Joy from the Word of Life

Good morning. The scripture today will be 1st John 1 1 through 4. So if you would stand with me for the reading of God's Word 1st John 1. That which was from the beginning which we've heard which we've seen with our eyes.

Which we've 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've 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're writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

Let's pray. Well, we thank you for the opportunity. We have to study your words today. I pray that you help us to learn great things from your scriptures. To love you more dearly and follow you more closely in your son's name.

I pray man. Thank you. You may be seated in the housing market crash of 07 was the worst housing crash in u .s. History. It was one of the primary factors which caused our country to enter a deep recession.

For many the the financial consequences were pretty catastrophic. When I think about that situation that two different people come to mind. So Robert, you know, he came to counseling during the midst of the financial crisis.

He was in his late 50s. He had around five hundred thousand dollars saved for retirement. He had a nice house long long term stable employment. Shortly after the collapse he found himself Unemployed he was unable to find work.

He suspected it was due to his age but he was. He had an upside-down mortgage at that point which put him on You know negative six hundred thousand dollars on the wrong side of successful he lost his life savings lost his house.

He lost his cars. Financially speaking. He was back to square one. When he came to counseling I met view I met very few people who were more depressed than than he was. I mean, he was a picture of despair.

He would spend most of the counseling Basically just sitting there weeping in his hands. It was it was really difficult to get anything out of him more than just a few words and he had Basically lost all motivation to live at that point.

I Met Tommy a few years later while helping a mutual friend build a deck. Tom Tommy was one of the most joyful guys that I've ever met in my life. If you've met someone like this I'm sure that you understand the kind of person I'm talking about.

Although there are somewhat rare, but Tommy was the kind of guy who just made you feel happy, right? So He was the kind of guy who was constantly giving thanks to the Lord for everything that was happening in his life.

It was somewhat infectious somewhat contagious. He was kind of guy who would Mention all the sorts of things that were typically tempted to take for granted About but then he would give thanks to the Lord for those things.

I actually after getting to know Tommy I left like Giving thanks to the Lord for getting to meet Tommy. He was a good example. My brother a few days later. He asked he found out that I had met Tommy and he asked me You know what?

I thought about him and I said that yeah, he's real thankful. You know, you could definitely tell that Tommy was a Christian just by the nature of his disposition and everything else, but my brother responded to me basically saying did you know that he used to be a millionaire and I just I had no idea that Tommy used to be a man of means.

He said yeah, he owned a construction company and he had lost it all during the financial collapse. He lost his construction company. He lost his house. He lost everything and at that point in his life He was basically just doing odd jobs to survive now.

You would have never thought that meeting Tommy but that was the situation now I bring up these two two stories because they are examples of two men who Faced the same situation. Exactly, right same exact situation Went through the same exact trial.

They were actually roughly the same age. I mean, they're both like very very similar yet. There was one fundamental difference between the two and that is going to be the subject of our text today. However before you get to that it is important to say a few words about this book that we're going to be looking in.

And first John really is if you were to ask me, what's my favorite book of the Bible? I would say first John is my favorite book of the Bible and part of that's just because it was the first book I seriously studied as a Christian and spent any time trying to understand and part of it's that but part of it is that I Kind of identify with John who wrote wrote this letter I Seem to have a similar manner of thinking similar way of viewing the world.

You know John he's the beloved disciple he's an old man at the point that he's writing this book. He's 90 years old plus and probably in exile. It's a very simple book in a lot of ways. So first John is is A is a book that has a very limited vocabulary.

So if you read through it the same kind of words are going to show up over and over and over again. There's not really There's not many big words in the book. I mean perhaps Propitiation is the only like really significant theological term that you're gonna find there that's Longer than a few syllables, but it there's not a whole lot of big words, but it's very simple in a lot of ways a bit very profound.

There's a lot of metaphors in there. Like God is light like light and darkness love and hate a lot of black and white language like truth first lies is. You know, you're either born of God or you're born of the devil you're keeping God's Commandments versus practicing lawlessness and so it's a book that's Joy to read in a lot of ways.

It's a book that a spirit. It's a book that John writes as a spiritual father to his children. Book that's written from the perspective of a life that was well lived that is passing on the things that he's Learned so you you see in first John to you know, my little children.

I'm writing to you these things. You may not sin. I'm writing to you little children because your sins are forgiven. I'm writing to you young men, you know, I'm writing to you fathers he's addressing his spiritual children in this book and so it's somewhat of a family letter and Uncharacteristic of this as a letter like most of the letters you're gonna find the New Testament.

It's a letter without a greeting. He just kind of gets right into it. And if you read first John it should remind you a lot of the Gospel of John because it has a lot of similar themes. There that are doing something slightly different, you know the Gospel John is written Primarily in order that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God.

But then we have a lot of different purpose statements in this book. The primary one is in first John 5 13. Which says that he's writing these things. To those who believe in Jesus that they may know that they have eternal life.

This is a book designed among other things to give assurance. Whereas the Gospel of John is written in order to produce In order that people might believe in that way and now when you read it It does have a little bit of a strange beginning, doesn't it?

So you read through it that which is from the beginning which we've heard which you've seen with our eyes. Which we've looked upon we touched with our hands concerning the Word of Life. Like he just he goes on and on with these descriptions I mean grammatically what's happening here is he spends a lot of time describing the direct object before he gets to the subject and the Main verb.

So if you imagine like the way Sinuses typically work. We may say something like John hit the ball, right? So John would be the subject the verb is hit and then the ball would be the direct objects well with this kind of thing what you have is you have he goes on and on and on about the ball and Then you don't even know who the John is or who the hitting part is.

And so the natural question you're supposed to ask when you're reading. This is what is that, right? So he keeps on saying that which is from the beginning which we've seen which we've heard like Which we've looked upon we've touched with our hands.

Like what is that? Right? So as You go through it. It begins to come alive when you realize that that refers to Jesus. So as you read it You're supposed to do once you decode it a little bit is say that Jesus was from the beginning.

You know, we've heard him. We've seen him with our eyes. We've looked upon and we've touched him with our hands a key is the word of life, right? And his life was made manifest. We've seen it. We've testified to it and proclaim to you that this eternal life of Jesus who was with the Father was made manifest to us this is a intro that's about Jesus and it's very descriptive about him and So this like Jesus is like this word.

It's this word which is capable of being heard and seen and touched and Proclaimed so Jesus Jesus is the subject here that we're going to be talking about today now. As I said you think about this book there.

There are many purpose statements in this book for someone who loves studying the Bible. This is a great thing. You know, you're often wondering why they wrote what they wrote and this is the book that has a bunch of them.

As I said, the primary point is to assure people give people who have eternal life assurance but then in this section we see that First for that we are we were writing these things so that our joy May be complete in the word joy.

There is there's the word Play Rao, which essentially means to bring them to completion. That which is already begun. So this isn't really a book that's designed to produce joy. It's a book that's designed to take that joy and bring it to completion.

So there's a joy that comes from being a Christian. That is going to be made complete by the things that we're saying here today and as we're going through it just by way of Explaining what we're going to be doing.

We're going to understand this letter as This introduction of this letter as providing a six like providing Christian six reasons for joy. Okay, so as we walk through the passage, we're going to be thinking about these six reasons for joy.

From first John one now the first reason why believers should have joy on the basis of this letter is Because the Word of Life is an eternal message, okay? You see that when you see the opening of the book.

It says that which was from the beginning. Jesus is this Word of Life who was from the beginning? With the Father and this message this message which brings life and brings joy. This message is an eternal message meaning it's an unchanging message of joy.

And I think about happiness. Most people think about happiness as a fleeting emotion. That happens I get just kind of comes and goes right so like you can't most people don't Understand their emotions as things that they can help so you think about happiness happiness seems to come and go.

And typically happiness the way we think about it is grounded in positive and favorable Circumstances and so when something happens, which you'd like then you're gonna respond to that with happiness and most of the time We're tempted to think about joy.

We're tempted to think about joy in that kind of way is this Happiness which cut which comes and goes? But the problem here is just to say that there is a kind of joy joy. There is a kind of happiness which should be grounded in the person and work of Christ and Jesus like this message of life that we're gonna be talking about in the passage.

He is he is an eternal message like Jesus Christ in Hebrews 13 a says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forevermore. Like our our happiness our joy as Christians isn't Fundamentally grounded in the circumstances and situations that we're gonna face.

I mean I gave you two two examples the same kind of end of same kind of individuals who faced a significant trial in their life. One had joy Because it was grounded in something unchanging. The other didn't have joy because their happiness was totally wrapped up into the things that are here and now right.

So when? Trials and tribulations that the world come. Like one man's happiness was grounded in something that was internal and the other ones like joy and thankfulness and happiness was grounded in something that wasn't.

So when you think about Reason for joy like the primary one of our fundamental reason for joys is that the word of life is an eternal message. Jesus Had a plan before the foundation of the world to redeem the people and to make them his treasured Possession like there's an eternal gospel that existed before time.

Like Jesus has a plan to redeem you a plan to forgive you your sins or reconcile you to the father himself. God has predestined people to be his treasured possession before the foundation of the world and nothing can happen to them in this life.

That's going to cause them to be insecure in their relationship with him like he has reserved an inheritance Undefiled kept in heaven for us if we are his people. And that is an Unchanging message of hope and joy that we should experience as Christians.

To the extent to which our hope in our joy is grounded in The kind of situations you might find you may come and go but God's Message of joy really is grounded in the eternal work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.

So the first reason is the word of life is an eternal message. And the second is the word of life is a message of life. So which we've seen the text says which we've seen or which you've heard which we've seen with our eyes.

Which we have looked upon and in touch with our hands concerning the word of life. Jesus is the word of life. By referring to Jesus as the word of life. We are enabled to see a fundamental truth about the very Nature of Jesus of John 11 25.

Jesus says to her I am the resurrection and the life whoever believes in me and though he die yet shall he live. John 10 10 the thief only comes to kill and to still and to destroy. But I came that they may have life and They may have it abundantly before salvation.

We are dead in our trespasses of sin in which we once walked following the course of the world the proof. Following the prince of the power of the air that the spirit that's at work in the sons of disobedience.

You know fulfilling the desires of our flesh and our mind. But God being rich in his mercy because of the great love with which he loved to us. He made us alive when we were dead for by grace. You've been saved through faith and that That salvation like that faith that grace is not your own doing it's a gift of God not of works.

Less any man should boast God. Jesus is a message of life to us and that's a message that doesn't change you understand like this. There's an unchanging message of life. It's just to say that before you are before becoming a Christian.

You are a slave to sin. Your will is captured in bondage to sin. You can't like the carnal mind is at empty with God it cannot please God right before becoming a Christian. You are bound to the slavery and the chains of sin and Jesus has come to set you free from that.

From that slavery to fundamentally change the nature of your life. To do for you what you can't do to produce in you certain desires that you're unable to simply will. Like you you know before becoming a Christian.

I couldn't will myself to love the Lord. I couldn't will myself to Care about his purposes to care about his plans. But God has come in order to give us life and not death. The wages of sin is death. That's the message of the Bible.

Is that God creates man. He puts man in a garden in order to work and to keep it he gives man one command. And man is unable to fulfill that one command. The result of that is the penalty for that is sin death.

Condemnation. I get you you live in a world right now that bears the marks of this fundamental curse. So sin promises life and hope. But in the end it brings death. The way of the transgressor is hard.

You See the world that you live in you see like there's something wrong with it. There's something wrong with the world that we're living in. It's a fallen world. It's there's there's a problem. There's a fundamental problem introduced with it.

But Jesus has come and he's come as a message of life like this is a hopeful message like most people who come to counseling. They come like Robert that I mentioned before without hope nothing look forward to.

All they see is condemnation. All they see is death. They're in situations. They don't know a way out of it. But Jesus is Tom. It's a message of life. Six reasons believers should have joy. The Word of Life is an eternal message.

Word of Life is a message of life. The Word of Life was third made manifest in history. In the person of Jesus Christ, okay, so notice what it says in verse 2 the life was made manifest. So this message of life was made manifest unit.

Jesus came to earth to do what you couldn't do. To live the life that you couldn't live. To those who dwelt in darkness a Light has appeared so to those who dwelt in darkness in the shadow of death this light as has appeared.

Jesus came. To do for us fundamentally what I we can't do. I mean I can't even I don't know about you. I can't even go a few hours without Sending. I probably can't even go a few minutes without sending if I were honest with myself.

I'm not trying to fudge the numbers to make myself look better than what I actually am so much of you know, my eternal or my internal thought life is Not centered on the things that it should be centered.

I don't know how to prioritize my time the way I need to prioritize my time. I know how to be the parent that God's called me to be. I don't know how to be the husband that God has called me to be. I can read the Bible.

I can read the scriptures. I can devote myself to these things, but if the Lord would count iniquity none of us could stand. We are woefully inadequate in almost every way that you can possibly imagine.

Like even our best like our best deeds of righteousness or filthy rags before the Lord. We have all fallen short of the glory of God. There's nothing we can do fundamentally to reconcile ourself to him.

Even our best works on our best days and I are filled with motives that are often off. So I mean so much of my life. I look and look look at my life and so much of my life is Living to purposes beyond the glory of God.

I wish that I could live every moment to the glory of God, but that's simply not. Like the reality of what's what actually happens, you know. Like when you wake up in the morning you wake up in your morning thinking about yourself for the most part.

Like that's the way that life works. Like if you imagine yourself in an airport. And you know the moving Sidewalks on the airport. Vivian has some trouble this time. We're getting at the airport trying to walk on those without falling but imagine yourself like standing on one of those things backwards and That's the way sin actually works in your heart and life meaning like if you just go on autopilot.

Your autopilot is gonna it's not gonna take you and make you more sanctified. I guess gonna take you backwards. Do you understand what I'm saying? So I keep wake up in the morning you think about yourself.

Like the things that you need. Bible says that no one like hated his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it. I mean I take I wake up in the morning. The first thing I think about is like hey, I want to shower.

I want to brush my teeth. I want to take care of my basic needs. I want to eat. You know, I you wake up in the morning. That's the way life works. You think about yourself and if you go on autopilot that can be how your day goes.

Like you think about all the things that you want to do. Think about your plans think about your purpose. Okay, you know, maybe you're a responsible person and you actually Do things that are worthwhile but even so like most of us like we're trying to carve out time for ourself to get if I finally get rid of all the responsibilities and then get to yourself, but like the issue is that Here's the thing Jesus came to earth and I mean, I don't know that you've ever you really reflected on this but like Jesus didn't waste a moment.

Jesus did all things according to the will of the Father. Jesus faced all the bodily Experiences of trials that you're going to face in this life. He had faced all of those things without sin. I mean he was a perfect child from start to finish he was like perhaps the only child or he was the only child in the history of the world that that.

That you could imagine were in every single encounter. That he has ever been in where there was any kind of conflict. It was always other people who were in the wrong. I mean, can you imagine trying to parent someone like that?

Where they're over the child is always right and you're always wrong, you know. This one that Jesus came to live a life that I couldn't live and if I trust my faith in his sacrifice on the cross God will look at me and he will see his righteousness attributed to me as a free gift.

You understand. Like God's not looking at me and saying hey, you know, you need to do better. You need to try harder. So that you can earn favor with me when God looks at me He sees Christ's righteousness given to me as a free gift.

I'm a death row inmate. I'm a individual who has a debt that I could couldn't possibly pay. You know, maybe some of you in here have student loan debts that you wonder how you're ever gonna pay. But imagine someone comes along and just wipes those those things clean, but that's the way the gospel actually is.

Jesus came. He lived a perfect life. He lived the life that I couldn't live. He came fulfilling the law and doing for me what I couldn't do being the better Adam Than a first Adam and we find hope and joy In our faith and trust in him so the Word of Life was made manifest in history in the person of Christ.

Fourth. The Word of Life was verified by the eyewitness testimony of the Apostles and proclaimed to the church. Okay. What does the text say? It says that which was from the beginning. Which we've heard and seen like this isn't like the language of My personal experience like I'm not supposed to see myself in here and I think this is talking about me.

No, this is like Historical language that you're supposed to be looking at so that which was from the beginning which we have heard who is the we is. The Apostles as those who have seen Jesus. No, that's what they say.

We have heard him, right? So we've heard this Word of Life Jesus. We've heard him. We have seen him with our eyes. Not only have we like we've seen him with the virus. We've looked upon him, right? Why would it seems redundant doesn't it to say we've seen him?

We've looked upon him like the issue is like not just I saw the guy once right? It's not like I saw a celebrity at the store who you briefly, you know. Some kind of moment or something like that and well my day like the issue is they've heard him.

They've seen him with their eyes. They've looked upon him for long periods of time. They walked with him for three years. You understand? That's what they're saying we've looked upon him and have touched with our hands like this is like Jesus asking Thomas to put you know His fingers in the hand and the nail marks in his hand like we have touched him.

We know that he was real part of this letter is a letter written to combat. Like a proto form of Gnosticism where they believe that Jesus just appeared to have come in the flesh. Something along those lines they say no, we've actually seen him.

We've heard him. We've touched him with our hands. We know that he was real that he came that he risen. He's risen from the dead. We are testifying to this reality, right? So notice we have seen it. Life was a man.

We've seen it. We testified to it. Life was made manifest we've seen it testify to it and proclaim to you. So they're proclaiming this message to you. So Jesus has come like this. Jesus who was with the father this word of life who was with eternally with the father has come and manifested himself in history.

We've seen we've seen this message of life. We've looked upon it. We've touched this message of life. And now we're. We're like this is a language of eyewitness testimony right in a courtroom. We're verifying it and we're proclaiming this message to you.

You know, our faith is based on the historical witness of others. We have not seen heard looked upon and Touched Jesus in the way that is being described in this passage. But our great hope is that one day we will see him right?

So first John 3 to Beloved we are not we are God's children now and What we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears We shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in themself purifies him self just as he is pure.

So our faith is based on this eternal. Our faith is based on this historical witness of the Apostles, which is Written down in a record for us now, I mean, I know that like Many people were tempted to take this for granted thinking that the key to belief in God is going to be found and not just having to rely on the you know the personal testimony of other people I've met.

I've known many atheists who will look at me and say, you know, if if God is real Why doesn't he just show himself to me, you know if he would show himself to me that I would believe him. But then you read through the scriptures and one of the things you realize is Over and over and over again.

Jesus came to earth. The Messiah came to earth the perfect man came to earth he did notable miracles throughout the history of his time on earth and The Pharisees and the Sadducees describes they knew that he was doing miracles like the Bible will tell you.

Repeatedly, they understood that a notable miracle was done. They saw the signs but like sin is deceitful and sin is Hardening in their response to seeing him do Miracles like that. We can't even understand.

I mean, these aren't the fake miracles like leg lengthening tricks or things like that and these are real miracles that they saw and they Responded to those by wanting to put him to death, right? The issue is that faith comes to Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

You look at the scriptures and you see that scriptures are a message of life to us in the first Peter will tell us that scripture is more reliable than Our experience even like God God has given you a word that he uses to produce faith Inside of you and this word is more trustworthy than your experience that comes and goes.

You're limited perspective about in individual events. I mean, I don't know how many times I've had conversations with people particularly When there's disagreement about the nature of the content where you where it becomes very difficult to remember the things that happen just a few Minutes before with any kind of accuracy, but here's the thing like Peter when he looked at his life He saw Jesus transfigured on the cross.

He says you have a testimony more sure in the word which is written to you. Which you would do well to pay attention to because it's a light that's shining in a dark place this Message like this word of life was proclaimed to us by The testimony and the eyewitness of the Apostles and God uses this message To produce faith within us so faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

So the Word of Life six reasons for joy. One the Word of Life's eternal message. To the Word of Life is a message of life. Three the Word of Life was made manifest in history in the person of Christ for the Word of Life was verified by the Witness testimony of the Apostles and proclaimed to church.

Five. The Word of Life is a message of eternal life. Okay. So so notice what it says. It in verse 2 is this life was made manifest. We've seen it and testified to you and proclaimed to you the eternal life, which was with the Father.

Made manifest to us, you know, most people when they think about eternal life. They think of eternal life as their experience of living in heaven. After they die or something along those lines. That's what you think of when you think you're tempted to think of the of what eternal life means.

So for many people, you know, that's Me and maybe they have a retirement home vision of eternal life where you go up in to heaven and you know. Spend all day long shuffle playing shuffleboard or something like that or fishing, you know.

Or something along those lines with like in their minds. That's what eternal life is. Is like that like the experience of the afterlife or something along those lines. But that's not what God like the Bible means when it uses this word.

Do you understand? When the Bible uses the word eternal life, it's not talking about that. So John 17 3 says and this is eternal life right that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ. Whom you have sent like if you want to.

But it doesn't get any more clear than that meaning like there's times where you wonder like what do these terms mean in the Bible? That is a passage right there that tells you what eternal life means when it's used in the Bible.

This is eternal life, right? They may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you've sent the word of life is a message of eternal life. What is eternal life that we may know God in Jesus Christ?

Whom he has sent brothers and sisters if if you want to have joy in your life. Like the way to have joy is not in some sort like pursuit of some kind of Techniques or something along those lines like the issue is that there is joy to be found in the knowledge of God and the knowledge of Jesus.

Psalm 1611 says you have made known to me the path of life. Then they sound like what we're talking about today in your presence. There is the fullness of joy at your right hand our pleasures every more.

If you want joy in your life, there is no greater joy to be found Than to be found in the possession of eternal life. And what is that that we may know God and Jesus Christ? Whom he has sent the hunger of.

The Christian should be a deep abiding hunger to know who Jesus is. And that's a hunger that's never going to be satisfied. You know, why is you should be looking forward to heaven? It's not so that you can play shuffleboard.

The thing to be looking forward to in heaven is the fact that You finally get to see your blessed Hope like the object like the thing that your soul graves of knowing God. That finally is going to be able to be fulfilled.

You can see the person who made you died on the cross for you. Like there there is great joy to be found in the knowledge of God. And I'm not talking about abstract theology as fun as that can be. Sometimes I'm talking about like Actually knowing the person and work and the character of God.

There is nothing that's going to make you more stable in this life. Then knowing the person and work and character of God. Understanding who he is if you want to be stable in the Christian life. There's no way to be stable apart from knowing who God is and knowing about his character.

Knowing about his plans and his purposes and his great promises like Stability in life. It's not found in taking medications. And turn you into a zombie like the issue is you want to be stable. You need to know God because he's the same like he's an eternal message that does not change and He's given to us in his word these very precious and great Promises about who he is and what he has done for us and those things like it doesn't matter what happens in your life.

Those things can't be taken away, right? There's nothing that anyone can do to you in this life. There's no situation that God can put you in or take away from you. That's going to fundamentally change the nature of who he is the nature of his promises.

There is satisfaction to be found in this word of life, which is a message of Eternal life. Finally the word of life brings reconciliation. That which we've 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 his son Jesus Christ. We think about what fellowship here is in this passage. Fellowship is close association. The word cornea close association involving mutual interest and sharing Christians.

Christians should have a fellowship with each other that is thicker than blood. Think about the nature of our life. You think about the nature of. These purposes there's something that Jesus has done for us is something God has done for us, which should bind us together.

That fundamentally sets the course and the agenda of our life. Which influences the nature of our affections the things that we care about. I? Mean so many Christians today are so worldly. To the point where all of their affections are wrapped up in their common interest.

They're wrapped up in their entertainment. Like there's no sure sign of an immature of an immature Christian in the sea and Christian in the sea. Christian whose loves like their affection their heart seems to be so tied up into the trivial the you know entertainment like the here and the now.

I mean these as you come to know the Lord there should be. What is produced in you is a desire to know him more and more and more. The things of this earth will grow strangely dim when you seek God you understand his purposes you understand Why he's put you here what his plan is for us and in.

The valuable thing for the Christian is that we are all recipient of a salvation that we could never earn and that we can never Merit. So when you think about the nature of what this passage is saying is it's pretty interesting when you think about it.

John says that what we see in her we proclaim to you so that you too may have fellowship with us and indeed our Fellowship is with the Father and with the Son Jesus Christ. It talks about two kinds of fellowship here.