SEEING IS BELIEVING
Opening Prayer
Spirit of God, open my heart to receive what you have for me in Scripture today and inspire me to apply it in new ways to my walk of faith.
Read 1 JOHN 1:1–4
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
The Incarnation of the Word of Life
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[a] joy complete.
Footnotes
- 1 John 1:4 Some manuscripts your
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘Open my eyes that I may see / glimpses of truth … Silently now I wait for thee, / ready, my God, thy will to see … Spirit divine!’1
Eyewitness accounts help to decide matters in a court setting. To open his defense of the faith under fire in his day, John offers us his own experience of Jesus: ‘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’ (v. 1). The problem was that some people in John’s church were denying the physical presence of the Son of God among us, so he wanted to assure them (and us) with his own testimony. His eyes had seen and his hands had touched the one who was ‘from the beginning.’
Our own experience of Jesus is a powerful antidote to false teaching and an effective tool in our evangelistic toolbox. Today, one’s own personal story is respected and sometimes held up as sovereign. This may mean that the account of our encounter with Christ and his living reality in our daily lives has a right to be heard. The big story of God’s redeeming grace in Christ can be told by preparing and sharing the small stories of our own testimony.
There is a link between fellowship with God, with each other, and joy (vv. 3, 4). When we enjoy fellowship with one another, we enter a deeper relationship with God. At the heart of this is the intimacy between the Father and his Son. It is by amazing grace that we are invited into that love and acceptance – and it leads to joy. John shares in verse 4 the desire of Jesus that our joy might be complete.2 This is part of his purpose in writing the letter, the other part being that we might believe in Jesus and know that we have eternal life.3 Once we know this – we should proclaim it!
Apply
Reflect on your own experience of the living Jesus, thanking him for joy. Ask him for an opportunity to tell someone about it today.
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, as I thank you for salvation and that you walk with me each day, I ask that you would use me, speak through me, and help me to tell the story of my relationship with you so that others will know the joy that is mine because you called me to be your own.
1 Clara H Scott, 1841–97 2 John 15:11 3 1 John 5:13
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