Sermon Tone Analysis

THE REAL LIFE    1 JOHN 1:1-3a

 

            Can you remember as a child those stories that mom and dad used to read or tell to you that began “Once upon a time.”

Remember how exciting those words used to be?

It opened a doorway into a make-believe world where everything seemed possible.

It was a dream world where all of your childhood problems would be forgotten for a moment.

Then one day, you grew up and those words which meant so much to you as a kid, now seems like kids stuff.

You have come to discover that life is not a playground, but a battleground.

And you desire for something that is real rather than make-believe.

The search for something real is nothing new.

It has been around since the dawn of civilization.

Men and women have tried to find this life that is real in wealth, thrills, conquest, power, learning, prestige, and even religion.

But time and history has proven that these things by themselves never really satisfy.

Wanting something real and finding something real is two different things.

And many people waste countless hours and days and years trying to fill their life with substitutes rather than the real thing.

But in the letter that we will be studying over the next several Lord’s Days, the Apostle John writes about a theme that is always up-to-date and relevant: *the life that is real*.

This life is not found in things such as wealth, power, position, prestige, fame, or education.

This life is not found in amusement such as thrills, sports, or even conquest.

This life is not found in religion such as worship of false gods, doctrines, or self.

This life is found in a Person - Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

So John waste no time in talking about this “living reality.”

Before we look into this letter that John writes for the churches in Ephesus and the surrounding areas, I would like to give you a little background behind this letter.

John is writing to a third generation of Christians, who are confused about Christianity and needed assurance about salvation.

John was the author of the gospel, these three epistles and Revelation.

In the gospel, John’s purpose of writing was conversion and in these epistles, John’s purpose of writing is confidence.

This is the third generation of believers since Christ’s death on the cross and they needed assurance of what they possessed was real.

John Phillips, in his commentary, wrote, “The first generation of believers were motivated by conviction. .

.The second generation of believers inherited these truths, but the convictions were soften into belief. . .

In the third generation belief becomes an opinion, which is diluted and changed.”

By this time, counterfeiters were real in the church and they did not believe in the absolute truths of the first generation.

There were those who denied either the deity or humanity of Christ, as we will see throughout this letter.

Others denied the union of Christ’s two natures (humanity and deity).

In other words, they considered him as some kind of phantom.

For these so-called intellectuals, they believed that matter such as the flesh was evil, but the spirit was uncontaminated.

Therefore, they could do anything they wanted in the flesh because it did not discredit what was going on in the spirit.

To put it simply, I could sin all I want to and still be saved.

Well, this false teaching was confusing people in the church about their salvation and many were uncertainabout whether they possessed it.

So John writes we can be assured of our salvation by passing certain tests.

There are three mentioned in this letter.

There is the doctrinal test: what do I believe the gospel teaches about Christ; the relational test: do I love others; and the moral test: am I living according to God’s will?

Today, there are false teachers bringing mass confusion about Christianity.

There is an inclusivistic age of secularism and relativism that has crept into the church and some are buying into it hook, line and sinker.

It is tragic to see, but the Bible warns in the last days these things will happen and people will be tossed about by every wind of doctrine.

Several years ago, an interviewer for a Christian radio program went to the streets of Philadelphia and posed the question, “What is Christianity?”

The answers may surprise you.

Some said, “Christianity is the American way of life.”

Others called it “an organization.”

Still others referred to it as “an ethic.”

The interviewer decided to help people understand the question by asking, “Who is Jesus Christ?”

Some said he was “the pure essence of energy,” “a good man,” “our leader.”

Just as in John’s day, our day is filled with people who have no basic understanding of Christianity and what it involves.

So John writes because people need assurance about salvation and this book provides it.

So I pray you will be here on Sunday mornings and evenings as we explore this great book of the Bible.

One of the first things that John wants us to know is that Christianity is Christ.

Without Jesus Christ there is no Christianity.

Malcolm Muggeridge wrote, “It is Christ or nothing.”

John associates the life that is real is attached to *the word of life.

*What does he mean by this statement?

In using this phrase, I believe John was describing not only the Person of Christ in His works and words, but also the gospel message.

In speaking of *the Word,* we already know that John has designated this title as one of the names of Jesus.

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

John in Revelation says that Jesus’ “name is called the Word of God.

With Christ being the Word, He is the one who possesses life.

John tells us in John 1:4, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:25), and “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6).

So John is saying that not only is Jesus the Word, but also has life, which he desires to share with those who believe.

The other aspect to this phrase is that John is referring to the gospel of Christ.

The phrase literally reads “the life-giving word.”

Jesus who is called the Word speaks God’s words with absolute authority.

Jesus reveals the will of God and testifies to what He has seen and heard.

So Jesus reveals to us the message of life.

This is the emphasis throughout this letter because John focuses on the life that Jesus gives and how it changes the individual who believes it.

In speaking of this phrase in this way, we need to understand that this is one of many ways in stating the gospel message.

For example, the gospel message is called the /Word of God/, because it is a message from God not humans.

It is called the /word of the Lord/, which shows that God sent His message through His Son.

It is called the /word of hearing/, which implies a voice to speak it and a ear ready to hear it.

It is called the/ word of the Kingdom/, which announces God’s kingdom and a call to obedience.

It is called the /word of the gospel/, which gospel means good news.

It is called the /word of grace/, which means God gives us something that is not deserved.

It is called the /word of salvation/, which implies the forgiveness of past sins and the power to overcome future sins.

It is called the /word of reconciliation, /in which Christ restores that which is lost to God.

It is called the /word of the Cross,/ because at the heart of the gospel is the cross on which Jesus died.

It is called the /word of truth/, because there is no guesswork into whether or not I can be saved.

It is called the /word of righteousness/, because Jesus gives us the ability to break the power of sin in our lives and live in such a way that is pleasing to God.

So John, in this text, speaks to both subjects Christ and the gospel in his opening paragraph in the letter.

This morning we will learn three vital facts about this life which is real - this life is revealed, experienced, and proclaimed.

THIS LIFE IS REVEALED

            In verse 2, the Apostle John says *the life was made manifest. .

.and was made manifest to us*.

The word here for *manifest *literally means “to make visible, clear, known.”

It is the idea of uncovering, laying bare, and revealing.

So if you were God, how would you go about revealing yourself to men and women?

How could you tell them about, and give them, the kind of life you wanted them to enjoy?

God has revealed Himself in creation, but creation alone could never tell the complete story of God’s love.

God has revealed Himself to us by the Law, but the Law was meant to be a tutor which led to Christ.

God has revealed Himself through the sacrifices and the rituals of the Old Covenant, but these were just symbols and types of something greater.

God has revealed Himself through prophets of the Old Testament, who predicted the coming of Christ.

But God’s most complete and final revelation of Himself is through Christ.

What John tells us here is that this life was once hidden, so that we would have to search for it and find it.

But now has been revealed openly in Christ through the Incarnation.

He also states that he knew Christ personally by being one of the apostles.