Certain Eternity – Sensational Conviction
1 John 1:1b August 25, 2024
Introduction
1 John 1:1 “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…”
John continuing to refute the early forms of gnostic thought:
o Hiebert writes, “As a speculative philosophy of religion, Gnosticism was
marked by a kaleidoscopic variety of views. Basic was the dualistic view
that spirit is good and matter is inherently evil, and that the two are in
perpetual antagonism. This assumed dualism created a gulf between the
true God and this material world. The Gnostics, meaning “knowing ones,”
held that spiritual excellence consisted not in a holy life but in their superior
knowledge, which enabled them to rise above the earthbound chains of
matter in their apprehension of the heavenly truth that had been made
known to them. This knowledge, they claimed, had been made known to
them through Christ as the Messenger of the true God. Thus “the Gnostic
Christ was not a Savior; he was a revealer. He came for the express
purpose of communicating his secret gnosis.” This undermined the
Christian view of sin and the atonement. Acceptance of Gnostic dualism
made the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation unthinkable; two alternative
views were advanced [by Gnostics]. Docetic Gnosticism held that Christ
seemed to have a human body; His supposed humanity was a phantom.
Cerinthian Gnosticism, named after Cerinthus, a late contemporary of John
at Ephesus, held that the man Jesus, son of Joseph and Mary, was
preeminent in righteousness and wisdom, that “the Christ” came on Him at
His baptism and empowered His ministry, but left Him before His
crucifixion; it was only a man who died and rose again. Either view
eliminated the Incarnation and nullified Christ’s atoning work.”
Because flesh was evil and only one’s ‘spirit’ matters – two behaviors
emerged 1) flesh fasting whereby people would detach from the
desires of the flesh, and 2) flesh feasting whereby people would
indulge all desires of the flesh
o There is a extra-biblical historical account of John the apostle one day
going to a bathe house in Ephesus. As he was arriving, he saw one of the
leading proponents of ones strain of these gnostic heresies – Cerinthus –
entering into the pool. John immediately left the bathe house and is
reported to have said, “Let us fly, lest even the bathhouse fall down,
because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within.”
It is with this same zealousness that John addresses both of these
heretical perspectives throughout this letter and certainly here in the
very first words that he begins with.
John immediately establishes his authority and credibility to speak about Jesus
because he was an eyewitness. Any by his eyewitness account he establishes
that the gnostic teachings that were circulating were just plain wrong. He does
that by establishing four certain senses by which Jesus Christ was confirmed to
have been a flesh a blood man.
Certain Senses
“which we have heard”
o ‘Heard’ (Gk. akouo) means to listen with attention so as to understanding.
Akouo is in the perfect tense which speaks of an abiding, ongoing
effect. At the time of writing, some sixty or so years had passed from
when John last heard Jesus’s voice of Jesus. Yes, the words of
Christ continued to be a steadfast, transformative, and ongoing truth
in John’s heart.
John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and
believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into
judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
“which we have seen with our eyes”
o “Seen” (Gk. horaō) to gaze or stare upon from a distance, to look upon so
as to clearly perceive
o Horaō is also in the perfect tense, meaning an ongoing effect. John is
saying he is an eyewitness and the vision of Jesus Christ has been seared
into his mind’s eye such that he can continue to picture the amazing things
he did and recount the transformational truth that he spoke.
o John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the
Father’s side, he has made him known.”
o John 14:6-9 “6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me,
you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and
have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is
enough for us.”9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you
still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father….”
Steven Wiltshire is an artistic savant who has been called “the human
camera.” He has the incredible ability to draw pretty much anything
he has seen down to the tiniest detail, from the perspective that he
viewed – even after seeing something just one time. In 2014, Steven
was flown over the city of Singapore with its towering skyscape – the
first time he has ever viewed it. Over the course of 5 days, in front of
thousands of onlookers, Steven perfectly reproduced the skyscape
from memory. He has done the same for many other cities, including
London and New York City.
Meet Stephen Wiltshire, The Autistic Artist Who Can Draw
Entire Cities From Memory (allthatsinteresting.com)
o Steven’s mind is incredible, and when he sees something with his eyes – it
sticks with him. This is exactly what John says happened to him. He gazed
upon Christ – perceived who He was – and it has stuck with him
throughout his entire life.
“Which we looked upon”
o ‘Looked upon’ (Gk. theaomai) to scrutinize up close with attentive focus so
as to contemplate the detail of what one sees. This is not a mere glance,
but a long, up close and personal, searching gaze. To behold so as to
appreciate the depth of beauty that one sees.
Men, theomai your wives. Ladies, I’ve got nothing for you…sorry.
o John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have
seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and
truth.”
The longer the disciples were with Jesus, the more closely they could
behold His glory, His inner beauty, full of grace and truth.
o Looked upon, and the next Greek word for touched, are both in the aorist
tense which describes a past completed action. In other words, John is
asserting that it is a historical fact that John “beheld” and “handled” Jesus,
clearly substantiating His possession of a material body.
“and have touched with our hands”
o John really takes the gloves off with the Gnostics – not just hearing and
seeing – but physically touching the risen Jesus Christ.
o ‘Touched’ (Gk. psēlaphaō) to feel or grope about expressing the searching
motion of hands over a surface, so as to feel it. Denotes not merely the
bare touching, but the searching, exploring use of the hands, that tests and
verifies by handling.
the Hebrew for psēlaphaō is “mush” pronounced “moosh” – kind of an
onomatopoeia
How many of you have ever been through an airport security
checkpoint and the metal detector goes off. They pull you aside and
they identify the problem area. If you can’t satisfy their concern with a
reveal of the problem area, they then tell you that they’re going to
physically inspect the problem area…this is often a sensitive and
intimate area. So they’ll call an agent over of the same sex and then
investigate the area to make sure it’s safe. You then stand there
awkwardly as you are psēlaphaō.
o Luke 24:39 “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and
see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.””
o John 20:27 “Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my
hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve,
but believe.””
Application Focus (4 Points)
Focus on Progressive Growth
o Note progression of senses…heard, perceived from a distance, beheld up
close, felt/groped
o Note the absence of “feelings” …. all visceral, tangible, incontrovertible
experience – experiences that surely evoke strong emotions – but it is not
the emotions that are highlighted, but the experience with Christ itself.
Psalm 34:8 “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the
man who takes refuge in him!”
o John 9 and Mark 8 blind men two-part healing – progressive
understanding and experience with God to open your eyes to truth.
Miracles are a pointer (manifestation) of the objective truth that Jesus
is God, the Son of Yahweh, and the only way to have fellowship with
our Heavenly Father by virtue of trusting in Jesus’s atoning death and
victorious resurrection as we submit to Him by faith and serve His
kingdom purposes through our life through the power of Holy Spirit
working in and through us (further manifestations of those objective
truths).
Truth is confirmed in scripture…..experiences confirm the Word
of God…experience by itself can still be deceptive if not
confirmed by the Word of God.
o Universal Experience: first thing – lost my phone (Hagrid’s Motorbike,
coaster 7, front row sidecar…ate my phone), hot, crowded, overpriced
food, long lines, nauseous on rides, and got rained on…. lots of my senses,
emotions, experiences said this place is terrible….my kids loved it.
Must experience God over the progression of time as we grow and
mature…cannot judge off of one terrible moment – the enemy loves
to exploit that.
Focus on Primary Truths
o John highlights the hard facts about the person of Jesus and the core
theologies that He taught and exhibited throughout this letter.
John heads Paul’s counsel when Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:3-7 “3 As
I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so
that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different
doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless
genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship
from God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is love that issues
from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6
Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into
vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without
understanding either what they are saying or the things about which
they make confident assertions.”
Focus on Person of Christ
o Fausset writes “It is by the contemplation of Christ’s Person that we
become in a measure changed into His likeness. Christ looked upon as a
wondrous spectacle, steadfastly, deeply, contemplatively.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the
glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from
one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is
the Spirit.”
Focus on Patterning Christ to Others
o Do people experience Jesus when they are with us?
o Paul Apple asks, “What is the result of people’s first-hand interaction with
us? We are as close as they are going to get to the current historical
manifestation of this life of God. What do they hear from us? What do they
see? What do they closely observe as they check us out?”
Conclusion
The world wants us to fixate on feelings and singular moments of bad
experience. The Lord invites us to go deeper and deeper with His truth, His
power, and His presence at work and manifesting in our lives through Holy Spirit.
Let us accept the invitation and seek to go deeper with the Lord:
o focusing on the process of walking closer and closer to Jesus –
experiencing his power and presence in our lives;
o focusing on the primary truths of the Word of God and not getting distracted
and sidetracked with empty theological debates;
o focusing on the person and work of Jesus that we may have confidence in
who He is;
o and allowing the world around us to see Jesus when they focus on us.
Amen. Amen.