(Chapter 1–2:11)
John’s epistles are different from the other epistles in the New Testament in that they do not mention the author, nor does the first epistle have any introductory salutation to those to whom he writes. The only other epistle that does this is Hebrews. Even though the writer does not identify himself, by comparing the epistle to the Gospel of John, we see that the expressions that are used and the style of writing are identical. Moreover, the same themes are prominent in both. These things leave us beyond any doubt that John indeed penned the epistle. The Church fathers (the early Christian expositors in the first three centuries) agree to this.
The Prologue
(Chap. 1:1-4)
The first four verses of chapter 1 form the Introduction to the epistle. It is a declaration that life eternal has been manifested in this world in the Person of the Son of God, and that competent and reliable persons (the apostles) have borne witness to it. They have declared this wonderful fact to us that we might partake of that life with them, and thus have fellowship with the Father and the Son, and with all who have been likewise wrought with by God.
John says: “That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes; that which we contemplated, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life; (and the life has been manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and report to you the eternal life, which was with the Father, and has been manifested to us:). He says, “That which was from the beginning ... .” We might have thought that he would have said, “He who is from the beginning,” but John is not referring to the Lord Jesus personally, but rather to the manifestation of life eternal which was presented in Him, and thus, “that which” is fitting.
The “beginning” that John speaks of here refers to when life eternal was first manifested in this world. This takes us back to the incarnation of Christ when the full character of that life came into view in Him (John 1:14). “From the beginning” is an expression that occurs eight times in John’s epistles (1 John 1:1; 2:13, 14, 24 {twice}; 3:11; 2 John 5, 6). As mentioned, the phrase refers to the beginning of the moral display of Christianity in the Person of Christ. It is not to be confused with the “beginning” in Genesis 1:1, which marks the commencement of all created things—visible and invisible. Nor is it the same “beginning” as in John 1:1 which takes us back before Genesis 1:1 to a dateless past eternity. Nor is it the “beginning” mentioned in Revelation 3:14, which is the beginning of the new creation race of men under Christ when He rose from the dead (2 Cor. 5:17; Col. 1:18).
John’s burden from the outset is to insist on the fact that Christ has become a real Man, and, as such, He has fully manifested life eternal in this world. By stating that the apostles (“we”) had “heard,” “seen,” “contemplated,” and “handled” Him, John shows that life eternal is not some mystical concept (as the Gnostics were propounding), but that which has been livingly expressed in a real Man. The apostles knew Him as such and had intimate, personal fellowship with Him. John mentions this to refute the notions of the Gnostics who blasphemously taught that Christ was a phantom, and not a real Man.
John identifies Christ as “the Word of life,” and this synchronizes with John 1:1 which states that He is a divine and eternal Person in the Godhead, having all the attributes of deity. He is called the Word of life because He fully expressed the life and nature of God. All its blessed features were set forth in Him to perfection. “The Word” (John 1:1, 14; Rev. 19:13) is an apt name for the Lord Jesus. Words are vehicles by which we convey our thoughts to others. We might have certain concepts and ideas and emotions in our minds, and the way in which we make them known to others is through words. Thus, the Lord Jesus is the Word of God in the sense that He is the Revealer of all that God is to man. He has made God fully known—as being the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (John 1:18; 14:9; 17:6-8).
(Vs. 2)
In a parenthesis, John states that not only had the apostles “seen” life eternal expressed in Christ, but they have also borne “witness” of it and have brought that “report” to the saints (“you”). Their report is a declaration that Christ—who is the personification of that life and appropriately called “that Eternal Life”—existed eternally “with the Father” in heaven before being manifested in this world. This means that life eternal is something that was not known by men before Christ came. As mentioned in the Introduction, life eternal is to know God as our Father and Jesus Christ as His Son (John 17:3). In order for a person to have this character of divine life, Christ had to have come and reveal the eternal relationship of the Father and the Son (John 1:14-18), and to make atonement for sin (John 3:14-15), and also, to send the Holy Spirit to indwell believers (John 4:14). Old Testament saints, therefore, could not have had life eternal. They were born of God, and thus, had divine life and are safe in heaven now, but they did not know this character of divine life which Scripture calls “life eternal.”
(Vss. 3-4)
John explains why God has undertaken to manifest life eternal and to give it to believers—it is to bring us into the blessedness of fellowship with divine Persons, which saints heretofore had never known. Simply put, He wants us to enjoy what He has been enjoying eternally. John says: “That which we have seen and heard we report [declare] to you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is indeed with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we to you, that your joy may be full.” Thus, the Father and the Son have dwelt together eternally in sweet fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and now that redemption has been accomplished, a way, in grace, has been opened to bring others into that fellowship.
The apostles were the first to taste of its sweetness and they have declared it in the preaching of the gospel to the end that all who believe would know and enjoy its blessedness too. Christ, the Son of God, is the center of this divine fellowship, and as such, He is the source of great delight to God the Father. He could say, “I was by Him, as One brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight” (Prov. 8:30). The Father delights in His Son (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; John 3:35; 5:20) and wants to share that delight with us, so that we would know its blessedness too! (Compare Psalm 36:8.) To drink of the Father’s cup of delight and enjoy sweet fellowship with Him and His Son is the essence of life eternal. That God, in grace (and at a great expense to Himself), would reach out and bring sinners who had gone far from Him into intimate, personal fellowship with Himself, is stupendous truth indeed—yet this is what He has done!
John concludes his introductory remarks by adding that it is not only God’s desire that we would experience this joy, but it is the apostles’ desire too, and it is one of the reasons John wrote the epistle.