1 John 1
Notes
Transcript
Handout
The writer of this letter, John is connecting everything that he is going to tell us with one single idea: God has entered the world and we have been able to comprehend him.
God can become known.
This very idea is singly on the hearts and minds of every human that has ever passed through this planet.
Who is God? Can I know Him?
And all of our actions lead, to some degree, to trying to comprehend what God is like. Our actions either attempt to figure God out or trying to appease Him.
We build idols in our lives, things that we love more than they can take and treat them like God
We try and behave in ways that God will perhaps see us. Sometimes ever our church attendance is more about trying to appease God than it is to know him.
The Rat hole.
Earlier this year an event went viral that showed our culture’s desire to connect with God.
Meet the Chicago Rat Hole
At some point, in a chicago neighborhood, when they were re asphalting the street, a rat or chipmunk fell into the soft asphalt. Their impression was left and eventually worshiped.
Over the last few months people have “pilgramaged” to it, they have left money at it, they have taken pictures with it, and there has even been a wedding at it.
It has, by most definitions, become a shrine.
And a lot of this has been in fun, people who have been there because it is interesting, but the rat hole, of all things, reminds me of something.
Even though most people are doing this tongue in cheek, there is a trace of something left over that they are searching for.
There is a theology of just in case.
People leave coins or visit just in case there is good luck.
People visit psychics or play the lottery on their birthday just in case.
There is a real search going on for something bigger than themselves and something that can support them in times of need. The point of leaving money is to make a wish, to hope that the thing you wish for comes true.
What are people hoping to be true in that moment? What is it that people want?
Security?
Love?
Trust?
Contentment?
Joy?
People are looking for something bigger than themselves that they can trust.
This very need is met where Christianity begins.
We are all hoping that the something bigger than us will show up in such a way that we can finally rest all our wishing. That we can end our hoping and start our rejoicing.
Whenever people practice a theology of just in case they are looking to that thing and asking, “are you enough this time?” Will you be big enough for me to stop searching?
When God shows up, everything changes. And we are going to talk about what kind of life God creates when He shows up in our lives
This is where the book of John starts.
If you want to know what happens when God shows up, these verses this morning help us to understand.
If you want to know what happens when God shows up, these verses this morning help us to understand.
Or maybe you need God to show up this morning. Maybe you are a Christ follower but have been depending on other things, just in case. This morning is a good time to consider just what God’s presence in our lives accomplishes.
God has become known
God has become known
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 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—
John makes big claims in this passage.
That which was from the beginning was shown to us.
More than that.
We have seen it, we have looked at it.
That very life, the eternal one, was made real.
And was shown to him and the disciples.
This is John’s claim. It is his only sense of authority. It is his complete source.
He is telling the hearer’s of this letter, or sermon, that because Christ has shown up, it is worthwhile listening.
What John is bringing up is something called the Incarnation.
This is the idea that God Himself became human.
We can’t go to far in Christian faith without understanding how important this is.
Jesus Christ came to the earth and claimed to be God.
He is, we believe compeltely God and completely human
That is why John says that the eternal one was made manifest. God who is eternal was also human in Christ.
This is one of the most astounding ideas in any religious system anywhere.
That God would leave glory and authority in order to become human.
And it wasn’t simply an experiment to see what humanity is like,
Christ showed up and became human so that we would be able to even comprehend what He is like.
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
We can’t overstate that Christ came to show us what God is like.
We have the OT to point to God and the Israelites to show us who God is, but any time you try to picture something that is bigger than you, it’s difficult.
What happens if I would tell you to imagine the ocean?
What do you think of?
Just water? Or the beach? Or sea animals? Or the coast somewhere? Or a ship on the sea? Which ocean? Is there a storm?
until I get more an more specific those thoughts can go anywhere.
Now picture God?
Bright lights? Glory? a Beard?
Christ has come to show us exactly what God is like.
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Christ is the imprint of His being.
To look at Christ is to look at God.
No other individual has taken on that role.
God became human so that we could know Him and know what He is like. That, as the Scripture states, could understand us, could empathize with us.
Christ didn’t just become human to check out earth, He became human to show us what God is like but then also give His life so that we could live lives connected with God
God became human to give of Himself for the sake of everyone in this room.
Maybe this morning you need hope. Or renewed hope.
everyone on the face of this planet wants an experience of the good. The good life the meaningful life, the fulfilling life. And people define their lives by their proximity to that good (Taylor). John is saying that the good has come and come near and we are invited to interact with it, with Him
God didn’t just point out the way, he came and got you. It isn’t just that Christ became human it’s that He showed us what humanity is really like
We can Remain connected to Him
We can Remain connected to Him
Christ came to the earth in such a way that we could observe him, as John states, they saw, they looked at him. We have the testimonies of the Gospels that provide witness to that reality.
this is not just God coming to earth to be seen, this is a God because of the way He came, can be known.
God chose connection with humanity, refusing to keep us alienated from Him. We know this because John states that they encountered Him because they could recognize Him. He didn’t look unlike them or speak unlike them . His way of being with humans was to become human.
and anyone who has ever felt alienated knows how important that is. Pretend that you get dropped off in a different country that doesn’t speak English as a primary language. And you have to navigate your way around. Disconcerting, angering, even saddening. Now imagine someone comes up to you in perfect English and tells you they can help. All your disorientation slips away. You have someone that speaks and understands you. If you speak English as a second language you may have known this feeling.
God enters into our lives in a way we can understand Hi, through His own revelation.
But it’s more than just his earthly ministry. We know from what He did while on the earth we can encounter Him in our lives as well. We can recognize His work in our lives because He became human.
His death and resurrection offers us new life. But it offers us a chance to live as we have always been called to live.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Because Christ has been made manifest in a way we can encounter him, we are invited into fellowship with Him.
We are invited to walk in the light, to live as we were always called to live. To remain connected to God and to each other.
We were created to be in relationship with God and one another.
We are fully expressing Christ’s life in us and our created reality when we are connected to God and others.
And when we miss the mark on that, when we sin. Christ has provided a means for us to find our humanity again. Christ the first Adam, calls us back to find forgiveness in Him so we can be made in relationship with one another.
That is the light, that we have nothing hindering us from God and others. And only Christ, because He became human, has the power to restore that.
So the fullness of creation and the fullness of life is found in our encounter with the God who came close to us.
John says something revealing in this chapter
And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
joy we find, is a big deal when we encounter God
Joy is complete in encountering Him together
Joy is complete in encountering Him together
Christ came for the individual but also for the community
We share in that together.
Joy has a source outside itself. You experience joy within yourself but the source of that joy comes from somewhere else.
Joy never comes from anticipation, it comes from the action.
# This is not waiting for something to happen. It is the experience of something happening.
# Even in the proclamation of the incarnation:
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
# Just the reality that God is entering into the world is joy giving. The experience of that happening is not something we are waiting for. It is something we celebrate now.
# The incarnation is done. It is a complete revelation of God. Our experience of the incarnation is what allows us to express joy.
This follows Hartmut Rosa’s understanding of the concept of resonance. This is the relationship that we have with the world around us, how we resonate or alienate from things in our social arena. The closer you are to the specific activity or person the more joy you can access regarding that experience.(1) Planning does not radiate joy. The more removed you are from something the less joy you will experience from it. There is joy in the activity, in the doing of the activity itself.
# That is why the incarnation still produces joy. It is a joy that lingers. (2) It is the reality that God has come near doesn’t quickly dissapate from the human condition. His presence and human actions reverberate and resonate in our lives. That He became like us. The act of drawing near is the act of us experiencing joy. We can rejoice in the current activity of the God who has drawn near.
Christ has come into the world so that, together, we can experience joy. It is not waiting for something more, it is celebrating in what is now.
when God has shown up we don’t have to plan for rejoicing, we rejoice.
Maybe you need to stop planning and start inviting. Maybe you have been planning and planning because you still hope your plan is working out.
But there isn’t joy in the planning.
Joy comes in the experiencing. Christ has already revealed Himself, you role is less planning and more inviting in.
What plans do you need to set down this morning
What part of your life do you need to invite Christ into this morning?
during this last song, let’s not plan to rejoice,
as you sing reflect on the reality that God has shown up
we don’t need a just in case. We have assurance. That assurance allows us to experience the God who has been made manifest with joy.
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