1 John 1:1–4

Explore the Bible
Assistant Professor of Christian Ministries, University of Mobile

The Truth Presented

1 John 1:1–4

Witnessed by Many (1)

John and his associates bear witness to the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. From beginning to end, they heard His words, saw His deeds and touched Him with their very hands. 

They are reliable witnesses who confirm that Jesus is the Word of life. That is to say, He is the pre-existent Son of God, the second person of the Godhead, through whom all things were created (Gen 1:1; 1 John 1:1). 

How marvelous it must have been for the earliest Christians to have had a firsthand encounter with their Creator and Redeemer. The story of Jesus is therefore not a fairytale. He really had (and has)  flesh and bones. This is the doctrine of the incarnation.

The incarnation has been a stumbling block since the days of John. Some will believe in Jesus if He is only a spiritual reality who had a spiritual, as opposed to physical, resurrection. 

This undercuts the gospel. Jesus, fully God, became a real man who suffered on the cross for our sins and rose from the grave. There is no gospel, and thus no salvation, without the incarnation of Jesus.

Revealed as Life (2)

John and the earliest Christians again bear witness to Jesus’ full humanity. 

Those who doubt that Jesus took on flesh have to contend with the eyewitness testimony of those who saw Jesus and bore witness and testified about Him to mankind. To doubt their testimony is to accuse them of lying or being deceived. 

The truthfulness of Scripture does not permit for either of these to be a valid option. Skeptics must find a clever way to dismiss firsthand proof about Jesus, who is eternally existent with the Father and handed over His flesh to suffer on a cross to redeem His creation. 

Those who believe this will have eternal life.

Provided True Fellowship (3–4)

Christians have the conscious enjoyment of fellowship with those who have an orthodox view of Jesus — that He is both fully man and fully God. To claim that He only fits one, or none, of these descriptions disqualifies one from communion with the saints. 

To believe in Jesus is to believe what John and other early Christians claim about Him. Such belief brings one into fellowship with likeminded Christians throughout the ages. Common among churches is basing fellowship on shared experience or familiarity. This is a dangerous and oftentimes unexamined practice. 

Believers need to look to the words of John which make clear that there is no Christian fellowship with those who do not share the same doctrine of Christ. Shared Christology is the basis of Christian fellowship.

Furthermore an orthodox faith in Jesus brings one into fellowship with the Father and the Son. Such sweet communion is only possible through right doctrine. 

Churches need to place a high priority on teaching and preaching Christology so that sinners might be brought into a relationship with the Godhead, which also includes the Holy Spirit.

To see this kind of faith brings John immense joy. And rightly so, for true Christians believe his eyewitness testimony about Jesus — that the Creator of the universe took on flesh to redeem humanity and bring them into a relationship with Himself and other believers. This is the good news that brings John unspeakable happiness.

Believers have the responsibility to spread John’s testimony to all people. After all, it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that must be taken to the nations. 

John’s gospel-centric witness thus brings lasting fellowship and joy centered on a shared doctrine of Jesus.