The Study of "First John!" - 1:1-4 (Part 3)

View the Video Blog for this Lesson: I John 1:1-4 (Part 3)

     I John 1:1 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 STUDY

     Yesterday we looked at John laying down the foundation for combating the Gnostic view. He starts with the beginning, Jesus, and today we will read how he starts to build from that. As we read, John not only states "That which was from the beginning" he brings all of us into the picture. He does this by using three of the five  human senses; hearing, seeing and touching. There might be some debate on the word "We." Is John talking about the disciples or is he referring to all who the Epistle was written to?  I personally believe it is not important the debate of WHO heard, seen and touched, but what John brings importance too is that "WE" is inclusive. WE, being all who have heard about, seen close up or far away, and has touched or been touched (emotionally or physically) by this one named Jesus. John is revealing or reminding, those who are listening, what he and others have heard, seen, and felt from Jesus. Yes, John was privy to the inter-personal relationship with Jesus but as for the overall message Jesus lived and shared, all were exposed to it.

     John continues to build his case by applying layer after layer. What do I mean by that? John starts off with stating, "which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands"! If you look at this closely you can see a natural progression; hearing, to seeing to touching. I know that as human beings we are not the most trusting of creatures. If someone tells us something we hear it first, then we will need to see it, and then the final straw is usually when we have that item in our hands. John reminds the reader that not only did they hear about Jesus, not only did they see the life and miracles of Jesus but they touched and was touched by this one named Jesus.

WALK AWAY WITH THIS ...

     This is a great place to stop for today. We can walk away with this in mind .....

* Once we hear about this one named Jesus we are forever accountable to the fact. We will not be able to stand before Jesus on judgement day and say, "I never heard of you!"
* Many of us are at different points in this walk with Jesus! You might be at the point of hearing about Him. Others may have progressed to the point of seeing Jesus working through others. But finally, some of us have felt the touch of Jesus in our hearts.

CONCLUSION

Whatever the case may be, keep on keeping on! Don't stop at hearing about Him or stop at seeing him once or twice, or ever stop after He has touched you. He has so much more to offer in love for you and I. There is a banquet table of blessings He has for us. Step up to the table and taste and see how good Jesus is!
Blessings my friends!