Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 1 Study # 3
September 4, 2022
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis: "Life" is the content of the "message" of "The Word" and it exists exclusively "in Him" as to Source and it is independent of any substitute "god".
Introduction: Thus far in our studies of John's picture of Jesus, we have seen that John is absolutely focused upon Jesus as "Message" and "Messenger". As soon as there were created "persons", The Word began to make known to them what they needed to know in order to participate with Him in "The Life" which both "The Word" and "The Father" possess and share.
The beginning of "The Message" was the testimonial impact of every single created item. There is meaning, for the experience of "Life", in every specific created item and in the sum total of all that has been created. The primary "testimony" of creation is that God is infinite in power and wisdom. The creation is not infinite, but its massive size from quark to the boundaries of the entire created universe is as close as being a metaphor for infinity as man needs to begin to enter into the experience of "Life".
Clearly, from John's focus upon "The Word of The Life", "Life" is man's greatest experience of benefit as the outcome of being the privileged creatures of "The Living God". This morning, it is my goal to focus upon the significance of "The Message Concerning Life".
- I. What Is "Life"?
- A. There are 127 verses in the New Testament that use the word translated "Life" in this text.
- 1. By way of contrast, Matthew uses this word 7 times, Mark uses it 4, Luke, in his Gospel and his record of Acts, uses it 14 times, but John, in this Gospel (32 times) and in his first letter (10 times) and in his writing of The Book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ (15 times), uses it 57 times. [Paul, in all of his letters only uses it 36 times.]
- 2. John is more clearly focused upon "Life" than any other writer of the New Testament.
- B. That raises the question of just what we should expect from an experience of this "Life".
- 1. In this first use of "Life", John reveals our first tidbit of expectation: sufficient "light" to be able to "see" in the darkness that surrounds us so that we do not injure ourselves by all of the dangerous items that hide in darkness as well as the outcomes that arise out of our walking (1 John 2:11).
- a. And what is it that we shall "see"?
- 1) First, the general "glory" of God's true character as revealed by "The Word" when He, first, created a creation that declares the glory of God (Psalm 19:1-2), and when He, second, became visible in human flesh (John 1:14).
- 2) Second, the specific "glories" of "grace" (God in action unto benefit) and "truth" (the immutable realities that The Word built into the Creation when He created it).
- b. And what is it that we shall experience if we "see" these twin "glories"?
- 1) First, the way to escape the destruction that will come upon all who do not "see" (3:15-16).
- 2) And, second, the fact that this "destruction" consists of having God's "wrath" abiding upon all who do not "see" (3:36).
- 2. In his companion text (1 John. 1:4), John declares that the final "outcome" of "Life" is "fullness of joy" through "fellowship with The Father and His Son".
- C. Thus, we conclude that "Life" is the experience of a fulness of joy that arises out of "seeing", "believing", and "having fellowship with God and His Son".
- II. What Is The Significance Of The Direct Connection Between "The Word" and "Fulness Of Joy"?
- A. Obviously, from Creation by The Word, there is a connection between God's infinite power and wisdom and our experience of His "Life".
- 1. He has the ability to produce this "Life" in our experience.
- 2. He has the wisdom to frustrate the attempts by His adversaries to block the production of this "Life" in the experience of His people.
- B. But, just as obviously, since The Word is both Messenger and Message, there is an inescapable necessity that the "words" of "The Word" find a receptivity in those who hear them.
- 1. One cannot call God a "liar" and expect that anything beneficial will come from God [Note the declarations of this truth in 1 John 1:10; 2:4; 2:22; 4:20; and 5:10].
- 2. If the only way to please God is to believe Him (Hebrews 11:6), then His words through The Word must be "received", and this is exactly what He says, in words, in John 1:12.
- C. And, beyond obviousness, is this fact: all the angry rejectors of His grace and truth only prove the truth of His words by wallowing in their miserable hostility while the wrath of God is their daily portion.
