Sermon Tone Analysis

1 John 1:1-4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Caswell © 2001

Make Believe Or A Life That Is Real?

Our kids love to play make believe.

They get dressed up and pretend to be characters from far away lands.

Once upon a time.... /Remember how exciting those words used to be?/

They were the open door into an exciting world of make-believe, a dream world that helped you forget all the problems of childhood.

Then one day you turned, and Once upon a time became kid's stuff.

You discovered that life is a battleground, not a playground, and fairy stories were no longer meaningful.

*/You wanted something real./*

The search for something real is not new.

It has been going on since the beginning of history.

Men have looked for reality and satisfaction in wealth, thrills, conquest, power, learning, and even in religion.

In verses 3-4 John tells us about life that is real.

He wrote so that /we might have fellowship with himself and the Lord./

God has made it possible for us to have fellowship with our Creator.

As we have seen previously the word */fellowship/* koinwnia means */a partnership, to have in common, to share./*

Christian fellowship can only be centered around the person of Jesus Christ.

Any kind of fellowship that excludes Christ is not Christian fellowship.

The Lord Jesus Christ is what all true believers have in common.

Today we will see two things about fellowship with God.

/Our Message - God Is life, Our Ministry - To Share His Life.

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/Firstly,/  Our Message - God Is Life

/ /

*1 John 1:1-2: */That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life — the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us —/

/ /

The first thing that John emphasises is that /God is life/.

Three times in these first two verses John refers to Jesus as being */life./*

Yes, Jesus Christ came to earth to reveal the life of God to mankind.

/Why was this so important?/

Because man is spiritually dead.

Only God can give man life.

In the beginning God breathed life into creation.

But man sinned and death entered into the world.

Before man can have spiritual life again God has to give Him a new birth, a spiritual birth.

This is why Jesus came.

*John 10:10b says: */I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly./

He came to reveal the life of God to us; truly, Jesus Christ is eternal life.

Jesus /is the Way, the Truth and the Life/.

We cannot have fellowship with God unless we learn about Jesus Christ and what He's done for us.

*1 John 5:11-12:* /And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life./

As you read John’s letter, you will discover that he enjoys using certain words, and that the word */manifest/* is one of them.

And the life was /manifested,/ he says.

This life was not hidden so that we have to search for it and find it.

No, it was /manifested/ — revealed openly!

/If you were God, how would you go about revealing yourself to men? How could you tell them about, and give them, the kind of life you wanted them to enjoy?

/God has revealed Himself in creation, but creation alone could never tell us the story of God’s love.

God has also revealed Himself much more fully in His Word, the Bible.

But God’s final and most complete revelation is in His Son, Jesus Christ.

John refers to Jesus as the */Word of Life./*

Jesus Christ is God's spoken Word to mankind.

Jesus said, /He that has seen Me has seen the Father.

/The apostles had a real life encounter with the Son of God, and so must we.

*Hebrews 1:1-3 says:* /God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

/John describes this revelation to them most vividly.

/They heard, saw, looked upon, and handled the Word of Life.

/They knew that His life was real./

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/ /

/a.

They Saw Him/

* *

*John 1:4:* says: /In Him was life; and the life was the light of men./

John says that Jesus is eternal life.

Jesus Christ revealed the life and power of God in visible form.

They saw both His deity and His humanity.

The disciples saw Jesus walk, talk and eat.

They saw Him become weary and sleep.

They saw when Jesus was sad and cried.

Yes they saw the Son of Man living amongst them first hand.

They didn't get it from someone else.

They also beheld His majesty.

John and some of the other disciples were eyewitnesses of Christ's glory on the mount of transfiguration.

They looked on when Jesus Christ, the Son of God demonstrated His power by healing the sick.

They marveled at His authority over demons and the wind and the waves.

This is because Jesus created everything and maintains it by His powerful Word.

/b.

They Heard Him/

 

John along with the other disciples heard Jesus wonderful words.

They got their message first hand from Jesus Christ Himself.

They heard Him speak when He addressed the crowds.

They listened carefully when He taught them in private.

Yes the disciples heard the Word of Life speak to them God's message of redemption.

They paid attention when Jesus told them that He was the only way to the Father.

Therefore their message is authoritative.

/c.

They Touched Him/

/ /

Jesus Christ was not a phantom or spirit that mysteriously lived on earth for a short time.

No He had a real body just like yours and mine./

/The disciples/  /touched Him during His earthly ministry./

/Jesus also touched countless people that He ministered to.

He touched the lepers that He cleansed.

He placed His hands upon the sick as He healed them.

Mary Magdalene clung to His feet in the garden after His resurrection.

He told the disciples to touch Him in the upper room when they were afraid that He was a spirit.

He said to them peace be with you and invited them to touch His body.

Yes, Jesus Christ was truly God and truly man.

Nature Of Light

 

Science tells us that light is constituted of three rays, or groups of wavelengths, distinct from each other, no one of which without the others would be light.

Each ray has its own separate function.

The first */originates/*, the second */formulates/*, */illuminates/* or */manifests,/* and the third */consummates./*

The first ray, often called invisible light, is neither seen nor felt.

The second is both seen and felt.

The third is not seen but is felt as heat./