Sermon 1 John 1:1-2:2 Touched with our Hands

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

Sermon 1 John 1:1-2:2 Touched with our Hands

April 19, 2015

Today I am beginning a series of sermons drawn from the book of 1 John. This letter was written to a group of people who had left the church after a disagreement about the meaning of scripture. The author, possibly their pastor, wanted them to come back. So he or she has written a pastoral letter trying to persuade them to return. We will get to the first chapter of this letter shortly. But first, let's pray.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our rock and redeemer.

When I want to communicate with a person at the church I have the ability to pick up a phone, or send an email or text, or sometimes a card or letter. In ancient times it wasn't that easy. Letters were written by hand with ink on parchment paper and delivered either on foot or on horseback to a recipient who could be many miles away. It could take weeks for a letter to get from one place to another. And even more weeks could pass getting a reply. This was the only way that pastors in the first century could communicate with people far away.

Today we are looking at one of these letters from a pastor to a group that has left the church. We don't know who the pastor was or where his church was located. Church tradition tells us that this letter was written by an aging Apostle John who had written the Gospel of John to witness to his church about his ministry with Jesus. This letter, 1 John, is his attempt to correct some false teaching about his gospel.

Churches at the end of the first century and the beginning of the second did not have the full New Testament as we do. They had only parts of it. And the community that received 1 John probably had the Gospel of John and was trying to live their lives in a way consistent with this gospel. In the Gospel of John we read this:

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

This is a most important verse because it tells us about our salvation. We receive eternal life only if we believe in God's son. But the church was divided over what it means to believe, and the identity of this Son of God. The people who had left the church believed that the Son of God was a divine being who was with God at creation. This idea came to them from the very first chapter of the Gospel of John.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life,and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness,and the darkness has not overcome it.

They believed deeply in the divinity of the Word, the Son of God, but they doubted his humanity. How could a ordinary human, Jesus of Nazareth, have been with God at creation? And how could an ordinary body die and then come back to life and live in heaven? They said that all this was impossible. Instead, Christ, the Son of God, was a spirit. And this spirit was in them.

This had important implications. If the Son of God was within them he would purge their sins away. Therefore all believers would no longer be sinners. And since they were free from sin they no longer had to worry about their salvation. The Son of God would guarantee them eternal life.

The people who believed this were devout Christians who were trying to live their lives in accordance with John's Gospel, but the church was divided over these matters. And many people left. The ones who remained wrote a letter and sent it to the people who left. Here is part of what it said, the first chapter.

1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.

So the people who remained in the church believed that it was Jesus of Nazareth who was the Christ the Son of God. They believed this because they were witnesses. They had seen it. They had heard it. They had touched his wounds and ate fish with the resurrected Jesus. Jesus had told them that he was the Son of God. And he proved it with his bodily resurrection from the dead. There was no question about it. Jesus Christ was no spirit. He was and is a flesh and blood human who lived, died, was resurrected and now lives with God in heaven. The implications of this are most important. We are not free from sin. Rather we are under the obligation to do what Jesus commanded us to do.

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

To believe in the Son of God and receive eternal life means that we live our lives not hidden in darkness but revealed by the light God. We sin only when we think no one is looking. We think that darkness will hide us. But with Jesus, the Light of the World, everything we do is exposed to the light. Jesus sees everything. And we should always live our lives in a way that is pleasing to him.

So far we have seen that the people who left the church were wrong about the Son of God. Jesus of Nazareth, a flesh and blood human, is the Christ. He is the Son of God who was with God in the beginning and will continue to be with God in the end. Let's now explore the claim of the people who left that since they are filled with the spirit of Christ they are now free from sin. And John the Baptist said this very thing.

John 1: 29 “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

It was argued that since the Son of God takes away the sin of the world there must not be any sin left now. We must all be free from sin. Right? This was the position of the people who left the church. But the letter that John sent to them explains sin in this way.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

So we still are subject to sin. Confession and repentance are still of the utmost importance. Any claim that we are not sinners runs directly against the teaching of Jesus Christ. Here is what he said.

John 8:24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

So even as Christians we will continue to sin. Our sin cannot be hidden. It is exposed by the light of Christ. We must confess and repent. And Jesus Christ, the flesh and blood Son of God, with purify us by his blood bringing us forgiveness and transformation of life. John put it this way.

2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

And this is the good news we proclaim. We are all sinners. We have no hope of ever pleasing God. But by giving his life giving blood for us, the flesh and blood Son of God, Jesus Christ, assures us of salvation and promises us eternal life. All we need to do is confess our sins and amend our lives to please God. And then we can be assured of eternal life.

This is the message that the Apostle John sent to the people who had left his church. He hoped that this would be such good news that they would return when they heard it. We don't know what happened. But the church, filled with this good news, has flourished for two thousand years. Thanks be to God.

So how are we to live our lives in a way that pleases God? We will talk about this in futures weeks, but here are a few ideas for now. God wants us to walk in the light of Jesus Christ. This means that we are to be imitators of him. We must depend entirely on the cleansing power of Christ's blood to receive forgiveness. We must obey the commands of God especially to love God and love our neighbors, and we must avoid the lusts of the world and false teachings. We live in the light not by placing a check mark next to things we do or keep from doing. Rather we live in the light by understanding God's character as revealed to us in Jesus Christ and living in relationship with him. Let's pray.

Father in heaven we thanks you for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ who was with you at creation and lived with us as a human. We thank you that by shedding his blood we receive forgiveness. We thank you for his resurrection as a foretaste of our own. We pledge to live in your light. This we pray in your son's name. Amen.