Daily Thoughts from 1 John: Knockoffs (1:1-4)

Daily Thoughts from 1 John: Knockoffs

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.  (1 John 1:1-4 ESV)

In Beijing one year I was fascinated to visit an extended alleyway that was full of vendors.  They had everything, including jackets from North Face, or so it seemed.  The spelling of the name had been slightly altered.  The price, of course, was much less than the real product would normally cost.  I was in a knockoff market!

From its very inception the message of Christianity has been the victim of knockoff versions.  Paul finds this group coming behind him after he plants a church and giving a “corrected” version of the gospel.  And here, in John’s first letter of three in our Bible, he too is dealing with knockoffs.

John, the apostle, is writing to the church in the city of Ephesus.  It has recently gone through a division over the person of Jesus.  A part of the congregation has left over the debate.  Those who left believed that Jesus was either not a real human being or a real human being who was not also God.  Either he just seemed to have a body but was really a phantom who looked like a man or he was a man but the Christ spirit came and went from him as needed.

So John begins by asserting unequivocally that Jesus was a real human being.  John and the other apostles (the “we” of these verses) heard him, saw him and touched him.  He wasn’t a phantom but had a real body.  And this truth is essential to the message of eternal life.  If you want to have fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus, you must have fellowship with his authoritative apostles.  And if you want to have fellowship with them you must adhere to the truth.  Their teaching is what exposes knockoffs.

John is not trying to uphold his own power or influence for selfish reasons.  He wants his beloved congregation to have life and the joy that comes from that life.  Joy is a key evidence of eternal life.  In fact, this letter is going to be addressing the key evidences that one has eternal life, one of which is doctrinal, the other behavioral and attitudinal.  John will be reassuring those who remained that they did so for the right reasons, but also challenging all who read that their faith must evidence itself in doctrinal purity, obedience to Jesus, love for the saints and a proper view of sin in their own lives.

If we aren’t living that kind of life we are living a knockoff gospel, which is no gospel at all, of course.