The gospel of Jesus Christ we proclaim
[1 John 1:1-4]
Our church's motto for 2019 is “Love each other.” And the motto Bible verse is John 15:12 – “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” The commandment Jesus gave us is to love one another as Jesus loved us. How did Jesus love us? Jesus considers us as His friends and gave His life for us on the cross. There is no greater love than this (v. 13). The Lord, who loves us with this great love, tells us, “You are My friends if you do what I command you” (v. 14). So, since we wanted to become those who love each other according to this commandment of Jesus, this year's motto is “Love one another.”
And the Bible that I wanted to meditate on with you is “1 John.” The reason is because I thought that there are many words about “love” in 1 John, written by the Apostle John, who wrote John 15:12, the motto verse for this year. For example, in 1 John 4:7-8, the apostle John said: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” Also, in 1 John 4:11, the apostle John said, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” And one of my personal favorites, 1 John 4:18 says: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” So, as I meditate on 1 John from today, my goal is to meditate on all of 2 John and 3 John, if it is the Lord's will. As we meditate on this word of God, I pray that the Lord will grant us all precious grace.
The book of 1 John that we are going to meditate on from today is a letter written by the Apostle John. The Apostle John was the son of Zebedee and, as the brother of the Apostle James, the apostle who served Jesus closest along with the apostle Peter. He was a fisherman in Galilee and one of the 12 disciples of Jesus who witnessed the deeds, sufferings, and resurrection of Jesus. And he wrote not only 1 John but also 2 John, 3 John, the Gospel of John and Revelation. The Apostle John's purpose in writing the 1 John is stated in the New Version of the Bible in two ways:
- The first purpose is to establish the church, which has suffered a serious crisis by various cults including Gnosticism, on the foundation of truth.
Here, “Gnosticism” is a mixture of Eastern religions that follow gnosis, Greek philosophy, theosophy, and Christian faith, the most powerful and threatening movement that competed with the Early Church between AD 80 and 150 AD (Internet). Gnosticism, influenced by philosophers such as Plato, is based on two false premises. One of those two false premises is the dualism of mind and matter. Gnostics argue that matter is inherently evil and spirit is good. This spiritual and physical dualism ultimately denies the incarnation of Jesus and cannot accept the suffering and death of Jesus. In the New Testament, the mode of faith that deceives Christians the most is pointed to as the Gnosticism of spiritual and physical dualism. We can find traces in the Bible that show that Gnostic ideas infiltrated the church and became a heretical force that seriously threatened early Christianity. Among the contents of the letter Jesus Christ sent to the church in Pergamum, it is said that there are those who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans (Rev. 2:15). This is a trace related to the Gnosticism that penetrated the early church. The word ‘Nicolaitans’ is derived from the name of Nicolas, the leader of early Gnosticism. As one of the seven deacons in Acts 6, Nicholas was a convert from Antioch, he passed on the faith from the apostles and received the office of a deacon. But it is said that he eventually fell into heresy (Internet). In addition, in the book of 1 John, the apostle John speaks alluding to heretical forces that seriously threaten Christianity: (1 Jn. 2:22) “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son,” (4:1-3) “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.” So, the Apostle John wrote this letter of 1 John in an attempt to build the church, which has been in serious crisis due to Gnosticism and other cults, on the foundation of the truth.
I think that the purpose of the apostle John writing this letter of 1 John is sufficiently applicable to the modern church today. How many different cults have the church faced a serious crisis now? If we have this sense of crisis, we also know that the Lord's church must stand firm on the foundation of the Lord's truth. Therefore, we must reject syncretism in all its forms and return to the Word alone, faith alone, Jesus alone, grace alone, and the glory of God alone. Therefore, I think it is appropriate and important for us to meditate on 1 John. As we meditate on the book of 1 John, we must listen to Jesus Christ and His gospel preached by the Apostle John, and must preach the right word and the right gospel.
- The second purpose is to maintain a personal relationship with God by emphasizing God's love.
Apostle John emphasizes that the church must not only stand firm on the foundation of truth, but also love one another with God's love in a personal relationship with God. Therefore, the Apostle John wanted the Lord's church to abide in the power to overcome any false knowledge and fears through fellowship of true love with God in the Lord's truth (Revised Bible explanation). I think this is a really important purpose. How important is it to maintain a personal relationship with God? How important is the fellowship of true love in the truth of God in maintaining this personal relationship. Isn't one of the serious problems of the church right now is the lack of fellowship with the Lord and, above all, the failure to meet the Lord personally?
So, I will focus on 1 John 1:1–4, under the title “The gospel of Jesus Christ we proclaim”, and think about what is the gospel of Jesus Christ that the Apostle John preaches to us through the words of the Bible, and think about what is the twofold purpose that this gospel is being preached to us. By doing so I hope and pray that we can receive grace and lessons from God.
First, I want to think about what the gospel of Jesus Christ is that the Apostle John proclaims to us. The Bible 1 John 1:1-2 speaks in two ways:
First, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the Word of life which was from the beginning.
Look at 1 John 1:1 – “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.” When we think of the phrase “That which was from the beginning” that the Apostle John is talking about here, two Bible verses can come to mind. Those two Bible verses are Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” and John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The word “the beginning” in these two verses doesn’t refer to the same beginning. ‘The beginning’ in Genesis 1:1 refers to the beginning [“the beginning of time and space” (Internet)] when God created the heavens and the earth, whereas ‘the beginning’ in John 1:1 refers to the super-temporal and eternal beginning (Internet). Then, to which beginning does the Apostle John refer to “the beginning” in 1 John 1:1? It speaks of the eternal beginning. We know this by looking at verse 2b: “… which was with the Father and has appeared to us.” This verse says that Jesus Christ was with God the Father from eternity before the foundation of the world. So the phrase “from the beginning” (v. 1) spoken of by the apostle John refers to the eternal beginning before the creation of the heavens and the earth. In other words, the apostle John is speaking of the eternity of Christ. This speaks of the divinity of Christ. And he described the eternal Christ as ‘the Word of life from the beginning.’ Here the “Word of life” spoken of by the Apostle John refers to Jesus Christ based on the word of John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” and the word of 1 John 1:2, “which was with the Father.” Jesus Christ is the Word of life. Look at John 14:6 – “Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” The eternal Jesus Christ is not only the “Word” (Logos) and “God” (Jn. 1:1) but also “the life” (Eternal Life) (14:6). That is, the gospel of Jesus Christ is eternal God Jesus Christ, not only who is eternal life, but also who gives eternal life. The Apostle John is proclaiming this gospel to us as well (1 Jn. 1:3).
Second, the gospel of Jesus Christ is “eternal life” appeared on this world.
Look at 1 John 1:2a – “The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, ….” Here, the Apostle John is saying that “the eternal life” appeared, which means that God the Son, Jesus Christ, who is the Word (Logos) and eternal life, came to this earth in the flesh (The Outline Bible). This refers to the humanity of Christ. The Apostle John described this in John 1:14 this way: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” With reference to this fact, we say that Jesus was “incarnated.” Here, “incarnate” means that the Son Jesus, who is the second person of the Holy Trinity, took on flesh and became a man. That is, the Son became a true man who took on the perfect humanity, that is, a body and soul including a spirit (Lloyd-Jones). Pastor Lloyd Jones said: ‘What Jesus Christ took on was a real body. What the Second Person of the Trinity assumed was not a mere appearance or form, but a true incarnation. Jesus actually came in the flesh. But the Gnostic heretics maintained that Jesus was merely in the form of a physical body. They said that there was only a body shape that is like a ghost. But that’s not true. Jesus came in real flesh. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us’ (Lloyd-Jones). How this was made possible is that the Holy Spirit gave birth to the Son Jesus through the virgin Mary, so that the humanity He took on was sinless [“the holy (sinless and pure) one to be born” (Lk. 1:35) (Lloyd)]. The Apostle John not only heard of this incarnate eternal life, Christ, but also had seen and touched with his hands repeatedly in 1 John 1:1, 2, 3. And the Apostle John says, “we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life” (v. 2), “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you” (v. 3).
What we need to be clear and certain here is what is the gospel of Jesus Christ preached and testified by the Apostle John. The gospel of Jesus Christ he preached was that Jesus Christ is the Word of Life who existed from the beginning (v. 1) and this eternal life (v. 2) that was manifested on this earth, which is the divinity of Christ and the humanity of Christ. The reason why the Apostle John preached not only the divinity of Jesus but also the humanity of Jesus was because the heretical Gnostics at that time acknowledge only the divinity of Jesus and denied the humanity of Jesus. They thought that all matter was evil and that God was completely holy so that he who had divinity could not be real matter. So they said that the physical essence of Jesus' humanity was not real, but merely a hallucination and illusion that appeared and disappeared. One of these heresies is “Doceticism,” which denies the fact that Christ came in a human body. They argued that the body of Christ was not actually made of flesh and blood, but merely a hallucination or illusion that appeared and disappeared (Internet). How absurd is this claim? This is a lie and the lie of those who deceived the early church. So the Apostle John said in 2 John 1:7 – “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh This is the deceiver and the antichrist.” Many deceivers in this world deny that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. In other words, they deny the humanity of Jesus. So, for a while, the topic of debate in the theological circles was the historical Jesus. As I understand it, I remember that there were some theologians who denied that Jesus was a historical figure and went further and claimed that Jesus was a myth. In order to do this, they must deny the virgin birth of Jesus. This was also the argument of the Gnostics, a heretical force in the early church. Naturally, they opposed the virgin birth of Christ (Internet). However, as we profess our faith in the Apostles' Creed during our weekly Sunday worship, we believe in the fact that ‘I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.’ Not only that, but we believe that Jesus Christ came to this earth in a sinless body and that He is the Son of God. That is, we believe in the divinity of Jesus and the humanity of Jesus. And as the Apostle Paul said in Romans 1:3-4, the gospel of Jesus Christ we believe in is that Jesus “was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh” and “was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.” The truth we believe is that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4).
The word of God we believe is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you and your household will be saved” (Acts 16:31). We, who have been saved by believing in the Lord Jesus by God’s total grace, must testify and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the Word of Life” and eternal life, like the apostle John (1 Jn. 1:1-3). We must preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we hear and personally meet and believe. We must desire to preach the gospel as much as we can (Rom. 1:15) while “not moved from the hope held out in the gospel” (Col. 1:23). We must live worthy of the gospel of Christ (Phil. 1:27), preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and make many disciples of Jesus Christ (Acts 14:21). We must all labor for the gospel of Jesus Christ (Phil. 2:22).
The second and last thing I want to think about is what the Apostle John's purpose is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to us.
In 1 John 1:3-4 tells us that the Apostle John had twofold purpose for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. It can be said that the purpose is the vertical purpose and the horizontal purpose (Outline Bible commentary):
First, the vertical purpose is to have fellowship God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ.
Look at 1 John 1:3 – “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” The Apostle John, whom he heard, saw with his eyes, and touched with his own hands (vv. 1, 2), was the Word of Life from the beginning (v. 1) and the eternal life (v. 2) manifested in this world. The first purpose of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God was “so that you too may have fellowship with us” (v. 3).
What is “fellowship”? In my personal opinion, one of the overused Christian terms in the church is “fellowship.” How the word fellowship is overused is many Christians seem to think of fellowship as “socializing” or an “activity”. “Fellowship is a relationship, but not an activity,” says Jerry Bridges, author of several best-sellers in addition to the book “The Pursuit of Holiness”.
In 1 John 1:3, the Apostle John said that the purpose of preaching Jesus Christ (the divinity and humanity) was “so that you too may have fellowship with us” (NASB). He said that “our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (NASB) (v. 3). The ultimate purpose of “fellowship” spoken of by the Apostle John here is to have fellowship with God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. In other words, the purpose of the Apostle John preaching Jesus Christ and His gospel was so that those who heard Jesus Christ and His gospel through him could believe in Jesus and have fellowship with God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Why did the Apostle John want the people who heard the gospel of Jesus Christ to believe in Jesus and have fellowship with God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ? The reason is because they too may enjoy “eternal life” like him. Look at 1 John 5:11-13: “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” If you believe in Jesus Christ, you have life. You have eternal life. If you hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is “the Word of Life” and is “eternal life” (1:1, 2) and believes in Jesus Christ, then you have eternal life, which God the Father has given you as a gift of grace (Rom. 6:23; 1 Jn. 5:11-13). You have life. The Apostle John, who had this eternal life, preached Jesus Christ, who is the eternal life and the Word of Life, so that everyone who hears His gospel believes in Jesus Christ, and they have fellowship with God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ just like himself. But by the grace of God the Father He longed to enjoy the gift of “eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23) (Word Studies in the NT commentary). So he preached Jesus Christ and His gospel. This should be the purpose of us preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
First of all, under the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit by believing in Jesus, we, who are enjoying the blessing of eternal life while having fellowship with Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are the Word of Life and eternal life, Jesus Christ and His Gospel (The purpose of preaching the good news) is so that those who hear the gospel of Jesus Christ through us can have fellowship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ just like us, and receive the blessing of eternal life. I hope and pray that you and I will work hard in this gospel ministry.
Second, the horizontal purpose is to make our joy complete.
Look at 1 John 1:4 – “These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.” Not only did the Apostle John preach Christ, the Word of Life, which existed before the world was created, and this Christ, who is eternal life, and was made manifest in the world, the purpose of writing this letter of 1 John was that “our joy” may be made complete also to the recipients of the letter of 1 John (vv. 1-4). Isn't it a bit interesting that the purpose of the Apostle John preaching Jesus Christ and His gospel was “fellowship with us” (v. 3) and “our joy” (v. 4)? From these two purposes, it can be inferred that the Apostle John was full of joy while enjoying fellowship with God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. So, he wanted the brothers and sisters in Christ of the early church to receive and enjoy the fullness of joy that the Holy Spirit gives horizontally in this vertical fellowship with God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ.
Isn’t this the true fellowship, and the life worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ? (Phil 1:27) In other words, living worthy of the gospel of Christians who have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and believe in Him is to enjoy eternal life in the vertical fellowship with the Holy Trinity, and to enjoy the fullness of joy together in the horizontal fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ. And the fullness of joy we will enjoy while enjoying this eternal life is the fullness of joy of the Lord is us by loving each other with the love of the Holy Trinity, which is the commandment of the kingdom of heaven (Jn. 15:9-12). I am reminded of the lyrics of the hymn “Jesus Comes With Pow’r to Gladden” (verses 1, 4 and chorus): (v. 1) “Jesus comes with pow'r to gladden, When love shines in, Ev-'ry life that woe can sadden, When love shines in. Love will teach us how to pray, Love will drive the gloom away, Turn our darkness into day,” (v. 4) “We may have un-fading splendor, When love shines in, And a friendship true and tender, When love shines in. When earth vic-t'ries shall be won, And our life in heaven begun, There will be no need of sun,” (chorus) “When love shines in. When love shines in, When love shines in, How the heart is tuned to singing, When love shines in, When love shines in, When love shines in, Joy and peace to others bringing When love shines in.”
Even in this age we are living in now, we are faced with a serious crisis due to various heresies just like the time of the early church where the Apostle John and the disciples of Jesus lived. People are denying Jesus Christ spoken of in the Scriptures, and preaching and receiving other gospels, mixed gospels, and false gospels here and there. Also, as Jesus said, many of us, Christians, have grown cold in love (Mt. 24:12). And we no longer have a personal relationship with the Lord. Considering our seriousness problem, the Book of 1 John written by the Apostle John is fully applicable to us as well. Therefore, we must devote ourselves to building the Lord's Church on the foundation of truth through the words of 1 John. Also, we need to deepen our personal relationship with God while realizing and getting to know God's love. In particular, we must devote ourselves to knowing more and more what the gospel of Jesus Christ is. The gospel of Jesus Christ preached by the Apostle John is the Word of Life from the beginning and eternal life revealed on this earth (1 Jn. 1:1, 2). In other words, the Apostle John speaks of the divinity of Christ and the humanity of Christ. The twofold purpose of proclaiming this gospel is to have fellowship with God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ (vertical purpose) and to make our joy complete (horizontal purpose) (vv. 3-4). Like the Apostle John, we should live worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ and preach His gospel with this clear twofold purpose.
Hoping and praying that I want to be an evangelist with the burning love of Jesus Christ,
James Kim
(March 31, 2019, Only Jesus!)