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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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1 John 1:1
Comments
John begins his letter abruptly, speaking of the one he loves, whose coming has opened the door of hope to this lost world. He looks back to before the time of creation when the eternal Son of God, who had no beginning, already existed, and considers who it was that he and the other apostles listened to, observed, studied, and handled during his three year ministry. The Lord Jesus Christ was no phantom but a real man and the apostles verified his true humanity. At the same time they saw him as the one who existed before time began and who possesses all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and can reveal all mysteries. By ‘the Word of life’, John does not mean a message, but the embodiment of a message in a person. As a word reveals a thought, so the Word of life reveals to us the otherwise unknowable God, and he is the source of spiritual life to all who know him.
Application
Christ’s coming into our world and taking our nature is a strong confirmation that God has not abandoned the human race in spite of the fall, but has found a way to save individuals out of this lost world.
Since God has revealed himself only in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ, and since he speaks to us only through him who is the Word of life, it is futile for men and women to seek to know God in any other way.
Questions
Why does John stress the part played by his senses in relating to the Word of life, if in fact Christ can only be known by faith and not by sight? He does this not because he learned who Christ was from his senses, but to emphasise the true humanity of the Lord in opposition to all who deny that Jesus Christ came in the flesh.
Outline
Purpose
Introduction