Christ. They refuse to accept Him as God. This was the same problem Jesus ran into during His earthly ministry. On one occasion, as Jesus was walking through the temple in Jerusalem, the Jews demand to know if He is the Messiah. Jesus makes a simple, but direct comment: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30 ESV). And the immediate response of the Jews was to pick up stones and kill Him. Why? They provided the answer. “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God” (John 10:33 ESV). The Jews clearly understood Jesus’ claim to be God. He was not just claiming to be a man who had the Spirit of God within Him. He and God the Father were one. It is Jesus’ deity, miraculously blended with His humanity, that made Him a fitting sacrifice for the sins of man. To believe anything else is to believe another gospel. If we believe that we can simply emulate the life of Christ and share in the divine Spirit as He did, we miss the point of His life, death, and resurrection. The belief that God became flesh is essential to the gospel. Yet, as in John’s day, there are those who refuse to accept it.  Again, one of the recent comments I received put it this way: “Having come down in the form of a god, does not mean Jesus came down as the God of gods.” In other words, Jesus was NOT God, but a little god. And according to this teaching, we can become a little god by following His example. But this is NOT the gospel. And the apostle Paul had strong words for those who would attempt to explain away the true essence of the gospel message. “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-9 ESV).

Something Worth Proclaiming.

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…that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. – 1 John 1:3 ESV

John had enjoyed an intimate, eye-witness relationship with Jesus. He had listened to Him teach and preach. He had watched Him heal and even raise Lazarus from the dead. He had stood with Mary, the mother of Jesus, at the foot of the cross on which Jesus was being crucified, and heard Him say, “Behold, your mother.” From that day on, John would take Mary into his home and care for her. John was close to Jesus. He loved the Lord and was loved by Him. But what John was proclaiming in the opening verses of First John was far more than a knowledge about Jesus the man. He was proclaiming the truth regarding Jesus, the God-Man. The entire letter of First John is based on the foundational principle and reality regarding the incarnation of Jesus. John was not just giving an historical, eye-witness account of Jesus’ birth, life and death. He was proclaiming His deity and His role as the spotless sacrifice for the sins of mankind. There were those in John’s day who denied the deity of Christ. They rejected the idea that He was God come in the flesh. As we will see later on in John’s letter, these people claimed to be Christians and bragged of having a relationship with God, but they denied the Christ. Many viewed themselves as sinless and therefore, in no need of a Savior. But John will make it clear that fellowship with God is impossible without acceptance of His Son as Savior. John had heard Jesus Himself boldly claim, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 ESV). Jesus was NOT just a good man attempting to live a morally exemplary life. He wasn’t just another martyr who had sacrificed His life for a good cause. What John was proclaiming about Jesus was radical and risky. Jesus was the Son of God and through Him and Him alone, man could enjoy a restored relationship with God.

Jesus had told His disciples, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves” (John 14:10-11 ESV). What John is proclaiming in these opening verses is unbelievable. It sounds more like fantasy than reality. But John believed it whole-heartedly. He proclaimed it boldly and without apology. Because of who Jesus was and what He did, men can be restored to a right relationship with God. They can enjoy fellowship with the God of the universe. The apostle Paul reminds us, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 ESV). But there’s more. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:10-11 ESV). We have been reconciled, made right with God. Which is what allows us to enjoy fellowship with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Which should produce in us a joy that is full and complete, lacking in nothing. Jesus Christ, the word of life who gave life to creation, is also the eternal life, God Himself. The Son of God took on human flesh and then took on the sins of man. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24 ESV). John was proclaiming what God had long ago prophesied. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6 ESV). It was Jesus’ deity that made possible His sinlessness. It was His humanity that made Him an appropriate sacrifice. It was His death that paid for our sins. It was His resurrection that proved He was who He claimed to be: the sole source of eternal life. Now that is something worth proclaiming.

The Word of Life

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…the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us… – 1 John 1:2 ESV

For many, eternal life is some kind of a reward that lies somewhere out there in the distant future. It’s life-after-death kind of stuff. It has to do with heaven and, if we were honest, seems to have little to do with life on this earth. But the apostle John provides us different viewpoint on the subject of eternal life. In fact, he seems to equate eternal life with Jesus Himself. He says, “we…proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us” (1 John 1:2 ESV). In John’s way of thinking, Jesus didn’t just provide eternal life, He IS eternal life. Without Him, eternal life would not exist. It would not be possible. But John didn’t just make this up. He had heard this truth from the lips of Jesus Himself when He claimed, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 ESV). John had recorded this very same thought in the opening verses of his gospel. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1-4 ESV). Jesus was the logos, the word. He was the source of all life, having played a major role in the creation of the world. But He was also the life – the very source of all life. Jesus is the essence of life, just as His Father is the essence of light. There is no life without Jesus. Men would not exist without His role in the creation. And men will not experience eternal life apart from His saving work in their re-creation. Life without Jesus is impossible. And yet, how many try to live their lives as if He doesn’t exist? How many Christians attempt to live their lives without His help. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10b ESV). Just as He created life “in the beginning,“ so He creates new life when men, dead in their trespasses and sins, turn to Him.

For many of us, eternal life was the carrot that was held out to us as an incentive to accept Christ. It was the preferred alternative to an eternity spent in hell. But when we make the reward the focus, we miss the point. Just as temporal life was not the point of creation, eternal life is not the point of our new creation. The point is God. The focus is fellowship with Him. Man was created to have fellowship with God. Adam and Eve enjoyed uninterrupted, intimate fellowship with the One who had created them, and this would have included Jesus, as part of the Trinity and a participant in the creation process. But sin broke that fellowship. Sin damaged what God had intended. Rather than the abundant life they had been created to enjoy, Adam and Eve experienced diminished life, a life marred by sin and marked by a worship of self, rather than God.

But John wrote his letter to remind his readers that all that changed when Jesus took on human flesh. God became man. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 ESV). John went out of his way to let his readers know that his knowledge of this truth was not academic, but personal and intimate. He had personally seen, heard and touched Jesus, the word of life. He had eaten with Him, watched Him perform miracles, walked with Him, talked with Him and listened to Him as He taught them truths they had never heard before. And John says that what he saw, heard and touched, he proclaimed. What had been manifested to him, he made known to others. Why? “So that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3 ESV). Restored fellowship. Intimacy with God and with His Son. And this restored fellowship, made possible through the Word of Life, should result in joy. But not just any kind of joy – full joy, complete joy, perfect joy. Fellowship is the core of the gospel message. What makes eternal life so attractive is the reality of uninterrupted, intimate, personal fellowship with God and His Son. But eternal life begins the day we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. His death on the cross in our place provided us with a means by which we can enjoy restored fellowship with God the Father. Jesus Christ, the very Word of life, eternal life itself, has made all this possible. And that reality should result in profound joy. John had personally heard Jesus say, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11 ESV). What had Jesus spoken to him? About His abiding presence, providing the capacity to live fruitful, full and meaningful lives in this lifetime, not just in eternity. He had heard Jesus speak of His abiding love and providing presence. “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 ESV).

That which was from the beginning, the Word of life, the eternal life, abides in us. Jesus has taken up residence in the lives of all those who have placed their faith in Him as their Savior and Lord. He has restored our fellowship with the Father and made us part of His body, the Church, in which we can enjoy fellowship with one another as children of God and heirs of the Kingdom yet to come. But our joy is not to be based on some future event or circumstance, but on the present reality of the abiding presence of the Word of life in our lives here and now.