We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.
1 John 1:1-10 NLT
V. 4 “We write this to make our joy complete.”
Purpose. This chapter was written with purpose, and the purpose was joy. John, the author, an apostle of Jesus, one of the original twelve disciples, was called by, lived with, served with Jesus, witnessed Jesus’ death, ate with, talked with, and touched Jesus’ wounded hands. Forty days after Jesus’ death, John then watched as Jesus ascended into heaven. He knew the command that Jesus gave to go out and preach the Good News that Jesus saves. He is the Christ. And no sorrow can match the joy of knowing this Jesus.
The joy of this tangible evidence was challenged by false teaching confusing believers within the newly formed churches. Gnosticism was dangerously teaching that Jesus was not the Christ, but that the Christ was only “spirit,” thus Jesus was only an illusion. The teachings further made the allowance for grave sin emphasizing that what humans did in their flesh did not affect the purity of their own spirit. Without giving any acknowledgement to the false teaching, John refutes every aspect of it by sharing about the joy of knowing Jesus. In verses 1-4, he shows that Jesus is and was fully human and fully God and gives eternal life when we have fellowship with Jesus. In verses 5-7, John shows that God is light, and when we, as believers, walk in the light, we know the truth, Jesus, and are tied to every other believer in that unity. Finally, in verses 8-10, John helps believers know the freedom that comes with confessing our sins.
Do you walk in the joy of knowing Jesus? Are the false teachings of our culture enraging you more than the joy of Christ is encouraging you? Spend time with Jesus in prayer. Ask Him to make your joy complete. Be ready to share with others the Good News. Victory is in Jesus.
