1 John...This letter in the New Testament does not really indicate who might have wrote this. Tradition says it was John, the apostle. If this be so, John was probably 50 to 60 years old at the time of this letter.
John was the youngest of "The Original" and this letter is said to be written while he was staying in Ephesus. The city of Ephesus seemed to be a "training ground" for numerous leaders in the early Christian church.
The main reason John wrote this letter was that believers in Christ were now being taught truths that were in error...flat wrong. A couple of these false teachings were:
1. Jesus was never really a man. He had some sort of "supernatural powers" while He lived here on earth...and really had no temptation to do wrong. After all, He was God...and never a real human...like the rest of us.
2. Jesus was really just a man, He never was God. The reasoning behind this was that...if He was God...How could God die? God could never die. This belief taught Jesus certainly had God-like qualities while here on earth, but those God-like qualities were not apparent when He was sentenced to a Roman Cross...and died.
From these two examples of erroneous teachings, other false teachings and beliefs were beginning to emerge. Another belief that had started to cause division among the believers was the concept the "body is bad, but the spirit is good." As a result, our words or actions in this life on earth really doesn't matter, things will change when we get to heaven. This teaching caused others to live however they wanted which basically meant they lived for their own selfish wants and desires....in direct contrast to the words Christ had spoken.
John actually wrote this letter to encourage those who embraced the Christian faith. His intent was that the believers could recognize the Truth and expose false ideas and concepts.
A Gleaning from 1 John, chapter 1
" Understand this, the Word of Life....Jesus Christ....was already here from the very beginning. He has always been here...and we have seen Him...with our very own eyes! We have also touched Him...with our very own hands! We have heard Him speak...with our very own ears! He is...who He says He is...the very Word of Life itself!
This One...who is Life itself, came to us, revealed Himself to us, and became one of us, demonstrating both in word and deed the He is the One...the very One who gives to each one of us...Eternal Life!
You see Christ Jesus has always existed with the Father (God), and chose to reveal and come for us...in order that we too could enjoy a relationship with God the Father. Christ's desire for us has always been for us to have a relationship with His Father...just as He does.
This is my real reason for writing this letter to you...that you may know and experience this joy, that Christ Jesus has completed His work...and we are now free to know the Father, just like Him.
For you see, this is the true message Jesus gave to us...while He was here with us...actually becoming one of us, and now He desires this message of Eternal Hope to be passed on to you! Jesus is the Pure Light...and He comes from the very heart of God. It is not right or even possible to live our lives under the Rule of Darkness...and yet say we are children of the Light. There is no Darkness in the True Light...that True Light being Jesus the Christ. Christ Jesus is the Eternal Light...He always has been, even when He was here...being one of us, and His Truth is able to live in our hearts...even now!
John was the youngest of "The Original" and this letter is said to be written while he was staying in Ephesus. The city of Ephesus seemed to be a "training ground" for numerous leaders in the early Christian church.
The main reason John wrote this letter was that believers in Christ were now being taught truths that were in error...flat wrong. A couple of these false teachings were:
1. Jesus was never really a man. He had some sort of "supernatural powers" while He lived here on earth...and really had no temptation to do wrong. After all, He was God...and never a real human...like the rest of us.
2. Jesus was really just a man, He never was God. The reasoning behind this was that...if He was God...How could God die? God could never die. This belief taught Jesus certainly had God-like qualities while here on earth, but those God-like qualities were not apparent when He was sentenced to a Roman Cross...and died.
From these two examples of erroneous teachings, other false teachings and beliefs were beginning to emerge. Another belief that had started to cause division among the believers was the concept the "body is bad, but the spirit is good." As a result, our words or actions in this life on earth really doesn't matter, things will change when we get to heaven. This teaching caused others to live however they wanted which basically meant they lived for their own selfish wants and desires....in direct contrast to the words Christ had spoken.
John actually wrote this letter to encourage those who embraced the Christian faith. His intent was that the believers could recognize the Truth and expose false ideas and concepts.
A Gleaning from 1 John, chapter 1
" Understand this, the Word of Life....Jesus Christ....was already here from the very beginning. He has always been here...and we have seen Him...with our very own eyes! We have also touched Him...with our very own hands! We have heard Him speak...with our very own ears! He is...who He says He is...the very Word of Life itself!
This One...who is Life itself, came to us, revealed Himself to us, and became one of us, demonstrating both in word and deed the He is the One...the very One who gives to each one of us...Eternal Life!
You see Christ Jesus has always existed with the Father (God), and chose to reveal and come for us...in order that we too could enjoy a relationship with God the Father. Christ's desire for us has always been for us to have a relationship with His Father...just as He does.
This is my real reason for writing this letter to you...that you may know and experience this joy, that Christ Jesus has completed His work...and we are now free to know the Father, just like Him.
For you see, this is the true message Jesus gave to us...while He was here with us...actually becoming one of us, and now He desires this message of Eternal Hope to be passed on to you! Jesus is the Pure Light...and He comes from the very heart of God. It is not right or even possible to live our lives under the Rule of Darkness...and yet say we are children of the Light. There is no Darkness in the True Light...that True Light being Jesus the Christ. Christ Jesus is the Eternal Light...He always has been, even when He was here...being one of us, and His Truth is able to live in our hearts...even now!
No comments:
Post a Comment