“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…” I John 1:1.
Though there are those who say this book was not necessarily written by the apostle John; mainstream conservative scholars say that it was indeed John the apostle and disciple mentioned in the gospels.
There is no good reason to doubt this. John is responsible for the book of John, circa 85-90 A.D. the book of Revelation, written in the nineties and the letters of I, II and III John, dated 90 A.D.
He and his brother James we were called Boanerges, sons of thunder by Jesus; presumably because of their brash nature.
Once when a Samaritan village would not receive Christ, the two brother’s response was as follows.
“And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, ‘Lord do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?’” Luke 9:54.
The Lord’s reply tells us a lot about His wishes for the Christian response to those who reject Him.
“But He turned and rebuked them, and said, ‘You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.’ And they went to another village.” Luke 9:55.
The point of this is that John went from being a son of thunder to a man who speaks of love and fondly calls us, “little children”. This is the sort of Christ like gentleness that God wants to see in all of us.
“That which was from the beginning…” 1 John 1:1a.
This phrase is a direct reference to the eternality of Christ, He has always existed.
The note in the Ryrie Study Bible says that the word, was, here means that He “was already in existence” not “came into existence”. This thought is also expressed in the gospel of John.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1.
The Word is identified later in that chapter.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14.
The word, Word, is translated from the Greek word logos, which according to H. A. Ironside in his wonderful book, “Addresses on the Gospel of John”, published by Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., comes from the philosophy of Plato, who when regarding the many unexplainable mysteries expressed the hope that one day there would come forth from God, a “Word” a logos that would make everything clear.
This may well be one reason for the usage of the Word, since by the time of the writing of First John; the heresy of Gnosticism was beginning to take hold and much of this epistle (letter) is dedicated to refuting this pernicious doctrine.
Since this teaching is complicated, I will quote from “The Ryrie Study Bible” published by Moody press, because he has condensed it to an easy to understand form.
“Among its teachings were: (1) knowledge is superior to virtue; (2) the nonliteral sense of Scripture is correct and can be understood only by a select few; (3) evil in the world precludes God’s being the only Creator; (4) the incarnation is incredible because deity cannot unite itself with anything material such as a body (Docetism); and (5) there is no resurrection of the flesh.”
However, the Word is also an expression of God Himself, where Jesus is seen as God revealed in the flesh before men.
We see this in the gospel of John which portrays Jesus Christ as God the Son and as the only way of salvation.
No longer is God seen as someone in heaven saying do this or that, but a real person who got tired, hungry, thirsty and suffered in life as all of us do, yet without sin.
“…we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.” Hebrews 2:9.
Which brings us back to the Greek philosophers; God sent a word (logos), the Word to make everything clear, revealing Himself to all men.
“God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…” Hebrews 1:1-3.
Jesus Christ came into a world darkened by sin and evil and said to all who would follow Him.
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12b.
Anyone who accepts Christ as his or her savior has “the light of life”, but it is still possible to walk in darkness if you do not follow Christ in your life.
The epistles of John pick up from the gospel of John wherein those who have accepted Christ as Savior from the words of the gospel now gain the assurance of knowing they are saved by the things written in these epistles.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard…” 1 John 1:1a.
Here is the testimony before the world, the, we, being John, the disciples and the thousands who saw the Lord Jesus before and after His resurrection from the dead. More specifically though, the wording would indicate that the, we is comprised of those who were closest to Jesus.
What is the testimony? Well, we have sat across the dinner table from God and listened to Him tell us amazing things.
We have seen with our own eyes God in the form of a man, the very same God who called all things into existence; everything from the angels to the billions of galaxies, the very same One, our creator, of whom we testify.
“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John 1:3.
As an heir, He has become by position, the firstborn over all creation, that He may have preeminence in all things.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Colossians 1:15-17.
“…which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon…” 1 John 1:1b.
These witnesses have not just seen Jesus physically, but they have looked upon Him and considered carefully this Man’s claims, His words, His integrity, and miracles, and His resurrection which they had also witnessed.
“And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” John 20:30-31.
“…and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life…” 1 John 1:2c.
Doubting Thomas is the best example here. After the Lord’s resurrection from the dead, the disciples saw Jesus that very day, but Thomas was not present at the time.
When they told him that the Lord was alive, Thomas replied that he would not believe unless he put his hand in the wound in His side and felt the nail holes in His hands. After eight days the Lord appeared to them again in a closed room and said to Thomas:
“Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” John 20:27-28.”
This is merely the most convenient example; there are many others from before the cross. Crowds pressed in on Him, a woman clinging to Him, another just touching the hem of His garment and being healed, John himself had leaned against the Lord’s breast, John 13:21-26.
We have heard Jesus, we have seen Him, we have looked upon Him, and we have touched the eternal God and witness to you “…concerning the Word of life”.
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:6.
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?’” John 11:25-26.
“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36.
“…but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” John 20:31.
Jesus, the Word, is the exact representation of God in the flesh; shed His blood on the cross that we may have life.
Not just eternal life but life more abundantly right here, right now, this life eternal begins at salvation and stretches on into eternity. And there is no other way.
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12.
Jesus is rightfully called life, for He created it, He upholds it, and He is the only source of eternal life.
“…the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us – that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” I John 1:2-3.
Once again those who knew Christ have lined up and said, God really did become visible, we saw Him, and we bear witness. We declare to you the things we heard from God’s own lips about eternal life.
Jesus Himself, who resided with the Father from eternity past, is that life and those who accept Him as their savior will join us in fellowship, more importantly you will have fellowship with God the Father and God the Son. This, after all, is why we were created.
“And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” I John 1:4.
“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory.” I Timothy 3:16.
Word of Life, 1 John 1:1-4 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 10-25-11, updated on 5-5-18.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.