1 John 1

Prologue vv1-4

How shall one bring news of eternal truths to temporal men?  Men can only speak of what they have seen and have done.  And since no one has created eternal truth, and since everyone lives outside of eternal capacity, a few chosen men are left to speak what has been revealed to them.  With all of the faculties afforded to men, John, one among of the chosen, writes to tell us all he has experienced in plain sight (v3).  Though John calls what he has experienced the “Word of life” (v1), the Object of his experience is anything but abstract.  In simply terms, John is telling us about another human being he calls, the “Word of Life”.  But more than just a human being, this Word of Life had existed from the beginning.

Men called Him Jesus, so was the name given to Him by his step-father and mother by instruction of angels, because Jesus would be “Jehovah’s salvation” to all who believe. But John here calls Him the Word of life(v1), not for abstract purposes, rather straightforward communication of who Jesus is.  Jesus identity is the Word of Life, since He is the Author of it.  And this Word coming to man is in Himself the message that leads others to life if they believe.  Jesus is not merely carrying a life giving message, He Himself is the message.  The Gospel message, which we might call the word of life, points to the “Word” of life.

So then, Jesus is not simply a message sent from God, but God Himself in a message.  One cannot ignore the interchangeable attributes that both Jesus and the Father share.  There is but one God that has life in Himself, yet Jesus was with the Father in the beginning.  It is important we know who the Jesus claims to be, because if He is anything less than Eternal Life itself, the believers trust would be misplaced indeed.

However, if our fellowship is indeed with the Word of Life, then we also have the revelation of the Father, complete and perfect, and what joy there is in that fullness (v4)!