Certain Eternity – Yahweh’s Show and Tell
1 John 1:2 September 8, 2024
Introduction
Show and Tell
o 5 years old in kindergarten brought my blankey – my mom’s silk night gown
from when I was a baby. When I got home, my dad took my blankey and
“lost” it…1 st grade, I brought my rock collection
Ligon Duncan “in verse 2, John is pausing in his flow of thought. In many of your
translations there will be an em dash right after the phrase “word of life” in verse
- Because John has so many things to say it is just coming out spontaneously,
and he wants to zero in on a particular truth in verse 2. Then he’ll go back to his
train of thought and, in many of your translations, you’ll see another em dash
starting out verse 3. Verse 2 is a very important pause though, because in it he
says that the blessed life, the joyful life, the meaningful life, eternal life and
fellowship with God was manifested objectively in Jesus Christ.”
o In verse 2 we have a parenthetical pause to focus on Jesus’s incarnation,
His becoming a man, a truth so important that John interrupts his
introduction to make the point.
o Jesus is the Father’s show and tell to the world.
Manifest/Incarnation
“made manifest, manifested, appear” (Gk phaneroo from the adjective phanerós
= manifest, visible, conspicuous, from the verb phaino = to give light; to
illuminate; to become visible, from the noun phos = light): literally “to bring to
light”
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0e/64/73/0e64737b1fbcc8f4ec8d735b24
3ee9d4.jpg
o it means to make something known that was unknown or hidden, by clearly
revealing or providing an external display to the senses so that the thing’s
true character is visible to all
o Wuest explains further, “This life which is invisible was made visible to the
human race through the humanity of our Lord. We put light which is
invisible through a prism, break it up into its component parts, and it
becomes visible. The beauty of the life that God is, broken up into its
various parts such as love, grace, humility, kindness, etc., is seen through
the prism of the human life of our Lord.” (Wuest’s Word Studies from the
Greek New Testament)
Word of Life = eternal life, parenthetical moves us from the title of Christ to the
reality of the eternity with the Father that Jesus alone gives
o “eternal life” – literally reads “the Life, the eternal.”
Christology = Jesus was not created, He always was with the Father,
from the beginning (v1), and eternity with the Father is offered
through knowing the Son
This important phrase is used six times in First John…
o 1 John 1:2
o 1 John 2:25 “And this is the promise which He made to us: eternal life.”
o 1 John 3:15 “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know
that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
o 1 John 5:11 “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and
this life is in His Son.”
o 1 John 5:13 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son
of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”
o 1 John 5:20 “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given
us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him
who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
John wants us to know Jesus and know that we have eternal life by
knowing Jesus
We can know Jesus, by, among other things, studying His life and ministry on
earth. This is one of the reasons why the manifestation of Jesus as a man, or His
incarnation, is so important to John, and to us.
George Findlay “The Source of spiritual life to men is that which was, in the first
instance, the source of natural life to all creatures. Here lies the foundation of St.
John’s theology. It assumes the solidarity of being, the unity of the seen and
unseen. It contradicts and excludes, from the outset, all Gnostic, dualistic, and
Docetic conceptions of the world. This essential and aboriginal (being the first or
earliest known of its kind present in a region) Life, he tells us, became incarnate,
that it (He) may have fellowship with men; it (He) was slain, that its (His) blood
may cleanse them from iniquity.”
o The word incarnation means “the act of being made flesh.” It comes from
the Latin version of John 1:14, which in English reads, “The Word became
flesh and made His dwelling among us.” Latin Vulgate was used
everywhere in the church through the Middle Ages so the Latin term
“incarnation” became standard for referring to Jesus being born a man and
living a human life. Jesus is fully God and fully man (hypostatic union).
Importance of Incarnation – Christologic Theology
o 1) Jesus born under the law to fulfill the law and prophets
Galatians 4:4-5 “4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent
forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those
who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”
Lord willing, we will study atonement and propitiation later in this
sermon series
o 2) Jesus born a man to be the perfect high priest and mediator for all
mankind
Hebrews 4:14-16 “14 Since then we have a great high priest who
has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold
fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is
unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every
respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then
with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
o 3) Jesus emptied himself (Gk kenóō from kenos) to be a perfect example to
us of how to humbly and obediently submit to the Father and to be
empowered and led by Holy Spirit
Philippians 2:7-8 “but [Jesus] emptied himself, by taking the form of
a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in
human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point
of death, even death on a cross.”
“emptied Himself” is accusative in Greek. This means that
Jesus did not empty something from Himself, but He emptied
Himself from something. Jesus himself did not change, but he
removed Himself from the “form” of God and took on the “form”
of servant man.
o Example of water being poured from a pitcher into a
cup…remains water, just in a different outward shape
Pouring_Water_cl.jpg (3075×2042)
(ellingtoncms.com)
KJV bible commentary explains “He stripped Himself of His
expression of deity, but not His possession of deity. He
restricted the outward manifestation of His deity. In His
incarnation, He clothed Himself with humanity. He was like a
king temporarily clothing himself in the garb of a peasant while
still remaining king, even though it was not apparent.”
Emptied himself of all self-interest, prerogative/independence,
and veiled His glory (John 17:5) by becoming a man, fully
relying on the Holy Spirit – not His own intrinsic power – and
serving mankind through His life, death, and resurrection.
Nothing of His divinity was lost or compromised…but humanity
was added to His divinity for our sake.
Testifying and Proclaiming
“Testify” (Gk martyreō) (pronunciation mar-too-reh’-o): Greek legal term for a
“witness,” someone who gives testimony or evidence in court, the bible translates
martyreo most often in this way—”to bear witness, or witness”—next often
translated as “testify
o John reiterates that he was an eye-witness and the message he is
testifying is objective fact.
o Authority from what they have seen…not how good their theology was or
how logical an explanation of the world Jesus gave
Blind man healed, while questioned, his response – John 9:24-25 “24
So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and
said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I
do know, that though I was blind, now I see.””
“Proclaim” (Gk apangellō) (pronunciation ah-pahn-gehll’-oh): means “tell” with the
connotation that you are openly declaring with a persuasive aim.
o To witness is to retell or testify to your experience, to proclaim is to
persuasively declare the truth that you learned in light of that experience
Note that both “testify” and “proclaim” are in the present continuous tense,
meaning testifying and proclaiming was John’s habitual practice and
lifestyle….things he did over and over throughout his life.
JD Greear in his sermon on this passage said “John’s statement here confronts
one of the most commonly held cultural assumptions about religion. In our culture
the most commonly held assumption about religion is that it’s personal
preference. Right? ‘It works for you; it doesn’t work for me.’ It’s subjective
preference not objective truth. In fact, that’s a quote from Immanuel Kant, who is
the father of modern philosophy, “Religions are not objectively true, they’re
subjectively helpful.””
o Witness to miraculous life…saw the resurrection…objectively true, only
conclusion is Jesus is who He said He was (God)
JD Greear, “Are you skeptical enough to doubt your doubts?”
Conclusion
The Father shows off the Son, the Son shows off the Father, and we have the
privilege to testify and proclaim the Son. We get to show and tell Jesus.
o The world may see Jesus in us
Let us testify to the work the Lord is doing in us and around us. The objective
spiritual reality and truth of the gospel is still being revealed to us and through us
as we follow the Spirit’s leading ever day.
We have the privilege to witness to what the Lord is doing and the responsibility
to proclaim His truth and proclaim His Kingdom, with power, conviction, and
persuasive winsomeness to all who would receive that objective truth; that they
may take one step closer to the ternal life that is only accessible through the
God-Man, Jesus the Messiah.
Amen. Amen.