Since mid June I have been meeting with my friend Mick, a 20 year old college student, twice a week to study 1 John. As preparation for our meetings every day we attempt to memorize a verse and text it to each other with a short reflection about the verse. Each day I read the verse in Greek and compare to the NIV English translation. When we meet we read a Psalm, discuss a single proverb and then read all of 1 John up to the point we are currently studying. Each meeting we discuss a couple new paragraphs of 1 John together. After reading 1 John 1 over and over, more than 20 times together, it has a familiar comfortable feel, like an old friend.
Here are my daily reflections from 1 John 1:
- 1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the word of life.
It is not enough to know we must proclaim it too!
- 1 John 1:2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
Life everlasting is real. Death is false. When Jesus calls death “sleep” he is proclaiming the reality of his life, which is eternal.[1]
- 1 John 1:3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and his son Jesus Christ.
The desire to share Christ is rooted in our joy being in his presence. Nothing is better than living life with God.
- 1 John 1:4 We write this to make our joy complete.
This verse could also be translated: “and we write this so that our joy might be filled to over-flowing”. So far three times the word “proclaim” is used, once “testify”, and now “write”. The world needs to know where joy is found… Jesus.
- 1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Jesus knew the Father best and wanted everyone to know how good, loving, luminous and perfect God truly is. He is faithful, entirely trustworthy, full of grace, and untainted. God is truly good all the time.
- 1 John 1:6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.
The Father of lies is the one who tempts us to walk in darkness, so I am not surprised that lies and walking in darkness go together. What is the lie? That anything we gain from the darkness is better than fellowship with God, who is light.
- 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin.
The subjunctive tense is important here… if we should walk in the light… It is a choice we need to make daily. When we make this choice we choose fellowship with Christ and the incredible blessing of complete cleansing.
- 1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
I am intrigued by the idea of deceiving ourselves. I wonder in what other ways we do this.
- 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just (righteous) and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
I am not sure I like the translation “just” here because I don’t think of forgiveness as being “just”. This verse is contrasting His righteousness (dikaios is the word being translated as “just”) with our unrighteousness (adikaios). I am so glad that Jesus gives us his righteousness as a free gift.
- 1 John 1:10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
Truly all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.[2] All of us need a savior. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. If we fail to understand this, we fail to understand the message of Jesus entirely.
[1] Jesus refers to death as sleep for example in John 11:
- John 11:11-15 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
- His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
- So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
[2] This is a direct quote for Romans 3:23. Here is the quote in context:
- Romans 3:21-23: But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Atheist to Elder 