1 John 1:1-4

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—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.

The purpose for the coming of Christ was to save us from sin so that we might be reconciled to God and rejoice in our communion with Him and one another for eternity.  God created us to live in community.  This community was designed to experience the joy of bearing the image of God and worshiping Him together.  Sin tarnished our ability to reflect God’s glory and infected the heart of man with idolatry.  Jesus came to banish sin and all of its effects be redeeming us from sin and restoring us to an eternal life of joy found in a community dedicated to loving God and one another.

PROCLAIM CHRIST TO REVEAL ETERNAL LIFE: We are called to proclaim Christ.  How is it possible to proclaim about someone we have never met personally?  We have Holy Spirit inspired written records of His life and works and letters like this one that were written about Him by people who lived with the incarnate Son of God on this earth.  Jesus has always existed.  He is eternal, and His truth is from the very beginning.  John and the other apostles heard Him with their ears, saw Him with their eyes, and touched Him with their hands.  They, then proclaimed to us all about Him.  He is the Word, or revelation of God.  He is Life, the source of true and eternal life because He is the One who died, rose again, and is now living in the presence of the Father.  This is our hope of eternal life and the reality that we get to experience eternal life in the here and now.  This is the glorious truth that God graciously revealed to us and now we are called to proclaim to others.

PROCLAIM CHRIST TO ENJOY FELLOWSHIP: The result of proclaiming the Gospel of Christ and the glory of His person is fellowship with Him and one another.  It is absolutely astounding that that the Sovereign of the universe would even think about having a desire to fellowship with us.  It is only because of His supernatural working in our lives that a group of sinful men and women from all different cultures, ages, and backgrounds can have fellowship with one another.  The fact that we get to have fellowship with God through Christ in the power of the Spirit and have fellowship with one another should blow our minds and cause our hearts to burst with joy.  This is what we get to not only experience but proclaim to other people.  That should be joy piled on top of joy.

APPLICATION: Faithfully proclaim the Word of God to ourselves and other people as a means of revealing the person and work of Jesus to them and reminding ourselves of His glory.  Thank God for revealing Himself to us through Christ and Scripture.  Rejoice in the reality that we can live in fellowship with God and the body of Christ.

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