1 John 1:1-4
What is fellowship? It comes through the life that we have with Jesus Christ. Not everybody has life—you can exist and not have life. That is why Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10b).
Life in Jesus Is a Fact
If a person is wrong about Jesus, he does not know God. (See 2 John 1:9; John 14:6.) In 1 John 1:1-2, John starts by establishing who Jesus is: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us…”
Jesus Is an Eternal Fact
“That which was from the beginning…” (See 1 John 1:1.) Jesus is called the Word of God—the visible expression of the invisible God. (See John 1:1.)
“I am the Alpha and the Omega” (Revelation 22:13a). The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Jesus is saying, “Anything God will say, He will say through me.”
Jesus Is a Physical Fact
“…Which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled…” (See 1 John 1:1.)
Jesus Christ weighed a certain number of pounds. He had a certain color hair. Christ was in human form. It is as much a heresy to deny the humanity of Jesus as it is to deny the deity of Jesus.
Jesus Is a Spiritual Fact
“…We have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life…”
(See 1 John 1:2.) John saw Jesus. The people to whom he wrote had not. So John says, in effect, “I am telling you what I have seen so that you can believe.” The Holy Spirit of God reveals Jesus to us. (See 1 John 5:9.)
We Have Fellowship Because of Jesus
“That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).
Fellowship is from the Greek word koinonia, which means “to hold things in common.” That is, because of the established fact of Jesus, Christians have a common experience, which means we have fellowship one with another.
Fellowship with God
What do you have in common with the Father? Nothing. God, who knows that there is a chasm between you and Himself, sent Jesus. Jesus kept His deity, and also took on humanity. Now we become “partakers of the divine nature.” (See 2 Peter 1:4.) The word “partaker” is from exactly the same word that is translated as “fellowship” in 1 John 1:3.
We have fellowship with God because of the Incarnation.
Fellowship in the Body of Christ
When I am born of God, and you are born of God, Jesus in me will love Jesus in you. That is the “fellowship of the Gospel.” (See Philippians 1:5.)
Fulfillment & Joy through Fellowship with Jesus
John says in 1 John 1:4, “ And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.”
Do you want joy? This is where it is found: in fellowship with Jesus. If you live for happiness, you are a prisoner of circumstances. But Jesus never changes.
This life that comes from God is real. It results in koinonia—in fellowship with God, and fellowship with one another, and then you have fullness of joy.
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