(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 1:1414And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)). “From the beginning” is an expression that occurs eight times in John’s epistles (1 John 1:1; 2:13, 14, 241That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (1 John 1:1)
13I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. 14I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. (1 John 2:13‑14)
24Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. (1 John 2:24) {twice}; 3:11; 2 John 55And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. (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 1:11In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1), which marks the commencement of all created things—visible and invisible. Nor is it the same “beginning” as in John 1:11In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) which takes us back before Genesis 1:11In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) to a dateless past eternity. Nor is it the “beginning” mentioned in Revelation 3:1414And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (Revelation 3:14), which is the beginning of the new creation race of men under Christ when He rose from the dead (2 Cor. 5:1717Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17); Col. 1:1818And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. (Colossians 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 1:11In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (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, 141In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14); Rev. 19:1313And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. (Revelation 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; 17:6-818No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:18)
9Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? (John 14:9)
6I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 7Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 8For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. (John 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 17:33And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (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 1:14-1814And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:14‑18)), and to make atonement for sin (John 3:14-1514And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:14‑15)), and also, to send the Holy Spirit to indwell believers (John 4:1414But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (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. 8:3030Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; (Proverbs 8:30)). The Father delights in His Son (Matt. 3:17; 17:517And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17)
5While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. (Matthew 17:5); John 3:35; 5:2035The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. (John 3:35)
20For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. (John 5:20)) and wants to share that delight with us, so that we would know its blessedness too! (Compare Psalm 36:88They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. (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.