1 John 1:1-4; John 1:1-5, The Word of Life

The beginning of John’s Gospel bears similarities to the beginning of John’s first Epistle.  The Gospel begins, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1).  The Epistle begins, That which was from the beginning … the Word of life (1 John 1:1). 

Now the ellipsis was intentional, so that I can now say that there is something different in the Epistle.  Both refer to Christ as “the Word.”  Both note that this “Word” was in or from the beginning.  He existed outside of creation, before anything was created, so that the Gospel can go on to say that He, the Word, was the Creator of all things (John 1:3).  Both also emphasize the connection between the Word and life.  The Gospel says, in Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:4). The Epistle calls Him, the Word of life. 

But then, there is a difference.  In the Gospel the Word is in the heavens, where Christ is in His glory with the Father.  As Jesus referred to it, He was in the glory which I had with You before the world was (John 17:5).  A little later (John 1:14) John tells us the Word became flesh.  The rest of his Gospel emphasizes the truth that this Man was in fact God.  He was so much a true Man, with a human family from nearby Nazareth, who displayed human weaknesses like hunger and weariness and so on, that John selected special miracles and recorded words of Jesus and encounters with various people, so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31).

In the Epistle, this Word of life is the One which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled.  What is with all the senses being brought into the question?  John now seems to be dealing with people who see Him as all God and not very much Man.  And it’s true.  That is the problem.  People are denying that this Man could possible be the Christ (1 John 2:22).  They deny that the Christ came in the flesh (1 John 4:3). 

Here’s the problem with this.  The joyous fellowship John wants us to have with the Father and the Son is impossible if God has not come to dwell among us.  He is still up in the heavens.  He is still distant.  We must still fear Him as did Israel at Mount Sinai.  John, a marvelous eyewitness, writes to tell us that we can enjoy deep fellowship with the Father and the Son!