Life Made Manifest
“My passion has been to awaken people to the holiness of God.” R.C. Sproul founded Ligonier ministries fifty years ago to proclaim, teach, and defend the holiness of God to as many people as possible. Ligonier Ministries has been a stalwart, teaching the evangelical world to hold fast to the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Every two years they produce a survey to test the state of theology in America. The results are predictable and scary. People were asked to agree or disagree with the following statement: “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.” Among the general American public, 52% of people agreed with that statement. It is not surprising that secular Americans do not know Christian doctrine, but it is especially troubling that evangelical Christians agreed with that statement. One in three evangelical Christians agreed that Jesus Christ was a great teacher, but he was not God.
If you do not believe Jesus to be God, then you are not a Christian. Based on the survey from Ligonier ministries, one could make the conclusion that one in three people sitting in an evangelical church this Sunday would not be a Christian. Rather, they would be under condemnation and awaiting the wrath of God. Doctrine matters. What we believe about Jesus Christ, his person and work, is essential to our faith. If you took a survey on Christian doctrine, would you pass the test? Christianity is based on truth statements. Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man. Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and died on the cross. He bodily rose from the dead. Jesus Christ was sent from the Father to be the propitiation for our sins and is currently sitting at the right hand of God, interceding for us before the Father.
Our culture does not believe in objective truth. And sadly, that sinister worldly viewpoint has infiltrated churches across America. Doctrine matters. If you believe in a false Jesus, you will have a false salvation and a false hope. The Apostle John wrote his first epistle to address the false doctrine in the first century church. If the first century church would have taken a survey and was asked to agree with the statement “Jesus was God, but he did not truly come in the flesh,” many in the first century church would have concurred. John was worried that the church was believing the wrong things and, therefore, living wrong ways. John’s concern is my concern. I want our congregation to believe in the apostolic faith once for all delivered to the saints. John wants you and me to pass the test of Christian orthodoxy. Will you pass the test?
Physical Life
One of the early heresies, or false doctrines, in the first century was the belief that Jesus never came in the flesh. Many in the first century believed that the spiritual was good and the flesh was evil. And if the flesh was evil, then it would have been impossible for God to have come in the flesh. John begins his teaching by establishing the divinity and humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:1–2 says, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—”
The letter opens with the phrase “That which was from the beginning.” This would have been heard by first century hearers to mean “that which was from eternity.” The “beginning” would have been a reference to Genesis 1:1 that says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” and John 1:1 that states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Before time and space, Jesus Christ existed with the Father and the Spirit. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son, the second person of the Trinity, fully divine AND came to earth in the flesh. Micah 5:2 speaks of the coming Savior: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” The translation of the Septuagint for “whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days” literally means “his goings forth were from the beginning, even from eternity.”
John begins by teaching us the doctrine of the incarnation. Incarnation means in carne, or in the flesh. The eternal Son came to the earth as a human being, i.e., in the flesh. John provides personal eyewitness testimony about the physical life of Jesus Christ: “We have heard him with our ears, seen him with our eyes, and touched him with our hands.” Jesus was not merely a spiritual being, ghost, or imaginary hallucination. He was a real man with real flesh and blood. Jesus invaded history. He was not some mythical figure but an actual person with actual flesh and blood who lived on the earth in time and space. There were some in John’s day that were denying this reality, and John was having to correct their theology.
Beloved, our theology matters. If we encounter false theology, we must address it. And if we are saying or believing something that is false, we should want people to confront us with the truth. It is a matter of life and death. False doctrine leads to false hope and a false salvation. Last year, on our way home from the beach, my wife typed our address into her phone to get directions. I was following behind her and realized she was going the wrong way. She was going to the right street address but in the wrong city. There is our same address in Myrtle Beach. If I did not call her, she would have been following the wrong directions to the wrong destination. If you believe in the wrong Jesus, you will follow the wrong directions to the wrong destination.
I believe it is also worth pointing out that Jesus came in the flesh to us. We believe in an incarnational ministry, meaning we believe we are called to be in the flesh together. The essence of the church is our assembly together. We assemble in the flesh together to communicate our faith in the lordship of Jesus Christ. If we cease to assemble in the flesh, we cease to be part of the assembly. Jesus came from heaven, from everlasting, from eternity to be our Immanuel, God with us. Hebrews 10:24–25 tells us: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” John will make this same point later in the letter in 1 John 2:19 where he says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”
We can make adjustments and modifications for a season due to the pandemic, but we need to be clear that God wants us to be physically together. He came to us with a physical life and calls us to come together to share physical time and space with one another.
Eternal Life
The ministry of the apostles was a ministry of proclamation. John is proclaiming that eternal life was made manifest, or displayed, to the people. 1 John 1:1–3 states:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
Eternal life is living life with God. Jesus Christ came to show us and to offer us eternal life.
Christians often think of eternal life as something that we will experience “there and then” and not “here and now.” The reality is that eternal life is not only “there and then” in heaven after we die and are resurrected, but it is “here and now” as we live in fellowship with God. When we repent of our sins and trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord, God saves us and gives us eternal life. Eternal life begins as soon as we are born again. John proclaimed eternal life to the church. “The” eternal life was when the eternal God became flesh and dwelt among us, manifesting what a life with God truly looks like. John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” We now know what eternal life looks like by looking at the life of Jesus Christ. John wants us to know that we can have eternal life because the eternal life that was with the Father has been made manifest to us in the flesh.
If you are not a follower of Jesus Christ, have you ever considered what it means to have eternal life? We will all die one day. We cannot escape the reality of our failing bodies, but God has offered to us eternal life “here and now” and “there and then.” Man was given eternal life in the Garden of Eden, but Adam and Eve were deceived and disobeyed God, breaking their perfect fellowship with Him. Man came under condemnation and was facing eternal death. But in God’s immense kindness and mercy, he sent Jesus Christ in the flesh to manifest eternal life and to invite us to receive it by faith. Jesus lived the eternal life with God on the Earth by perfectly obeying his word and living for his glory. His perfect obedience led him to the cross where he was put to death to pay for the sins of man. He was dead and buried, but God raised him from the dead to eternal life! He ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to the truth of who he is and what he has done for us. Now, everyone who turns from their sin and trusts in Christ as their Lord and Savior can experience eternal life. They can have life with God by his Spirit. This occurs by trusting in the gospel of Christ. Your eternal life can begin today if you turn from your sins and trust in Christ as your Savior.
We exist as a church to proclaim this message. We proclaim that anyone who turns from their sins and trusts in Christ as Lord becomes one with the Father and Son, along with his people. Church, when was the last time you proclaimed this message? When was the last time you told people of the eternal life offered in Christ? When was the last time you told people of the eternal death that awaits everyone who does not have Christ?
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon, and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you eternal life, which was with the Gather and was made manifest to us that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you so that you too may have fellowship with us. (1 John 1:1-3a)
Do you want people to have fellowship with us? Do you desire that that potential fellowship with us be true, rich, lasting, deep, authentic, real, and transforming? Proclaim Jesus by living for Jesus. Proclaim Jesus by sharing Jesus. Proclaim Jesus by manifesting eternal life to the world in how we live and love God and others.
Christian Life
The Christian life is eternal life. We manifest what eternal life looks like as we trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior. There are three specific aspects of the Christian life that we see in verses 3-4: Fellowship with God, fellowship with one another, and joy. The Christian life is about fellowship with God. We all are sinners and have fallen short of God’s glory, but when we repented of our sins, we were born again. We were born of God. We have his Spirit. We are partakers of the divine nature. We were bought at a price, and we are not our own but belong to God. Jesus died for us, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God. We have fellowship with the Father and Son because of the atoning, redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
Our fellowship with God is directly linked to Jesus Christ’s incarnation. Jesus died as a man for humanity. He died in the flesh to pay for the sins of those in the flesh. If Jesus was not a man, then he could not have paid for the sins of man. Hebrews 2:14–17 declares:
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Jesus took on flesh and blood so that through his death he might destroy death for those who have faith in him. He took God’s wrath for us and turned it away from anyone who would repent. He delivered us from the wrath of God by taking the penalty of man’s sin in the flesh. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” Romans 5:19 states, “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” If you lose the incarnation, you lose salvation. Anyone can now have fellowship with God because eternal life was made manifest in Christ and purchased for us with his death and resurrection. The Christian life is fellowship with God.
The Christian life is also fellowship with one another. We proclaim and testify to Christ so that others may have fellowship with us. The Christian life is meant to be lived together in fellowship as a church. God creates fellowship to manifest eternal life to the world. Our fellowship as a church is designed to give us community, but it is structured to do far more than that. It is constructed to communicate the cosmic reality of eternal life in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christians who are not a part of the fellowship of the saints are obscuring the eternal life that God wants to manifest to the world through his people.
It is easy for a pastor to sound harsh and condemning about those who are not active in the church. It can sound self-serving and judgmental, but that is not my heart. I want my heart to be John’s heart. I want my heart to be Jesus’ heart. We want you to have fellowship with us. We want to invite Christians and non-Christians alike to a deep, authentic, real, powerful, honest, joyful fellowship through Jesus Christ our Lord. If we belong to Jesus, then we belong to one another. Hear Paul’s word to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:28: “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” The church of God has obtained the precious blood of Christ. Jesus died for the church. As elders, we have been given the charge to pay careful attention to our own lives and to all the flock of God that the Holy Spirit has made us overseers of. The best way to care for the saints is in the fellowship of the church.
When the elders call you and ask you how you are doing and where you have been, please do not hear it in a condemning, judgmental tone. It is coming from love. We are inviting you into fellowship. We are inviting you to help manifest eternal life to the watching world. We are inviting you into joy. We are saying we miss you and love you and need you. If you are not actively part of the fellowship, we grieve because that is not God’s intent. God wants more for you; we want more for you. My heart breaks when I hear of people being disconnected to the body. We are not a perfect church, but we can become a better church. We all need one another. John invites people into fellowship through the gospel of Christ. And we are doing the same. God wants you to be with us.
One reason we are walking through this epistle is so we will grow in our love for one another. If we grow in our love and our fellowship with one another, we will be inviting people into fellowship with God by our community. We are the aroma of Christ for those who are being saved and for those who are perishing. People may deny our doctrine, but they cannot deny our fellowship. What kind of church are we going to be?
Lately, I have heard from some of our visitors that our church can be a bit aggressive when it comes to asking people about church membership. We regularly ask you if you have considered membership because we believe that it is a clear teaching of the Bible. God wants you in fellowship with Himself and with His people. He does not want you merely on the outside of the community or on the periphery; he wants you to become one with the body. We see this in John 17 and Jesus’ high priestly prayer as well as in how Paul speaks of the body in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. Do not be offended when we ask you about membership as if we are being dogmatic or rude. We are inviting you into our family. Our arms are open wide, inviting you into deep fellowship. When we ask about membership, we are inviting you to the dinner table. Beloved, keep inviting people into our fellowship. We want people to have fellowship with us, for our fellowship is with the Father and the Son. And inviting people to have fellowship with the Father and Son is the Christian life.
Last, the Christian life is for joy. John 1:4 says, “And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.” Scholars debate if John meant “so that our joy may be complete” or “so that your joy may be complete.” I believe it is more likely that John is writing this epistle so that the readers may share his joy by having fellowship with God and with each other. “And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.” Sharing the gospel and eternal life as well as living in the fellowship of the church are pure joys given to us from above. I love being part of the Park Baptist Church. I love how we love each other. I love how we bear with one another. I love how we serve and care for one another. I love our fellowship.
We have a great church. I hope and pray you know how sweet and special our fellowship is with one another. We must continue to fight for it. The world wants to divide us. The evil one wants us to focus on all the areas where we disagree. There are many things that could divide us, but the most important person who will always unite us is Jesus Christ. We belong to him. We have been rescued from the domain of darkness and brought into fellowship with the beloved, eternal Son, in whom we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins. We share Jesus. We share eternal life. We share the joy of our collective salvation. Beloved, we fellowship with God the Father through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. We have eternal life with God “here and now” and will have it “there and then.” Therefore, let us invite others to share in our fellowship so that our joy may be complete.