Here is a teaching on chapter 1 of the book of 1 John. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters going forward, join our group here. Once you get added to that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.
I did want to say a quick prayer... Lord, I pray that you lift up every person reading this right now. Please give us knowledge and understanding to know exactly what it is that we are reading and the wisdom to implement it in our daily lives. Holy Spirit please guide us and help us to see the truth, know the truth, discern the truth, and live by the truth. I pray that whatever it is that each person is supposed to receive from this Bible study, they receive it and implement it in their daily lives. I love you with every ounce of my being. In Jesus' name, Amen.
1 John Chapter 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.
Alright, so I am going to stop right there and discuss these verses with you guys here. So in verses 1-2, the word of life is Jesus Christ. I am just going to go into the book of John really quick in chapter 1 and put verses 1-5 and they say: 1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." These verses may sound very familiar to you if you kept up with our Bible studies that we did at the end of 2020 and going through to Easter of 2021 over the book of John. So the word that it's talking about here in verses 1-5 in the book of John is Jesus Christ and also the word of life that John is talking about here in 1 John is Jesus Christ. The apostles (John was one of them), other believers, and people that were there at the time when Jesus walked on the earth can testify about Jesus. The only way to get into heaven and have eternal life is through Jesus Christ. Whenever we believe in Jesus, we repent, and we are saved then we have a new life in Jesus and we have eternal life in heaven with Him and God the Father.
In verse 2 when John says "the eternal life," we see in the book of John when Jesus Christ himself claims to be the eternal life. I'm going to go into the book of John again in chapter 5 verse 26 and it says: "For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself." Also, John 6:48 says: "I am the bread of life." The last one is John ch 11:25-26 and it says 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” So Jesus Christ is the eternal life because whenever we believe in him we are dead in our sins and alive in Jesus and we have eternal life in heaven. The only way to have eternal life and make it into heaven is by believing in Jesus Christ, repenting our of sins, asking Him to forgive us of our sins, and being saved by him. Jesus Christ was in heaven with God the Father and then by the power of God the Father he came in the flesh and he was born by Mary. We saw this in our Bible study in part 2 of the book of Luke if you kept up with those Bible studies.
Also what John says here when he says "the eternal life which was with God the Father and has appeared to us" shows the eternal relationship with God the Father and God the Son. We see this relationship in John 17:24 and which says: “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." All throughout the book of John, we see the relationship between God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Father. This also indicates that this eternal being (Jesus Christ) is different from God the Father. John raises this new testament understanding of the Holy Trinity, which is that one God exists as 3 beings, equal in one yet different in their being. So it's God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It's 3 in 1, so it's all God but they are all different beings. We have God the Father in heaven, God the Son (Jesus Christ) who was on this earth and he came and died on the cross for our sins, and then God the Holy Spirit that is within us whenever Jesus Christ saves us. The Holy Spirit was sent by God the Father to counsel us and show us the truth.
There are a few different scriptures that I want to read with you guys here that talk about the Holy Trinity. Matthew chapter 28 verse 19 says: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," 2 Corinthians 13:14 says: "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." Also, 1 Peter 1:2 says: "who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance." So these verses just show the Holy Trinity and the indication of the Holy Trinity.
In verse 3, Biblical fellowship (koinonia) occurs when the shared beliefs of Christians are in place. So these apostles proclaimed the gospel so that others may believe and have a relationship with Jesus Christ and God the Father. In this fellowship, they all would cooperate in worshipping God, doing what God has called them to do, being fully submitted to the will of God the Father, and seeking to live and have a heart like Jesus. In verse 4, the outcome of this fellowship is the fullness of joy. Joy is cheerfulness based on God. Joy is different than happiness because happiness is cheerfulness based on circumstances. We see where Jesus talks about joy in the book of John so I'm going to go into a few verses with you guys here. John 15:11 says: "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." John 16:24 says: "Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." Also, John 17:13 says: "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them."
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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 and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out 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.
Alright, so those are all of the verses of chapter 1 of the book of 1 John, but I'm going to discuss these verses with you guys here. In verse 5, this isn't something that John is making up or his opinions about God, this is God's message about Himself that John is revealing to us. Light symbolizes goodness. So light is good, true, and holy, and darkness is evil and false. Light is pure and there is no sin or darkness in God. God is light. In verse 6, if we claim to have fellowship with God and a relationship with him but we do sinful things and we walk in darkness, then that is our fault and we are deceiving ourselves. We are straying away from God and we are giving in to our sinful nature because there is no sin in God, he is pure and full of goodness, mercy, and grace. So if we do give in to the sinful nature and walk in darkness that is our fault and that has nothing to do with God, we are straying away from Him.
In verse 7, if we walk with God, we worship Him, follow Him, obey His commands, seek to live and have a heart like Jesus, and have this fellowship with others, then we are purified from our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross to forgive us of our sins and his blood washes us whiter than snow. In verse 8, we are all sinners and we all make mistakes. Only God is without sin. If we were without sin then Jesus wouldn't have had to die on the cross to forgive us of our sins. In verse 9, if we repent and acknowledge our guilt then Jesus will forgive us and he will wash us whiter than snow. We have to acknowledge our guilt, repent, and ask for that forgiveness from Jesus. In verse 10, if we deny that we have sinned then we are denying God's word. Sin is always present but Jesus is the remedy for sin. Whenever we ask him to come into our hearts and forgive us of our sins he purifies us and washes us whiter than snow and we have the Holy Spirit within us to guide us, show us that truth, help us to stand up under temptation, and not to fall into the sinful nature. When we are saved we have the fruit of the Spirit within us and we have to portray the fruit of the Spirit to others.
Here are 3 takeaways to write down:
1. Jesus Christ is the Word of life
2. God is light and there is no darkness in Him
3. Jesus is the remedy for sin
1 John Ch 1 Study Guide
Who is the Word of life?
In verse 3, who can testify about Jesus?
What is the difference between joy and happiness?
Is there any darkness in God? Why or why not?
Are any of us humans without sin? Why or why not?
What/who is the remedy for sin? How?
What is your biggest takeaway from this Bible study?
So that concludes this Bible study on chapter 1 of the Book of 1 John. Next time we're going to go into chapter 2 so make sure that you stay tuned for that.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights
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