1 John The Disciple Jesus Loved

1 John

The Disciple Jesus Loved

Live in fellowship with the God of love

And share that fellowship with others

“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 joy complete.” I John 1:3, 4

(John 13:23, John 19:26, John 20:2 and John 21:7, John 21:20)

This Disciple is John the brother of James and the son of Zebedee.

There is a reoccurring theme of “love” in His writings.

 

“For God so loved the World” John 3:16 NIV

 “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8 NIV

 “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4:16 NIV

It is this God of love that John wants to make known

to his readers, in Ephesus, as he pens I John.

John wants the readers to know that Jesus came in the flesh.

John says we heard him,

we have seen him with our eyes,

and we have touched Him with our hands.

Jesus is not a vision or a fable like many gods.

When I was a child, God made me feel so special.

  

I thought I was God’s favorite.

As I grew up, I came to realize that is

the way He wanted everyone to feel.

Image knowing God’s love for you in

such a way that you could say,

 “I am the disciple Jesus loves”.

Five times in the Gospel of John we see a

reference to the “Disciple whom Jesus loved”.

We can know God (Jesus) through the eyes of others,

as a historical figure, as a hope or a fairy tale.

But John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, wants you

to know for yourself that He is the “God of Love”.

John points out that Jesus was from the beginning,

He is the Word of Life, even eternal life.

John says it this way in his gospel…

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,

 and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” John 1:1-2 NIV

The importance of the Word is…

 through it we understand this God of love and the

Words of life as He created our lives in the beginning.

The Word of life covers every aspect of how to live an

abundant life here on earth and how to obtain eternal life.

John, this disciple that Jesus loved, wants to invite you and I

to know the fellowship he has with Jesus and the Father.

John gave us the reason for the letter…

  

“We write this to make our joy complete.” I John 1:4

“Life is meant to be lived and shared with others” WMS

So live in fellowship with the God of love

and share that fellowship with others.

Scripture Reading

1 John 1 NIV

1:1 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 joy complete.

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.