INTRODUCTION TO 1 JOHN (THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE KINGDOM PEOPLE)Key Verses 1:3,4 'We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.' 1 John is written by John, the disciple of Jesus around AD 90 in Ephesus. It is a pastoral letter. The reason John wrote 1 John is in 5:13, 'I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.' He warns against the anti-Christ (Gnosticism) smeared into the church of God. The first part deals with fellowship with God as walking in the light (1:1-2:17). The second part deals with the present situation of the church (2:18-3:24). The third divides those who belong to God from the world by the tests laid out in the epistle (4:1-5.12). John lays down three tests:(1) True believers must believe that Jesus is the Christ who came in the flesh, and this belief must work itself out (2) in righteousness and (3) in love. So that the believers may have fellowship with God the Father, with his Son, Jesus and with other believers by the Holy Spirit and be filled with complete joy (1:3-4)
FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER, SON AND EACH OTHER
1. Jesus, the word of life (1-4)
John saw Jesus, heard him, touched his pierced side and believed that he is the Word of life, the eternal life who was with God in the beginning. Jesus is God. This Jesus came into the world. Why? John proclaims that Jesus came to restore our broken fellowship with God and with each other. It was to give us complete joy.
2. Confess your sins (5-10)
God is light. In God there is no darkness. If one claims to have fellowship with God, but walks in darkness claiming to be without sin, he lies. He has no light. The light reveals we are all sinners without exception. So we must confess our sins. Then God is faithful and just. He will forgive all our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Then we can have beautiful fellowship with God and with Jesus and with others as forgiven sinners walking in the light.
Application: Lord, thank you for Jesus who came and died so that we can have fellowship with God and with each other. Help me to confess my sins and walk in the light.
One Word: Jesus, the word of life and light!