Reason Number One

1 John 1:1That 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. 2The 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. 3We 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. 4We write this to make our joy complete.

I apologize for my delay in posting. I had a busy weekend with the boys at church and a long drive to Pittsburgh. It is kinda cool that we had a fellowship planned with the boys right before I got to the verse that I am going to look at today for we are going to talk some about fellowship. I also got to spend some very good fellowship time with my friend Rob and his wife Gigi on Friday night, and Saturday morning I got some extended fellowship time with Rob on a nice long run where we discussed the Word. In my last post I discussed what it is that the apostle wanted to proclaim and today we are going to look at the first reason that he wanted to do so according to the text. My hope is that you will be open to what the apostle has to say.

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard
At this point, I would like to throw my lot in with the apostle. I would like to identify myself with the "we" that is doing the proclaiming for I also have seen and heard. For those of you who may not know me, I did not grow up in the church. I did not come to know Christ until I was 27 years old. Prior to that, I had only heard in part or listened in part, but events happened in my life that forced me to examine the claims that were laid out in scripture. A close and critical examination screamed out to me "Truth". I could no more deny the Truth in scripture than I could deny my own very being. So this is what I have heard but what about what I have seen?

The changes in me have been pretty radical. Anyone who knew me then would probably vouch for my sincerity in saying I am no longer he. I know it was not me that accomplished this change for I tried very hard without success to make the same changes in me that I see now without success. It was only God working in me that allowed me to become who I am today (not that I have attained the goal to which He has called me). But I have also seen it in others. It is not just me. I have witnessed the transformation of many teenagers that I have had the joy of working with and it is more this evidence that I would appeal to as the visible, the "what we have seen". If a third appeal could be made, it would be to the oneness in thinking and spirit that I see so often within our church. Too many times to count I have prepared a lesson only to have the pastor, my Sunday School teacher, or the student minister use the same scripture for his lesson.

Okay, so maybe at this point you are saying you have seen and heard, so what? Why are you telling me about it?

so that you also may have fellowship with us.
The reason the apostle proclaimed what he did and was so willing to suffer for the kingdom was so that you (the reader) might join in this fellowship. The Greek word here is koinōnia and it can be translated both as fellowship and partnership. Both the apostle and I want to make sure that you are well aware that this offer is available to you. We are proclaiming the Word so that you also can partner with us. So many times the church is seen as some exclusive club where only a select few qualify for admittance, but the fact is nobody qualifies. Yet here the offer is extended (by grace- a topic for another day) for you to join with us.

I want you to think about something for a minute. What does the apostle have to gain by you joining in with this fellowship? What do I have to gain? There is no money being asked for here. There is no fame to be gained. I do not seek out any applause for having "won" you over (not that I could win anyone over). Dear reader, understand this: the reason we want you to join our fellowship is that we know what it is like to walk in darkness. This may sound harsh and my goal is not to offend you but an honest question deserves an honest answer. This is not condemnation, this is understanding from one who has been there.

So at this point you may be asking just what is this fellowship?

And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
And this my friends is why the apostle used the words he did in verse two to let you (the reader) know that eternal life found in Christ Jesus the Son of God is available to you. This he knows. He has seen it, he has touched it, it has been shown to him beyond doubt, and he has walked with it. Eternal life in fellowship with God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ is available for you. This is why we proclaim what we do.

Well at least that is one reason.