Studies in the First Epistle of John

1 John 1:1-4
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4 We write this to make our joy complete.

Author
There can be little doubt that the Apostle John, author of the fourth Gospel and the Revelation, is also the author of this letter, and the two following even shorter letters. Although not personally signed, the early church fathers were in no doubt that John was the author. Besides that, a casual look at the language of just the opening verses of this epistle and the gospel leave you in no doubt that it was John who wrote them both. (Important for apostolic witness)

John 1:1-2
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
John 1:4
In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

In just those few verses John repeats five key thoughts about Jesus…

1. The Beginning. In both passages John points out that Jesus has been around since the beginning. Eternal (1 Jn 1:2)
2. Equality with God. In both passages John speaks of Jesus and the Father being together and equal. (1 Jn 1:2)
3. The Word. In both passages he calls Jesus the Word of Life. Logos.
4. The Life. In both passages John calls Jesus the Life. Zoe.
5. God incarnate. In both passages John says that in Christ, God came to earth. He appeared, the Word was made flesh, we beheld, we handled, we saw.

Purpose of the Epistle
John's purpose in writing this epistle is quite simply that we might KNOW the truth. In these five short chapters, 105 verses, the verb KNOW appears 39 times. "That you might know" appears several times in various ways. CERTAINTY This is nothing new to John. When you read John 20:31 you see that John wrote his gospel that people might know the truth about Jesus, that they might believe in Him and in believing, have life in His name. You can always recommend John's Gospel to a person seeking to know the truth about who Jesus is. See also 1 Jn 5:13

Importance of Identity
You see, John understood that the identity of Jesus was absolutely vital to our salvation. Christianity is not a religion - it isn't a system of do's and don'ts, a list of rules and regulations. It's about relationship, it's about a Saviour. If Jesus was not fully man then He could not have faithfully represented us before the Father and led us back to the Father. The High Priest had to be taken from among men. But equally if He was not fully God, holy and righteous, then His sacrifice would not have atoned for our sins.
The identity of Jesus as both Son of God and Son of Man provides the foundation for our salvation.
It is because of who Jesus is that God can release grace towards us, and when we truly know who Jesus is, it generates faith to walk in that grace.
By the time John was writing this epistle, towards the end of the first century, the Gnostic heresy was already emerging as a problem in the church. People were already getting confused about the identity of Jesus, and when you have a flawed concept of who Jesus is, you automatically have a flawed concept of who you are in Christ. So John writes his epistle, and again and again he says "that you may know" - he's concerned that we know and understand the truth, that we are able to discern the difference between truth and error. Throughout the epistle he gives us pointers and proofs - evidences or fruit of truth so that we can tell the difference, so that we can know that we are in the truth.

The heresy persists to this day.
The two hallmarks of false religion, cults, etc is that they deny the deity of Jesus and therefore have a wrong understanding of who they are in Christ, what God has done for them. Because JW's and Mormons don't see the deity and humanity of Jesus, they don't see the fullness of salvation that God has provided. They've missed the relationship and slipped into religion. They're trying to earn brownie points with God, to be like Jesus without the help of grace, constantly missing the point of what Jesus has done for them.

Three Final Thoughts about the Christian Experience from these opening verses.
1. A Personal Experience. What John says about Jesus is not second hand, not a theory, not some religious hogs wallop cooked up by some drug crazed mystic on a bad trip. He was there! This is a first hand account from an eyewitness. Not hearsay. He was on the mount, he saw the young girl, in the garden, etc. 2 Pet 1:16-18.
2. A Common Experience. We are proclaiming these things so that you might have the same fellowship, enjoy the same relationship, enter the same grace. Our fellowship is with the Son and the Father, and yours will be too. If we walk in the light…holding fast the head. You see, when we know the truth about Jesus and put our trust in Him, we will find ourselves in fellowship, friendship, without even trying.
3. A Joyful Experience. Whether v.4 reads "your" joy or "our" joy, makes no difference. It's joy all round. Philem 6 "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." The more you share about Jesus, the greater your understanding and your joy. 3 Jn 4. John's heart was such that he was thrilled to see others walking with Jesus.