Christmas 4: Proclaiming the Word of Life

0:01 Well, good morning. So for the benefit of any visitors, our theme over the Christmas period has been the Word became flesh. Way back at the end of November, Chris taught about waiting for the Word. Then Stephen Cave showed how Jesus was the one Israel had been waiting for. the prophesied Emmanuel, God with us. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. And then last week, Chris developed that further, teaching who Christ is and what the Word has accomplished as creator, sustainer, and reconciler. So the wait is over.

0:51 We've celebrated Jesus' birth, stuffed ourselves full of turkey, and maybe we've already broken some of our presents. Our thoughts are starting to turn towards a new year. So what aspect of the word becoming flesh remains? Well, as we bring the series to a close this morning, considering the word of life, we're going to do that through the lens of 1 John chapter 1. we will see the challenge for us to now proclaim that word and understand the motivation for doing so. So we're going to focus on the first four verses. Let me read that for us now. 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.

1:59 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. 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. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. Now, although there is some discussion amongst Bible scholars about who is the author of this letter. It is generally agreed, at least by any of the scholars that you and I would respect, that the letter was written by the apostle John, the same John, the son of Zebedee, who penned the fourth gospel. Unlike many of the other New Testament letters, the author does not identify himself at the start, and hence the debate. But the style and vocabulary of John's gospel and 1 John are so similar that they must have had a common author.

3:23 This is particularly evident in these opening verses of the two writings. And in addition, there's a lot of overlap in the major themes and emphases of the two books. You see, 1 John is written by the disciple whom Jesus loved, who reclined next to Jesus at the Last Supper. He was there at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified, and Jesus entrusted John with caring for his mother Mary. John was with Peter when they witnessed the empty tomb on the first Easter morning. And he saw, talked with, and ate breakfast at a lake, enjoying the fire kindled by the resurrected Jesus. No wonder he is the author of a letter that begins by writing about what he had heard, seen, gazed upon, and touched. But John doesn't just want to testify to these things.

4:32 He also wants to proclaim them to his listeners so that they may know the same God as him. Why? Well, he tells us in verse four, so that our joy may be complete. We're going to consider this short passage under three headings. proclaim the word, fellowship through the word, and experience the joy of the word. What was it that John was going to proclaim? Well, let's get into the detail. In the original Greek, these four verses are actually all one sentence, and immediately the language used throws up some questions.

5:21 See, we read, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon. If John is talking about Jesus here, then why does he use these neuter relative pronouns? Instead of writing, we might have expected him to say, he who was from the beginning, whom we have heard, whom we have seen, and so on. But there's a clue when he uses phrases like was from the beginning and the eternal life. Those are not things which would be obvious merely from listening to, watching, and touching Jesus. What John wants his listeners to understand is that he is not just testifying to the person of Jesus, but he is testifying to the gospel. In other words, he understood the significance of what he observed. Numerous people, like John, were eyewitnesses to Jesus' life, his miracles, his death and resurrection.

6:37 But for them, without the eyes of faith, Jesus was just a man, a remarkable man perhaps, but nothing more than a man. Whereas for John and many others, Jesus was the Christ, the word of life. John drives this point home with repetition, using two different verbs in the original. They're translated here as seen with our eyes and then we looked upon. You see, the first verb conveys no more than what you see with your eyes. But the second is non-sensory. It's about perception, to see something above and beyond what is merely seen with the eyes. It's the significance again.

7:32 Here's an example of what John wants us to understand. Compare these two statements. Jesus of Nazareth died on a cross in Jerusalem, and Jesus Christ died on a cross in Jerusalem for our sin. You see, the first statement is factual, stating things that anyone present at that moment could have witnessed. Indeed, those facts are corroborated by the historians of the time, Tacitus, Suetonius, and Josephus. But the second statement interprets the significance of Jesus' death, stating his identity as the Messiah and what he accomplished by dying on the cross. Those are truths that must be received by faith. But John tells us more about this word of life.

8:36 This word was from the beginning. And when we take the parallel of the first four verses of John's gospel, we can understand that this word has always existed. This word is God and is the one through whom God the Father carried out his creative works. John keeps emphasizing that the life was made manifest and that the eternal life which was with the Father was made manifest to us. He could be publicly seen and known. He wants us to understand that he is talking about someone who was fully God, is eternal, was not created, is from everlasting to everlasting, and yet took on human form and was physically on this earth. Fully God and also fully a man such that he could be seen, heard, and touched. This is the word who is life.

9:43 Now, there's one more thing we need to address before we consider what the text is saying to us. Who's the we in these verses? You see, at first glance, we might think it's a group that John was a part of, like the apostles or Jesus' disciples. But that gives us a problem when we come to verse four, as the letter was not written as a group effort. but helpfully the context of this letter helps us answer the we question. You see John had led the church in Ephesus after its establishment by Paul. He moved there around the time of the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 and he was there until his exile to Patmos about 20 years later and then he did return a few years before his death. It seems as though he preached this as a sermon in Ephesus, probably around about AD 85, and then it was circulated to the churches around Ephesus in what is modern-day Turkey.

10:52 They are named in John's other book, Revelation. Now, if you know anything about what is written to those churches in the book of Revelation, you'll remember that most of them were having problems. We find there that there were false apostles appearing. We find that ideas from the Greek culture around them, false doctrines were coming into the churches. Here's one example. It was the idea that salvation is based on mysterious knowledge and the divine light already in the human soul, and not through repentance of sin and faith in Christ. It was an early form of Gnosticism, if you want a name for it. So you see, what John needs to establish is his authority as a real apostle and persuade his listeners as to why they should listen to him.

12:00 So this use of we is a construct designed to do that. It's meant to be singular, but conveys authority. It's a bit like a royal we, as in we are not amused. See, that's why he goes to such lengths to establish that he was an eyewitness of a historical, physical person who was the eternal son of God. These are the truths he proclaims to them. Isn't that who you'd want to listen to? Someone who was actually there and experienced all of this firsthand. Well, praise God that he had these men write these things down and that he has preserved his word through the centuries so that we too can read their God-breathed eyewitness testimony.

12:58 John packs a lot into one verse, doesn't he? But don't worry, the other three are not as complicated. Now, what can we learn from this? Well, we too are living in days when there are many competing ideas, and even the concept of truth has changed. See, go back a few decades, and many homes had volumes like these in pride of place. Some of you, I'm sure, remember these. Of course, it's Encyclopedia Britannica. You see, they presented reliable, expert knowledge on nearly any topic you could think of.

13:42 They were a source of truth. Now fast forward to today, and we're in the age of Wikipedia, where truth is just what everyone agrees on. Indeed, that very phrase is sung by a supposedly wonderful wizard in the recent part two of a certain movie, reinforcing the idea that truth is what you make it. Now, add in AI, deep fakes, and so on, and it can be difficult to know what is genuine and who to believe. Indeed, the mere mention of objective truth, that is, things which are true regardless of what you think about them, their mere mention of objective truth can invoke outrage and incredulity. But you see, two plus two does not equal five just because you believe it does. So when we proclaim the good news of the gospel to others, it is vitally important that we present Christianity for what it is, objective truth, grounded in historical fact and reality. Bring people face to face with God's word, the Bible, that records not only those facts, but also reveals their significance.

15:11 Time and time again, archaeological discoveries have backed up the biblical record, and other historians, not necessarily believers themselves, have independently recorded the events told by the Bible. Do you know that there exist over 5,700 Greek and 10,000 Latin manuscripts that are ancient copies of parts of the New Testament? The earliest fragment, which actually happens to be part of John's gospel, dates from the second century. It would have been written only 50 years after John wrote the original. Now contrast that with other ancient works like Caesar's Gallic Wars, which was written about 50 years before Christ, and there's a 950 year gap to the earliest manuscript. Home is Iliad, the most documented secular ancient work, only has around 640 ancient copies available. Yet it is the Bible and not these other writings that comes under intense scrutiny and constant attack. Oh, when we present the gospel, embrace the reliability of the Bible where the truth has being preserved.

16:35 Although we do not now have direct contact with Jesus in any physical form, we do in a spiritual sense and have his spirit living within us. Testify to the difference that knowing Jesus has made in your life. Tell your story. If we are people who truly know and love the Lord Jesus as our Savior and Lord, then over time there will be change in our lives as he shines the light of his truth into our lives, exposing the darkness, the sin that needs to be put to death. See, even if we don't open our mouths to proclaim the gospel, we witness to the truth of the gospel and how we live. When was the last time you heard a testimony that went like this? Oh, before I became a Christian, I looked at my life and I could barely remember the weekends as I was drunk most of the time. I was sleeping around, going home early from work if the boss wasn't watching, and I seemed to just be drifting through life with no purpose.

17:47 Then I looked at my Christian friends and they were just like me. Now, of course you haven't heard that, at least I hope you haven't. Because as Christians, the way we live should be distinctive. We hear people in their testimonies saying that they looked at their Christian friends and they were different. It's not because the temperance, marital faithfulness and honesty get us to heaven. but it's because true doctrine expressed in a lifetime of repentance and faith in Christ will result in obedient living and fervent devotion. And if you keep reading on through 1 John, those are the big themes of this letter. But look at the three verbs of verse 2.

18:41 We have seen it, testify to it, and proclaim to you. Isn't this what forms part of any genuine and lasting response to the gospel? Look at it. It's experience, testimony, and evangelism. See, John is proclaiming the eternal life. In other words, Jesus, the one who has no beginning and no end. Oh, friends, we all have family, friends, co-workers, people all around us who are lost and heading to an eternity in hell. And we know the word of life, the one who can save them.

19:30 How can we sit back and say nothing? And then that brings us to our second point, fellowship through the word. John tells us in verse three why he proclaims what he has seen and heard. He says, so that you too may have fellowship with us. You see, that word fellowship has lost some of its meaning in the church today. At times, it seems to mean little more than a coffee after church in the foyer or a potluck dinner at a home group. But the biblical concept of fellowship is much deeper than that. We were created for connection and we all feel a longing for relationships.

20:22 But it's really problematic when we confuse fellowship and friendship. Often we're only friends with people who we like, maybe people of similar age with the same kinds of jobs, the same sense of humor. Now, fellowship doesn't mean surrounding yourself with people you don't like, but it does mean that we have a broader spiritual family. We may have grown up in different places, different times, and of different circumstances, but through Christ, we are part of the same family. You see, like it or not, friendships are often transactional. We hang out with the people we enjoy being with until something changes. That change might be how we feel about them, a change in our circumstances like moving away or becoming unemployed, or even a change in our politics. Whereas fellowship begins with commitment, not a transaction.

21:29 Look what is said about the early church in the book of Acts. they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. You see, if we just view church fellowship as turning up on a Sunday morning, sharing a few memes and chatting about the weather, then all we're doing is hanging out in a superficial Christian way. Fellowship is about strengthening one another, encouraging one another, and building one another up. Commit to gathering with other believers for prayer, Bible study, and service, even if it doesn't lead to friendship. Put simply, If the name of Christ doesn't come into your conversations, then it's friendship and not fellowship. See, John's proclamation is not just so that people's sins are forgiven. No, the gospel message is far richer and binds together those who receive it as brothers and sisters in Christ.

22:51 But it is richer than mere human fellowship because our fellowship is with God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. When we consider the deep, eternal, and intimate relationship within the Godhead between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, well, then two things happen. We get a glimpse of what perfect fellowship looks like. And our love for Jesus grows all the more when we realize that through him, we can enter into that fellowship and enjoy personal communication with our Father in heaven. Jesus enjoyed unbroken fellowship with the Father from eternity past. And as believers, we now share the relationship. Jesus is our older brother and we are co-heirs with Christ. Not only are we in God, but God also lives in us, a picture of unity and reflecting the divine oneness.

23:59 Not only do we hear his voice and listen to his word, but we get to communicate with him in prayer and sing his praises. Here and now we participate in Christ's life, purpose and sufferings so that we will share in his glory. and all of this intimate communion is enabled and sustained by the Holy Spirit. Beautiful, isn't it? No wonder John wanted to proclaim the gospel to others so that he would have this deeper connection with them and so that they too could share in this same fellowship that he was enjoying with the Father and with the Son. You know, one of the things Belinda and I love when we go on holiday is worshiping with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We meet people who are total strangers and yet have an immediate connection. We've experienced warm hospitality and enjoyed rich fellowship, sitting in another family's home talking about what God has done and is doing in our lives and sharing our various experiences of his love and grace.

25:15 We come away built up and encouraged, having had a foretaste of that day when a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, will stand before the throne and before the Lamb in perfect fellowship and worship. I'm sure many of us have friends and family that we're really close to. You know I'm talking about the sort of relationship where you can finish each other's sentences and know how the other is going to react in every situation. But it breaks your heart that they're not saved. That although you can sometimes talk to them about Jesus, they can't join in that conversation from a place of knowing Jesus. The two of you just can't share in the one thing, the one person who is more important to you than anything else. If you ache and long for them to fellowship with you and with your Lord, then you know something of John's desire. But like John, don't give up on them.

26:31 Keep proclaiming the gospel. Keep showing them the outworking of that gospel in how you act, speak, and think. And keep praying for them that one day your joy may be complete. And that brings us finally to experiencing the joy of the word. It's easy for us to think of joy as merely a feeling or emotion, because that's how popular culture defines it. That thinking's found within the church too. I'm sure you've known Christians who walk around with a permanent smile and are always jovial regardless of the situation. You know the sort of thing.

27:17 I've just crashed my car causing £3,000 worth of damage. Smile. I've just broken my leg in two places playing football. Smile. My dog has just died. Smile. You get the picture. It's almost nauseating.

27:35 But forced smiles like that are inauthentic and are a suppression of genuine human emotions like sadness or grief. Jesus experienced deep suffering and sadness. He wasn't smiling at Lazarus' tomb nor in the garden of Gethsemane. You see, it's normal and appropriate for Christians to mourn, express pain, and live realistically through their struggles, as well as to be happy in the good times. But Christian joy is the abiding confidence that we belong to the Lord. It is the promises of God that are the foundation for our joy. That's what sustains us when we endure periods of sadness or depression. Like our salvation, joy is permanent, but it does not mean an absence of sorrow and must be differentiated from happiness, which is circumstantial and therefore comes and goes.

28:39 Joy comes from knowing that we have received the unmerited gift of God's love and the peace and blessing that flow from that. You know, we sometimes talk about God having a good and perfect plan for our lives, and that is true. But sometimes we think that means that there won't be difficulties and sorrows along life's path. We maybe even think that when bad things happen, somehow we're outside of God's plan. How wrong we are when we think like that. We have a sovereign God who is in control of all things. And all things, yes, even the difficulties and the sorrows, work for our good and for his glory. If you find that hard to accept, think of the alternative.

29:32 You've lost your job or just been diagnosed with a serious disease. If you can't believe that God is still in control of it all, then what hope do you have? See, that's why we can still be joyful in situations like that. It is knowing that what is happening to us is ultimately for our good that keeps us going. that it's no accident that it hasn't sent our God into a panic, wondering how he's going to fix it now that this or that has taken place. Remember that although the apostle John's exile to Patmos was intended by the Roman emperor to be punishment for his Christian witness and refusal to worship the emperor. God's plan was that there John would write the book of Revelation. Blessing the church ever since were powerful messages of hope, of guidance through suffering, and of Christ's ultimate victory.

30:39 Remember that although Paul wanted to preach the gospel in Rome and then go to Spain, God's plan for Paul involved immense suffering, imprisonment, and hardship. But it led to the gospel spreading further than even Paul could have imagined, transforming Paul and glorifying Christ in its outworking. Once we understand that God is using all the difficulties we face to perfect us. Then we will be at peace and no everlasting joy. True joy will be seen in action. It is what enables us to press on and push through when times are tough. We can do that not because of some warm fuzzy feeling, but because of the birth of a baby boy in Bethlehem. When the angel announced the birth of that baby to the shepherds, he said, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

32:00 Joy, because that baby came to give his life as a ransom for many. Eventually, he would die on a cross for our sins and rise three days later, victorious over death. Let me sum it up for you like this. As I approach another new year, I can experience the joy of the word and endure whatever 2026 holds for me by reminding myself of this truth. I know that my Redeemer lives. You know, earlier this morning, we noted that although there's far more evidence for the reliability of the Bible than for many other ancient books, it's the one that is attacked and subjected to scrutiny. But maybe that shouldn't surprise us because it is the one that demands a response from each of us. Could it be that God has given you the eyes of faith this morning to see for the first time the significance of the Christmas message, the word becoming flesh?

33:23 Well, Jesus asks you this morning, just as he asked his disciples 2000 years ago, who do you say that I am? If this morning your answer echoes that of Peter's, saying, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God, well then it truly will be a joyful new year. Let's pray together. Our gracious and loving Heavenly Father, We thank you for your infallible word. We thank you that it is true. We thank you that it is reliable, and we thank you of how you have preserved it down through the years. We thank you that there's loads of evidence that the events it records actually took place, and we thank you for what you reveal there about yourself. Because we see there a God who so loved the world that you gave the best that you had in your only Son to save us.

34:44 And we praise you for the rich fellowship that we have as your people. Not only with each other, but also with you as adopted sons and daughters. And in that knowledge, may we be a joyful people. rejoicing that the price is paid, that we are redeemed, that nothing can pluck us from your hand, and that one day we will dwell with you forever. And we pray it all in Jesus' name. Amen.