The church is in a very dangerous position in our day because of two prevailing things. First, the attacks against Christianity seem to be growing a bit more complex. No longer is it that people simply and straightforwardly disagree with Christianity. For example, we think Christ physically resurrected from the tomb. However, they don’t, and they will tell you right out. In our day you can find people who outright oppose Christianity but are very subtle in communicating such disagreement. They speak much about spirituality, morality, grace, forgiveness, and other terms and may possibly even speak of the goodness of Jesus. Yet, they don’t mean what we mean and do not worship the same Lord. This is the first problem confronting us.

The second problem, which simply adds to the first problem, is that the church seems very biblically illiterate. That is to say we simply do not know the Bible. And this is a problem when the Bible is what we confess as the objective truth against all human subjectivity, thoughts, and imagination in the world. Thus, it’s as if we’re going out to a gunfight with our holsters empty. Or an analogy that might hit home more, it’s as if we’re sending our kids off to philosophy class having only driven in their heads that the Bible’s true and not at all teaching them what it says. And though we could discuss all the things that have led to such illiteracy in our circles, it is enough this morning for us to admit that simply knowing about the Bible is simply not enough. Yet that’s where we are. In the typical Baptist church today I’m sure that you would be strained to find many who would tell you the Bible is untrue, and yet even more strained to find many who could defend what they believe from its contents. Therefore, we too need error refuted and truth defended in our day. We need to be reminded continually of some of these basic teachings of our faith. That is exactly what we find in 1 John.

1 John is written by the apostle John to remind his hearers of some basic aspects of the Christian faith. What had apparently happened is that sometime after he had written his gospel some people in the community had taken up certain beliefs that were simply unacceptable in light of the truth. They were denying that Jesus had come in the flesh and that his death was necessary for salvation. In fact, many of them went out of the church (1 John 2:19).

However, they didn’t just leave and mind their own business. Rather, they tried to get others in the community to join them. Therefore, John was facing a community of possibly very young believers wanting to hold to the gospel but being pulled and challenged by these people who had gone out of the church, had denied basic aspects of the gospel, and were teaching others to believe the same. This, no doubt, created a lot of struggle and instability among this community. Thus, John writes to refute those who had gone out and to encourage and assure these remaining loyal to the gospel that they had heard from John that they indeed were walking in the truth and had eternal life. This is the stated purpose of the book as John writes in 1 John 5:13, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Thus, John’s strategy is twofold: he is refuting the claims of those who have left and assuring those who are remaining that they are walking in the truth. Thus, the place he begins his letter is by reminding them of some foundational truths of the proclamation they had already heard, the foundational truths of the gospel. And, as I have argued that we need to be very grounded in these truths in our day as well, let’s turn to them that we too might learn truth, refute error, and find assurance in our faith against all that would come against us.

John first reminds his hearers and us today that …

Jesus, who existed eternally, came in the flesh and dwelt among men

John begins talking about the Jesus who was from the beginning (i.e. existed eternally) was manifested to him and other eye-witnesses so that they heard him, saw him, and touched him. That is to say, the Jesus who existed eternally came in the flesh and dwelt among men.

This is a basic truth that would have been denied (it seems) by those who had recently left the church in John’s letter. Most likely they were holding to a basic heresy that would later come to be called Gnosticism, which is quite complex, but at its root fundamentally denies that Jesus physically came in the flesh and dwelt among men.

Now in much thinking today people would say, “Who cares?” After all, how does what one believes happened in history affect ones religion. I recently saw an interview with Tom Cruise in which he discussed Scientology, his religion, and how it is based on ideas such as being cleansed in your thoughts and body, seeing things from a right perspective, battling disease with one’s mind, etc. Never once did he say to the interviewer, “Now, if you’re going to understand this you have to understand something that happened in history before any of us were born." No. History didn’t matter to him, just as it matters very little to many religions. They are simply made up of a philosophy of life and abstract concepts. This is why when Karl Barth, when he came to the United States before his death, couldn’t understand our infatuation with history.

Barth had dodged most of his life the question as to whether Jesus literally and physically rose from the dead or not. And he was hard to pin down on the issue. Thus, Carl Henry (about whom William spoke a bit last week) addressed him in a conference and said, “Dr. Barth, if you had put a video recorder facing the tomb of Jesus on that Saturday night and recorded all the way until Sunday morning, what would it show us?” Barth responded, “Who are you?” knowing exactly who he was. Henry answered, “I’m Carl F. H. Henry, editor of Christianity Today?” to which Barth said, “That’s right, Christianity today, not yesterday.” See, for Barth, and many in our day what happened in history doesn’t matter. What matters is what you believe today. Thus, Barth would probably ask us something like, “Has Jesus risen in your heart, for that’s what matters.”

Dr. Henry, by the way, stood and answered Barth, “No, Christianity yesterday, today, and forever.” And he was right. What happened yesterday (encompassing all of human history) is crucial for our today and ultimately our forever. If Jesus did not physically come to earth as the God-man, then we are hopeless, our teaching is in vain, and eternal life is a figment of our imaginations. Thus, Paul argues in 1 Corinthians 15 that if Christ did not physically rise from the dead, then we are still in our sins and might as well eat and drink and find as much pleasure in this life as we can, for we will one day die and there is no hope of overcoming it.

Here is a basic necessity for the faith: Jesus is God, having existed forever with God the Father and God the Spirit and he came in the flesh, lived a sinless life, died to redeem his people from sin, rose from the dead three days later, ascended back to the Father’s right hand, and is coming again to take his people to himself. This is not some idea to help ground our philosophical thinking and teaching this morning about how men should live. It’s true human history, and because it truly happened, we can have hope. The historicity of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection cannot be denied, for it is the gospel. And the gospel alone is that which is powerful to bring salvation to man. Yet, John gives more truths to his readers, adding that …

Eternal life is in Jesus alone

Speaking of Jesus, John writes in verse 2, “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.”

Now, what in the world is he describing here. He calls the subject life, eternal life, that which was with the Father, and that which was made manifest to us. In context, he’s clearly talking about Jesus himself. “So,” we might ask, “why call him life or eternal life and not just God’s Son or the like?”

I think the answer is because John wanted to ground his hearers in the reality that he had shown much in his gospel, namely, that only in possessing, in being united with Jesus does one have eternal life. That is to say, eternal life isn’t some reality out there that we’re seeking after, and if we can find certain things we can possess it. It’s not something gained by figuring out all the right steps. Eternal life is a person, Jesus Christ, and you must posses him (or, better, be united with him) if you hope to live eternally. Thus, only the one who possesses Christ possesses eternal life, for he is eternal life. Eternal life is in him alone. Thus, John will write later, “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12).

Therefore, it is a ridiculous notion that one can have eternal life without being united with Christ. It is like saying you want a yard full of wooden things, with bark and leaves on them but none of those stinking trees. That’s what those things you’re describing are! So, it is with Christ. Because he is eternal life and it can be attained only in him, it is the height of arrogance and ignorance that leads one to think life can be found and Christ denied. We need to be reminded of this continually in our day. Yet, John goes on with the basics of the faith, reminding his hearers (and us as well) that …

We must testify and proclaim this to others

Can you imagine how remarkable it was for John, when he realized who Jesus was (which apparently wasn’t until he stood in the empty tomb and saw the head cloth), and then realized that he had been privileged to hear him, see him, and touch him. The very one who had been his Creator, he had gotten to have conversations with and touch. Yet, John knew that such a privilege gave him much responsibility. He was to testify to what he had heard, seen, and touched and proclaim it to others. Thus, he completes the thought he had begun in verse 1, writing in verse 3, “”That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you.”

“Well, great,” we might say, “But how does this have any affect today?” After all, all the eye-witnesses of Jesus are dead. That is true. And we don’t believe that some kind of apostolic authority is preserved in a person as the Roman Catholic Church does, viewing the Pope as speaking on behalf of God. So, what is our hope?

Our hope is in the reality that those eye-witnesses and their associates preserved these truths to which they testified in a book, and that is the Scriptures. Thus, we are not looking for a person to give us some new insight from God so that we can be right before him. We see it in a book, the Bible. And just as John was commissioned to tell others what he had seen and heard, so we must tell others what the Scripture says. In the words of Christ we must go and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that he has commanded.

For all men are born in sin, in rebellion against God, and with a heart that cannot submit to him on its own. Their only hope is that they hear the gospel and believe its message. Again, that is man’s only hope. The man across the world who has never heard the name Jesus will die and justly be sentenced to hell if he does not hear and believe the gospel. Thus, the responsibility is ours to speak this message to others.

I would encourage you in a simple thought each day. Wake up and remind yourself of the basics of the gospel message. You might want to remind yourself quickly with the words God-sin-cross-faith. Thus, you remember that God created all men and is their rightful judge, that all men sinned against God and are rightfully under his wrath, that God sent his Son who lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sins, and rose from the dead three days later, and that only those who believe have eternal life while those who do not believe remain under God’s wrath. That’s the gospel. Wake up and remind yourself of its content and then let it be on the forefront of your mind so that you can be ready to speak it to others. For that is man’s only hope. We must proclaim this message to others. But John gives us one other reminder, namely, that …

We proclaim the gospel to others for their good and our joy

John gives two reasons why he is proclaiming this message, this person. He writes, “ … so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete” (1 John 1:3-4).

As Christians, our hearts should long for those who don’t know Christ to have fellowship with us, not because we are great but because they will have fellowship with us by being reconciled to God. We should long for them to worship Christ as their Lord, as well, so that together we might serve him and seek to extend the gospel and his kingdom all over the world.

And in doing so, it will increase our joy. We know eternal life. It isn’t some myth in an Indiana Jones movie, but a reality. It is in a person who is God and came to live among us as a man. And we live in a world where death reigns. Thus, our great joy will be found in others coming to know the life we know and coming to love the God whom we love above all else.

These are the basic truths that John’s readers needed to hear and grasp. But they are for us as well. You do no progress beyond these truths in the Christian life. They are our hope. Christ came, lived, died, and rose again. Life is in him alone. We must proclaim that message to others as their only hope, and in doing so they will know fellowship with us and we will know great joy.

It is basic, but if it is ignored all hope is lost. It cannot be ignored. It cannot be assumed among us. It cannot be forgotten. In fact, one way the Lord has given us to ensure that we continually remember this message is by giving us the gift of the table. Thus, as we come to the table in the morning, might we know that the gospel is indeed true and determine this morning to hold to it and proclaim it to others that our joy may be complete. Then, let us go forth in his grace. Amen

A FOUNDATION FOR FELLOWSHIP AND JOY