John begins his letter immediately, without introducing himself or greeting the recipients. He himself recedes into the background and speaks immediately of Christ. The letter seems to have a certain urgency. The “last hour” (ch. 2:18) had arrived, and various destructive teachings threatened to break in upon the believers. This had to be countered.
That which was from the beginning
In the Word of God, we find several beginnings. There is the beginning of creation: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1). Then there is the “beginning” in connection with the Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1). Whichever beginning we consider, the Word—who is none other than the Lord Jesus—already existed. He is eternal, indeed God Himself. If we turn to the Gospel of Mark, we find: “Beginning of the glad tidings of Jesus Christ, Son of God.” (Mark 1:1). The evangelist Luke tells us about those “who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word.” (Luke 1:2). We may describe this beginning as the beginning of the ministry of the Lord Jesus.
When John uses the words “from the beginning” in his epistles, he employs them to indicate the revelation of a matter or a person. Since John here speaks of “the Word of life,” that is, of Christ Himself, we may rightly think of the statement: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14). Here we see the foundation of Christianity laid: God the Son becomes man and dwells among us. He perfectly revealed God and eternal life.
The Word of Life
Remarkably, John does not directly mention the Lord Jesus here, even though no one else is intended. When he speaks of the “Word of life,” he is concerned with what has been perfectly revealed through the person of the Son of God who became man: the divine, eternal life. Whoever wants to know what eternal life is must look at Christ.
We live in times in which the truth of the Word of God is attacked and opposed as never before. This does not always happen openly and directly. Such attacks are easy to recognize and relatively easy to resist. Much more dangerous is when the truth is first allowed to stand, only for additional elements to be added to it. How many supposed “prophets” exist today who introduce new ideas, revelations, and teachings into Christendom! Of course, the Bible is allowed to remain as it is. Yet people claim that the truth must be “further developed.”
Protecting ourselves
But if the truth of the Word of God needed further development, as some claim, then it would not be the truth. Truth is absolute, objective, and unchangeable. If a believer follows such supposedly new teachings, he is drawn away from the divine truth revealed to us in the Word of God. The ground that gives stability to his life of faith is, as it were, pulled out from under his feet.
How can a child of God protect himself from such subtle attacks? By asking whether what he hears “was from the beginning.” Is it in agreement with the revealed truth that we find in the Word of God, or not? If it is not, it must clearly be rejected as a lie. “It is written” was the answer of the Lord Jesus when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness (Matthew 4).
As we have seen, John is concerned with the revelation of eternal life as it was perfectly expressed in the Person of the Son of God who became man. In this way, he also presents the theme of his letter.
A suitable author
Who would be better suited than he to present this subject to us? John, like the other apostles, was intimately familiar with Christ, the Word of life. They had heard Him, seen Him, and handled Him. This not only testifies to the reality of the incarnation of the Son of God, but also shows how well suited the writer is to present this theme. It was not something foreign to him, but something very familiar. Out of this familiarity, he now writes, so that we too may come to know this Person—this life.
Comments (0)
No comments yet.