The Source of Joy and the Engine of Evangelism
1 John 1:1-4
Why do we share the gospel of Jesus Christ?
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Published December 7th, 2018
1 John 1:1-4
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1 John 1:1-4 NASB
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1 John 1:1-4
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1 John Introduction, The Incarnate Word 1 1 What was a from the beginning, what we have b heard, what we have c seen with our eyes, what we d have looked at and e touched with our hands, concerning the f Word of Life— 2 and a the life was manifested, and we have b seen and c testify and proclaim to you d the eternal life, which was e with the Father and was a manifested to us— 3 what we have a seen and b heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our c fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 a These things we write, so that our b joy may be made complete.
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Main point summary
We proclaim to you the God-man Jesus, who we are eye witnesses to and love and have been loved by, so that we can have fellowship with one another as His body, the church, and with our Father and Jesus His Son. Therefore, I'm writing this book so that by hearing it and believing it and acting on it, our joy may be made complete in our fellowship with God and one another!
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1 John 1:1-4
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What was a from the beginning,
Jesus, who has been from eternity past with the Father,
what we have b heard,
Jesus who we have heard teach with our own ears,
what we have c seen with our eyes,
Jesus who we have seen in the flesh with our own eyes and seen His resurrected body,
what we d have looked at and e touched with our hands,
Jesus who we have looked at and touched with our own hands,
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concerning the f Word of Life—
Jesus who is the Word of Life-
ideaexplanation
and a the life was manifested,
and Jesus' eternal life became flesh and dwelt among us and became visible and hearable and touchable and experiencable with our physical senses,
and we have b seen
and we have seen with our eyes
and c testify
and we have told as many people as we could about Him
and proclaim to you d the eternal life,
and we have proclaimed to you the eternal Jesus,
which was e with the Father
who was with the Father from eternity past as God himself
and was a manifested to us—
and who was born as a man and appeared to us in the flesh-
progression
what we have a seen
Jesus who we really and truly have seen with our own eyes! Hear me! Believe me!
and b heard
Jesus who we have heard with our ears! Hear me! Believe me!
we proclaim to you also,
We are proclaiming the eternal Christ who we truly know to you also,
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
SO THAT you too might believe and be saved and be reconciled to God and be baptized into us, His church, and truly have authentic fellowship with us;
and indeed our c fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
and our (yours and my) fellowship is with YHWY God almighty , and with Jesus God almighty His beloved Son.
actionpurpose
a These things we write,
Therefore, we are writing this whole letter to you,
so that our b joy may be made complete.
SO THAT our joy, both yours and mine, may be filled to the brim and that our joy will be in the only true source of Joy which is fellowship with God!
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Notes
The motivation for sharing the gospel is not ultimately to change people’s moral behavior to bring them into a stable and healthy lifestyle or to conform them to religious behavior, but rather to bring people into true joy in fellowship with us as His people and ultimately with God Himself. We are connecting people to joy by connecting them to Christ! Evangelism is about joy! If this is how we approach people and how we feel as we share the gospel and disciple people, they will see it and feel it! We aren’t ashamed to call people to joy! We don’t lead with eyes down embarrassed that we are calling people to stop having fun getting drunk and fornicating to follow Jesus. We lead with blazing eyes full of joy ourselves offering them a greater high, a greater joy in fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! "In His presence is fullness of joy; at His right hand are pleasures forever!" (Psalm 16:11) As we bring people into fellowship with God and they experience the joy of fellowship with Him, the name of God is glorified in them and through us!!! Let JOY in God be our engine for evangelism and discipleship!
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Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.