John began this letter talking about himself as an eyewitness to Jesus. He refers to Jesus with lyrical, illustrative and illustrious words. He refers to himself as a witness to the reality of Jesus. He saw and touched Him, He testifies and proclaims Jesus. That is what a witness does, he receives a message and he tells it to others. Verse 1 reads,
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life”
Jesus, and the plan of salvation existed from the beginning. He was not created. He was not a last ditch effort. He was there from the beginning and John got to see and touch Him. He was real. He was flesh and blood. He had a message and a purpose. Jesus came concerning the word of life. The Greek word for word is logos, the expression of an idea. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011). Jesus is the Word, the expression of the Father. Here Jesus’ message is the word of life. Life is translated from the Greek word zóé. Zóé is defined as physical and spiritual life, coming from and sustained by God’s self-existent life. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011).
Jesus had a message and He lived His life as that statement. Jesus is the message, the word. He passed that word on to the Apostles and they in turn gave it to us. It is important, it is life or death. Verse 2 says it this way,
“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—“
Jesus is the Word, and He is also the Life. He was made manifest. He was made flesh, real, plain, seeable, and discernable. He doesn’t have a hidden secret message that only some are given illumination to receive. The life born of and borne by the Father is made available and tangible through Jesus. He is the expression and embodiment of that life. You and I are the expression and embodiment of Jesus. The Father sent Jesus to be our salvation and give us eternal life. John 3:14-17 describes it like this.
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Eternal life isn’t just living eternally. Eternal life is life from God, with God, through God. It is inclusion with Him. Jesus is the word of life, and He gave it to us, so that we too would be the expression and representation of life. It isn’t for nothing that you have this awesome gift. You are not meant to keep it to yourself. Messages are meant to be shared, words are supposed to be declared. This word, the Word is meant to be expressed through the living of your life. We, like God desire for all to be saved and have eternal life. Verses 3-4 read,
“that which we have 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. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”
God longs for fellowship, partnership and communion with us. He loves us so much. He wants that intimate relationship with the world. Someone made Jesus known to you. Now you have eternal supernatural awesome God-life. You are meant to share it, shout it, and live it so that the lost can get the message too. In doing that, your joy is made complete or perfected. Doing that is living out the purpose for your gift. It is what gives meaning to everything. Bringing more people into God’s open arms makes the life higher and greater, the love deeper, and the joy unadulterated.
You cannot live the life given to you by God, if you do not make Him obvious, seen, clear, and plain in your living. Your joy, your celebration and delight will not be perfected until your fellowship is enlarged. Including more people in your relationship with God and giving them the gift of life and fellowship with Him doesn’t detract from your communion with Him in deepens it. Because in do so, you become more like Him, you are endowed with more of His nature. You have even more of the life that He has given, because you express it more.