Letters from the Beloved – The Word

1 John 1:1-3 [ESV] 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-- 2 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-- 3 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.

 So begins the first letter of John to the churches. Does it sound familiar to you? That’s because this passage harkens back to the first chapter of the Gospel of John, especially John 1:14 [ESV] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 Before John teaches or explains anything else, he wants us to know that Jesus was God, was with the Father, and came down to earth in human form. John touched Him, ate with Him, preached with Him, preached about Him, and beheld not only His work and glory, but also His suffering and death. “We have heard”, “we have seen” and now “we testify” and “we proclaim”.

 This is our work too, sweet sisters. We do not have the opportunity to touch, walk with, eat with and work with God in the flesh in the same way that John did. We were born too many generations after that.

 However, we see His works/working in our lives and in the lives of others. Whether it’s complete healing or patience and love that grows through the suffering; a marriage saved, or believers strengthened through it’s failure; a last-minute rescue from disaster of some sort or a faithful death, we see the Lamb of God when we see His work in our lives and the lives of our fellow children in the faith. We touch the Lamb of God when we touch His followers. We serve the Savior when we serve those He saved.

John 1:14 [ESV] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 Jesus is still “made manifest” in this world through our faithful lives and the examples we set at work, in our communities and in our homes. And, in fact, we cannot be successful at preaching about Him – about God’s plan, about Jesus’ sacrifice, about the laws and Holy Days – until others first see Jesus made manifest in how we think, talk and act. I do not believe we can be effective going at it the other way around.

 Why do we do this? Why do we strive to live our lives to prove that Jesus is, was and will be a living, real, life-changing Savior, Elder Brother, High Priest and future King? We do it so that others too might have the fellowship with us in the family of God.

 Thank God that John is inspired to start here, with his testimony of seeing, hearing, and touching the person of the Devine – Jesus in the flesh – to remind us of our own purpose in living out a life that testifies of Him and our relationship with Him.

 I welcome your comments and questions. You can write me in the comments section or at Nancy@DyanmicChristianMinistries.org