Complete Joy!

“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 -  and 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— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”  (1 John 1:1-4 ESV)

The Apostle John wrote his New Covenant letters around 90-95 AD, some 60 years after our Lord’s death and resurrection. These letters ushered in the end of the Old Mosaic Covenant and, the keeping of “The Law” and the beginning of the New Covenant of “Mercy and Grace.”

The Gospel of John was written sometime between 80-90 AD, which was an account of the ministry of Jesus under the Old Testament Law. Only the last chapters of John, chapters 19:16 - 21:25, talked about Jesus’ ministry after his death, burial, and resurrection, which ushered in the New Covenant, or what we call the “Church Age.” The Apostle John referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:7) and experienced a special relationship with our Savior. John’s Gospel and his New Covenant letters (I, II, III John, Revelation) all emphasize the love of God, which is shown through the life of Jesus. Remember John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” The Love of God and our Savior was a dominant theme throughout all of John’s writings.

Now that some 60 years have passed since Christ established His “Church,” the Apostle wrote this letter during his ministry in Ephesus to the “churches” located in Asia Minor. The Apostle John is very consistent in all three of his letters and holds firm in his presentation of salvation by Grace alone. He shows the folly of the “theology of the day” that we now call “Gnosticism,” which promoted that matter or anything physical was evil, only spiritual was good, and only the educated in this philosophy had unique or mystical knowledge of the truths of Scripture. This teaching was used to attack the humanity of Jesus and deny him being 100% God and man, which was an attack on the New Covenant teachings of salvation being offered to all because of Christ’s literal death on the cross.

This is one of the reasons that in the first four verses of this letter, John talks about his physical and personal experience with knowing our Lord. He states that he actually beheld with his eyes and touched with his hands the “Word of Life,” our Lord Jesus.

Because of his personal knowledge of our Savior, he addressed these churches with Apostolic authority. He told his “Little children” (2:1), those whom he knew and ministered to, not to be drawn away from the true gospel to the false teachings of those who would proclaim that Jesus is not God in the flesh.

The Apostle John wrote to these believers so that “… our joy may be complete.” John knew how the redeeming word of God and God’s magnificent grace changed lives and gave real and complete joy to those who believed in His name. As we study these next several chapters, we should look for the joy that John spoke about and how we can obtain it for our lives as well.

So, my friends, the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” had much to say about the Light of the World, our Lord.  The writings of John are crucial to our continued growth and understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ. All can enjoy Christ’s gift of eternal life freely offered to all who would “… confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"