In the beginning [before Creation] was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
— John 1:1-4
In the Gospel after his name (the passage above), the apostle John, the so-called “Apostle of Love”, wrote about the deity of Christ. In the opening verses of his first epistle (the passage below), he wrote specifically about His humanity. Together, they stand complementary as to describe the fullness of Jesus Christ, the God-man. John makes sense of this union, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
What was from the beginning [from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry], what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life — and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us — what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
— 1 John 1:1-3
If I’ve ever felt like a failure as a minister it has consistently been regarding this one subject. I find it increasingly difficult to adequately describe the incomparable Christ Jesus. The more I know about Him, the more difficult the task! I guess none of us should feel bad, though, even Paul conceded Christ as God’s “indescribable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15). John Calvin gives us some sound perspective on the value of John’s words to our faith.
“[An] obvious aim of the apostle in his introductory sentence was to confirm the assurance of God’s children, and show what a firm foundation has been laid for their fellowship with the Father and with His Son. These words ‘which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,’ etc. serve to strengthen our faith in the Gospel. Nor does he, indeed, without reason, make so many asseverations; for since our salvation depends upon the Gospel, its certainty is in the highest degree necessary. And how difficult it is to believe, every one of us knows too well by his own experience. To believe is not lightly to form an opinion, or to assent only to what is said, but is a firm, undoubting conviction, so that we may dare to subscribe to the Truth as fully proved. It is for this reason that the apostle here heaps together so many things in confirmation of the Gospel.”
— John Calvin
John wanted his disciples to know that the Gospel wasn’t invented by man. It was the announcement given through personal witnesses of Jesus Christ in the flesh. God wants us to know that Jesus is real. We all know how famously the world likes to talk about the “stories” in the Bible, alluding to fiction, or the “noble teachers” therein, such as Jesus, ever so craftily subverting who He truly is. The intent, of course, is to denigrate the Gospel.
"John commences his epistle by setting before us God manifest in flesh, because He is the grand Subject of the Gospel, the Object of our faith, the Foundation of our hope, the One who brings us to and unites us in fellowship with the Father. The Gospel is no mere abstraction, but is inseparably connected with the Lord Jesus. As Levi Palmer so beautifully expressed it, 'As the ray of light depends upon the sun, and a wave of sea upon the ocean, so Gospel truth is but the acts, and words, and glory of Christ.' As it is impossible to know and receive Christ apart from the Gospel, so we cannot receive the Gospel except from Him."
— A. W. Pink
It was John’s intention that we be assured of our faith in the Gospel, believing that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, and that He is as real as any of His disciples. In context, it’s also helpful for us to remember that during John’s time there were some (e.g. the Gnostics) who denied that Jesus was a real human, rather proposing that He was a spirit only, a phantasm. Jesus was neither imaginary nor part of a dreamscape. In other words, the apostle wanted us to know that our faith is in someone real. Luke was inspired to assert the same:
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.
— Luke 1:1-4
Now, with all of this indescribable truth set before us, allow me to make my point...
The apostle John was tasked with presenting both the deity and the humanity of Christ. This task is so magnanimous that it’s impossible to fully comprehend. Nonetheless, you get the sense that John felt supremely honored and dignified as he wrote about His Lord and Savior. He was so enamored with the very Subject of the Gospel that he lost himself in it. John never allowed his position of import to carry him away. John was so in love with Jesus that he retired into the background, only lit by the Light Himself, to whatever degree was contextually necessary for his readers. This kind of love is what manifests in true humility - that is John’s example for us even today. John was humbled by Christ’s love, for he was, “that disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:7). He understood that even his own love was a product of Christ’s, “We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19), making love, itself, a humbling experience.
To love is to have received abundant grace. Love is the pinnacle of fellowship with God. The more we understand the depths of this, the more humble we become. Such is God’s design in sanctifying us. In the end, all we’ll ever want to do is worship Him the way the angels do in Heaven, saying day and night, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME” (Revelation 4:8b). “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created” (Revelation 4:11).
Real fellowship - that which the Apostle of Love sets out to describe in his first epistle - so engages the heart with its Object that it loses sight of self. Love and humility, hand in hand for all eternity.
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins
