The Book of 1 John was written for several purposes (1:4; 2:1; 5:13a; 5:13b), and in order for John to accomplish these purposes, it was important for him to dismantle a prevailing false doctrine of the time. There were those, often referred to as Gnostics, who insisted that the spirit is good, but the body and all other matter is evil. Like all false doctrines, their acceptance perverts the mind and the consequences are always harmful. In the case of Gnostics, their beliefs led them to a terrible conclusion, namely, the Divine could have no association with “sinful matter,” therefore Deity could not have presented Himself in the flesh. Obviously, the denial of the “man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5) would destroy their fellowship (“joint participation, a sharing with”) with God and, by default, their fellowship with one another (1 John 1:5-2:14). John, in order to prevent such devastation from taking place, provided evidence for the historical Jesus with whom he had a special bond as the “beloved” apostle.
John began by declaring the “Word of life,” who he knew personally, “was from the beginning” (1a). In this statement, John affirmed the eternality of the One “whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ” (John 1:1; Matthew 1:16). This is consistent with John’s proclamation in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Yet it would not be sufficient for John to establish the eternality of the “Word of life” without connecting the Word of life with the man Christ Jesus. For this reason John provided evidence that the Word of life was manifested in the person Jesus (Matthew 1:25).
John wrote, “which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled” (1b). Though the Gnostics claimed Jesus was not God in the flesh, John provided evidence to the contrary. There are two general ways to come to the knowledge of the truth: (1) experience (seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling) and (2) contemplation (conclusions based on facts). John shared his first-hand experience with mankind that we might conclude, by way of contemplation, that Jesus is indeed the “Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).
John did not simply know an acquaintance of Jesus who then provided a description of His looks and words; instead, he had intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ. John, along with others, had heard Jesus speak words that could have only originated from God (John 6:67-68). He had heard Jesus proclaim upon the cross “it is finished” as He gave His life for a sinful people (1 John 1:8). In addition, John had seen the Word manifested in human form with his own eyes. John was present as Jesus performed countless miracles befitting of God (John 3:2) and recorded several that we “might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:30-31). He had not only seen Jesus, he had gazed (“looked upon”) Him. John had not just seen Jesus afar off; rather, he had gazed upon the linens neatly folded in the empty tomb (John 20:5) and beheld the risen Savior (1 Corinthians 15:5-7). John added, “and our hands have handled” Jesus. It was John’s head that lay upon the breast of Christ as Jesus predicted He would be betrayed (John 13:23). It was also John and the other apostles who were given the opportunity to touch the resurrected person, Jesus the Christ (Luke 24:36-39).
For this reason, John was an authority concerning the authenticity of Jesus as a man and as the Son of God. For the Word of life had been manifested in the flesh (John 1:14), and he had seen and touched Him! In only two verses, John had put the Gnostics’ beliefs to shame and restored mankind’s hope for fellowship with God.
