This is The Way – Devo Day 37

the Word of Life

1 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—
2 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—
3 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.

1 John 1:1–3 (ESV)

The beginning John wrote of his first letter is not the beginning of the world nor is it the beginning of creation. It is the beginning of Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1, the beginning there was before there was anything, when all there existed was God.

The beginning of Genesis 1:1 is simple – “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The beginning of John 1:1 is profound – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John takes us back to this time in eternity past, to meet this One which was from the beginning, the source and basis for all creation, and therefore could be nothing but God.

John declares (in 1 John 1:1) that he has heard Him, seen Him with his own eyes, and touched Him physically meaning Jesus both before He was crucified and after He was resurrected. The implications of this testimony are enormous because it shows that this eternal God, came to Earth in human flesh as Jesus. And that means that the infinite God has become accessible in the most basic finite way, in a way that we can relate to and we can know.

Jesus is the Word of Life

John identified Jesus as the living Word of God (John 1:1), the Logos. This was important for both the Jew and the Greek. For the Jew, God was often referred to as the Word because they knew God perfectly revealed Himself in His Word. For the Greek, their philosophers had spoken for centuries about the Logos—the basis for organization and intelligence in the universe, the Ultimate Reason which controls all things. It is as if John said to everyone, “This Logos you have been talking about and writing about for centuries—well, we have heard Him, seen Him, studied Him, and touched Him. Let me now tell you about Him.”

That You Might Have Fellowship With God

The purpose of John’s declaration about this eternally existent, physically present, Word of life who is God, yet is a person distinct from the Father, is to bring his readers into fellowship with both God’s people and God Himself. It is as if the Father and the Son agree together to let us into their relationship of love and fellowship. This is not just “adding Jesus” to our lives. We enter into a shared life relationship with God. We share our life with Him and He shares His life with us.

… that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. – This is The Way

1 John 1:3 (ESV)

Questions to Ponder

1. What of Jesus’ life has He offered to share with you? What have you appropriated? What’s holding you back from the others?
2. What of your life have you shared with Christ? What have you held back? What’s keeping you from surrendering the rest?

If you are just starting and want to go back and read the previous posts in this series