An invitation to community and connection...

This week we are looking at the opening section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of 1 John. Yesterday we met the author of this letter and the original readers of this letter. The letter of 1 John was written by a man named John, who was one of Jesus closest followers.  However, John was not only one of Jesus closest followers; John was the person who had perhaps the closest relationship with Jesus while He was on earth. John is referred to as the disciple Jesus loved. John was Jesus best friend.

And as one of Jesus closest followers, John was one of the Apostles who were foundational leaders in God’s new movement in history called the church. As part of God’s new movement called the church, a church was planted by the Apostle Paul in the city of Ephesus, which is located in modern day Turkey. This church plant was then led by a man named Timothy. And in the New Testament of the Bible, we have two letters that were written by Paul to Timothy and the church at Ephesus, which we know as 1 and 2 Timothy. In these letters, Paul warned Timothy about the threat of false teachers.

Eventually, John succeeded Timothy to become the Senior Pastor at the church at Ephesus. However, the threat of false teachers remained. And because of the threat of these false teachers and the threat that they presented to the church and its community and connection to Jesus and one another, John sat down to write, by the leading and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, this letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in our Bibles today. With that background in mind, let’s jump into this letter together, beginning in 1 John 1:1:

What was from the beginning, 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—

Now to fully understand what John is communicating here, we first need to understand what John means when he uses the phrase the Word of Life. We see John use a very similar phrase in an account of Jesus life that he also wrote, which we know as the gospel of John. Here is how John began his account of Jesus life in John 1:1:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

When John refers to beginning here, he is referring to the origin of all creation.  In other words, before there was a beginning, there was the Word. Before there was space and time, there was the Word. Before anything existed, the Word existed. You see, we think of eternity as eternity in the future. However, eternity also exists as eternity past. John’s point here is that the Word always existed. The Word is outside of space and time and is thus not constrained by space and time. The Word looks at space and time like I look at this stand.

In addition, when John uses the word, word, this word, in the language that the letter was originally written in, was used to describe the expression of something. In this case, John is referring to the expression of God. You see, it is in the very nature of God to reveal Himself to His creation. By using this phrase, John is revealing for us the reality that the Word is God’s ultimate way of disclosing Himself to humanity.

What is so interesting is that in the letters that John wrote that are recorded for us in the Bible, when the word with is used next to a person, this word conveys a personal and intimate relationship between two people. So when John states that the Word was with God, he is revealing that the Word lived, as a person, in a personal and close relationship with God.  John tells us that not only was the Word with God, the Word was in very nature God.

And it is here that we see one of the strongest evidences for what is referred to in church mumbo jumbo talk as the Trinity. You see, the Word wasn’t God taking on a new name in the New Testament, as the Word was with God in relationship with God. God the Father and the Word, along with the Holy Spirit, are three distinct persons who are Divine in their nature and essence. In addition, the members of the Trinity are inseparably related. In other words, you cannot remove either God, the Word, or the Holy Spirit, without misrepresenting who God is.

  

Now when John uses the word life in 1 John 1:1, this word was used to describe to the transcendent life that one would experience for all eternity with God. So when John refers to the Word of Life, he is referring to Jesus Christ and the message and teaching of Jesus Christ.

John is revealing for us the reality that Jesus Christ is God in a bod, who is life and is the source of eternal life with God. As the Word of Life, Jesus Christ is the personified expression of God who is life. Jesus, in His very nature and essence is life and is the source of eternal life.

So with that in mind, if John was communicating verse 1 in the language we use in our culture today, it would sound something like this: “Hey y’all, Jesus, God in a bod, who has always existed, I, along with the rest of the disciples, have heard His message and teaching; I, along with the other disciples, saw God in a bod with my own eyes; I, along with the other disciples, perceived that Jesus was God in a bod and was impressed with all that He did; I, along with the other disciples, actually touched God in a bod.” And as John continues, we see John take a tangent to back up this statement in verse 2:

 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—

Here we see John basically say “and I just want y’all to know that Jesus and His message of eternal life was revealed to us. We have seen Him and have heard His message and want to declare publicly the truth of what we witnessed. We want to publicly declare the truth that Jesus Christ is God who was with God the Father and who revealed to us the reality that He is the source of the transcendent life with God and has begun to usher in the kingdom of God here on earth by entering into humanity. After taking this tangent, John then returned to his original thought and begins to provide the reason behind his letter in verse 3:

 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. ⁴ These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

John explained to the readers of his letter throughout history that what he and the rest of the disciples saw and heard from Jesus and His message and teaching was what they wanted to make known publicly. And the reason why they wanted to make Jesus and His message and teaching known publicly was so that the readers of this letter throughout history may have fellowship with us.

 However, to fully understand what John desired the readers of his letter to experience, we first need to understand what the word fellowship means. You see, this word fellowship is a word that has lost its original meaning over time. Unfortunately, this word has become a church mumbo jumbo talk word that means there is a potluck lunch after the church service.  If you grew up in church and heard the word fellowship, it usually meant that we were going to the church potluck, or out to lunch, or over to someone’s house to hang out over a meal for social time.

However, when John uses the word fellowship, this word had an entirely different meaning. This word fellowship, in the language that this letter was originally written in, was used to describe a close association and partnership involving a sharing in common activities or mission. This word conveyed the idea of a close common connection in close community with others that was the result of a mutual commitment to a common purpose or mission.

So when John uses this word here, he was calling the readers of this letter, and followers of Jesus throughout history, to experience close community with other followers of Jesus who are connected to Jesus and who are committed to the common mission that they had been given by Jesus. That is why John states “and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

John is inviting the readers of this letter into close community with himself and the other early leaders of God’s new movement in history called the church as they engaged in the kingdom mission that they had been given by Jesus and experienced communion and connection with God the Father and Jesus. You see, John recognized that he and early followers of Jesus were not only rescued from something; John and early followers of Jesus recognized that  they were rescued for something.

John and early followers of Jesus recognized that they were rescued not simply to get together after worshiping God to have a social club marked by good food and conversation with other Christians. John and early followers of Jesus recognized that they were rescued to experience close community with other followers of Jesus who are connected to Jesus and who are committed to the common mission that they had been given by Jesus to tell those who were far from Jesus about Jesus.

John then provided a second reason why he wanted to make Jesus and His message and teaching known publicly in verse 4. You see, John and other early leaders of God’s new movement in history called the church were experiencing joy and gladness as people who were far from Jesus were rescued by Jesus as they shared Jesus with others.

And because of that reality, John wanted to bring to completion and fulfillment the joy and gladness that they were already experiencing by inviting others to join in close community with other followers of Jesus who are connected to Jesus and who are committed to the common mission that they had been given by Jesus to tell those who were far from Jesus about Jesus.

After providing the readers of this letter the reason behind the letter, we see John transition to begin to proclaim the message from Jesus that would be the message of his letter in verse 5.

We will look at that message on Friday...

Wired with a craving for connection...

As human beings we are wired with a craving for connection. Humanity has been created for relationships. As human beings, we are created for a relationship with God vertically and for relationships with one another horizontally. That is why the most painful emotion that anyone can experience is loneliness, because when we are lonely, we are living outside how we have been created and designed to live.

And in our culture today, we see the evidence of our craving for connection all around us. For example, just look at the explosion of social media. Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tinder, or a whole host of other social media sites, these sites strive to satisfy our craving for connection.

Yet, while we live in a day and an age where we are most connected technologically with others, we also live in a day and an age where people are most isolated from others. We see evidence of this reality in the increase in cases of depression and loneliness. We see evidence of this reality as people will sit around a meal engaging their mobile devices at the table instead of those who are seated across from them at the table.  We see evidence of this reality with the proliferation of on-line dating and hook up sites designed to move people past loneliness and into committed relationships.

Yet, even though people have hundreds of friends on Facebook, even though people have hundreds of followers of Twitter and Instagram, even though people have hundreds responding to their snapchat images, there is an increasing sense of loneliness and isolation among much of humanity.

But how can we live in a day and an age where we are most connected technologically and simultaneously be most isolated from others? How do we overcome the creeping sense of loneliness and isolation that many are experiencing? Could it be that we are looking for connection in all the wrong places? Could it be that the reason we sense a creeping loneliness and isolation is because we are trying to satisfy our craving for connection from the wrong sources?

But, if that is that case, then what exactly is true connection and community? And where can we find true connection and community? Where can we find the types of relationships that satisfy our craving for connection? And what are the landmines and roadblocks that keep us from experiencing true connection and community?

To answer these questions, we are going to spend this fall in a series entitled connect. During this series we are going to spend our time together looking at a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of 1 John. During this series, we are going to discover the components that make for true connection and community. During this series, we are going to discover the landmines and roadblocks that keep us from true connection and community. And as we go through this series, our hope and our prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit in our heads, hearts, and hands, in a way that moves us to the place where we can experience the connection and community with God and one another that we were created and designed to experience.  

Now this week I would like for us to begin where the letter of 1 John begins. However, before we jump into this letter, I would like for us to spend a few minutes talking about the author of this letter and the original readers of this letter. The letter of 1 John was written by a man named John, who was one of Jesus closest followers. 

However, John was not only one of Jesus closest followers; John was the person who had perhaps the closest relationship with Jesus while He was on earth. John is referred to as the disciple Jesus loved. John was Jesus best friend.

Of all of Jesus followers, it was John who had the closest connection with Jesus. Of all the disciples, only John was present with Jesus when Jesus died on the cross. Of all the disciples, it was John who was given the responsibility by Jesus to look after His mother Mary. John was one of the first disciples to find the empty tomb. John was one of the first disciples to recognize that Jesus was raised from the dead. 

And as one of Jesus closest followers, John was one of the Apostles who were foundational leaders in God’s new movement in history called the church. As part of God’s new movement called the church, a church was planted by the Apostle Paul in the city of Ephesus, which is located in modern day Turkey. This church plant was then led by a man named Timothy. And in the New Testament of the Bible, we have two letters that were written by Paul to Timothy and the church at Ephesus, which we know as 1 and 2 Timothy. In these letters, Paul warned Timothy about the threat of false teachers.

Eventually, John succeeded Timothy to become the Senior Pastor at the church at Ephesus. However, the threat of false teachers remained. And because of the threat of these false teachers and the threat that they presented to the church and its community and connection to Jesus and one another, John sat down to write, by the leading and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, this letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in our Bibles today.

Tomorrow we will begin to look at this letter…