1 John 1:1 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, of the Word of life; 2: (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3: That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4: And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

Introduction

The apostle John was very old when he wrote this letter. As we saw last time, one of the reasons why he wrote this letter is to warn the believers from false teachings that are becoming popular in his days. Now John outlived all the other apostles and he alone was left to defend the faith that God has entrusted unto them. So, he picked up his pen and wrote First John’s Epistle. John gets to the point by setting forth the doctrine of Incarnation—which is about the Divinity and Humanity of Jesus Christ. He testifies that he, with the other apostles, were eyewitnesses of the Word of life who was from the beginning that became flesh to dwell among us.

John writes, “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, of the Word of life.” Biblical Christianity is not based on hearsay, tradition, or speculation. It is based on historical fact. The apostles who lived in history were eyewitnesses of the life, ministry, death, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what they have personally witnessed they faithfully and boldly proclaim. 1 John 1:2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3: That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

The Gospel is not a message to keep to ourselves, it’s a message to be proclaimed. The good news of the Gospel is too good to keep to ourselves. If you are a Christian today, the Great Commission is your commission. We are not only responsible to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but we are also responsible to preach the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to others. And what did John and the other apostles boldly and faithfully proclaim? They preached and proclaimed Jesus Christ, the Word of life. They testified everywhere they went that Jesus Christ who is 100% God and 100% man is the Eternal Life. They bear witness and show unto us that eternal life, which is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then John goes on to say in verse 3 to inform his readers that he had a purpose in mind in proclaiming this message about Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Here John states that the reason why he and the other apostles proclaim Jesus Christ is that his readers may also have fellowship with them and with God. John was eager to share all that he had learned and experienced and witnessed concerning the Word of Life. Why? Because he wanted his readers to have the same kind of fellowship with God the Father and with God the Son as they had. That’s what I want you to consider with me this morning—fellowship with God. Let’s look at this precious subject in three headings, namely, Created for Fellowship, Called unto Fellowship, and Consequence of Fellowship.

I – Created for Fellowship

First, let me take you back to the book Genesis where we read the account of creation. After creating and providing everything that is necessary for man to inhabit and live on earth, God said in Genesis 3:26, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness ...”  And that’s what God did. God created man in His own image, after His likeness. Understand that only human beings were created after God’s image and likeness and that’s for a reason. He created mankind in His own image to give us the capacity is to know Him and love Him and have fellowship with Him. The human race was created for fellowship with God. Fellowship with God is one of the precious privileges that Adam and Eve had. In Greek, the word “fellowship” is “koinonia.” It is also translated as “communion.”

1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

2 Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

God wants to have an intimate communion with us. He wants to have a close fellowship with us, which is to me an amazing thing. Imagine lowly creatures of dust having intimate fellowship and close communion with a great and glorious God. Understand that God did not need our fellowship. He doesn’t need to have a relationship with us. God is perfect. He is perfect in Himself and in all His attributes. He is complete in Himself. He is a self-sufficient God, in need of nothing. He did not create us because He was lonely. No! God is perfectly happy and content in that divine fellowship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But His love desires to share. He wants others to know His love and to share in His love. So, He created mankind in His own image, according to His own likeness to fellowship with Him. And that’s what Adam and Eve had as they walked with God in the cool of the day in the Garden of Eden. Created in God’s image and likeness, their thoughts, desires, and will where in perfect harmony with the Lord’s. What a relationship it was! What a fellowship! What a joy divine!

But sadly, that changed. Satan, the great deceiver came to Adam and Eve and told lies about God, that God is not good to them and that He is deceiving them. Tragically, Adam and Eve believed his lies and their fellowship with God was broken. Because of their sin, their sweet and harmonious fellowship with God was destroyed. And you and I now share in the consequences of their sin. The Bible says sin separates.

Isaiah 56:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

Our iniquities have separated us from our God; our sins have hidden His face from us, so that He will not and does not hear. And yet, God still loves us, and He still desires for us to know Him and love Him and have fellowship with Him. But how can a fallen sinful being have fellowship with a sinless Being? This brings us to our next heading.

II – Called unto Fellowship

When Adam and Eve sinned, something changed in their nature and it affected their will, their understanding, and their affection. When our first parents sinned, instead of running to God for forgiveness, they ran and hid themselves. That’s what sin does. Sin alienates. Sin makes us run from God. Sin destroys relationships. Sin breaks fellowship. This is not only true in the vertical relationship but also in the horizontal relationship. Sin destroys not only our relationship and fellowship with God but also with one another. Because of sin Adam and Eve have lost their desire to fellowship with God. But thank God, although Adam and Eve changed, God did not change. God’s desire is still the same. God still wants to commune with us. While Adam and Eve went running and hiding, God went looking and searching for them and asked, “Adam where art thou?” God still wants us to have an intimate fellowship with Him, but fellowship is not possible because of sin. God could not have fellowship with what we were, and so God made a way to restore us to our lost privilege.

There is only one-way and it’s the way of the Cross.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

The way back to the Father and to that sweet communion and fellowship is the way of the cross. “I must needs go home by the way of the cross, there's no other way but this.” God the Father gave His only begotten Son to die for sinners to restore to them that lost privilege of fellowshipping with Him. He made it possible by sending Jesus Christ into the world to give His life for us. That’s what the Gospel is. The Gospel is about God restoring us into that relationship and fellowship with Him. The Gospel is about restoring guilty and fallen sinners like us to the very purpose for which we were created. When we believe the Gospel, God changes us. He recreates in us His image. He renews in us His likeness. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. He forgives us, and clothes us with perfect righteousness of Christ and brings us into His family as His own dear children. Through the new birth our relationship and fellowship with God is restored.

Today, through the Gospel, God is still calling sinners back to Him, back to a relationship where we can enjoy sweet fellowship with Him. Don’t miss out on this call to a great honor and privilege. If you are not a born-again Christian today, God is calling you to become one. He calls you into fellowship with Himself. The apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians, summarizes the entire Christian calling as fellowship with God.

1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

III – The Consequence of Fellowship

1 John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4: And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

There are number of consequences or results of true fellowship with God, but John focuses on one here in our text which is joy. The result of true fellowship whether with God or with fellow believers is joy. And as our fellowship with God and with one another deepens, the joy deepens. There is only way to have full joy and that is to be in fellowship with the Father and with the Son. Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness has to do with what happens. It depends on circumstances. But the “joy” that John is referring to depends on Christ. As someone has said, “Joy depends on the immovable, unshakable, unchanging, victorious, ever-faithful, soon coming center of all pleasures, Jesus Christ. That’s what our joy depends on. Now who is going to take that away from me? Who is going to take that away from us? He [Jesus Christ] is the core of Christian contentment and Christian joy.” No political party can take away your joy. No crashing economy can take away your joy. No coronavirus can take away your joy. That’s what’s wonderful about the joy found in Jesus Christ.

What have I to dread, what have I to fear,

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms!

I have peace complete with my Lord so near,

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms!

But also, don’t miss the progression that John establishes here in his opening verses of his letter. The progression is doctrine, fellowship, and joy. The doctrine of Christ believed leads to fellowship with God, and fellowship with God leads to fullness of joy.

Lenski speaking about the importance of receiving and believing the doctrine or testimony of the apostles about the Lord Jesus Christ wrote, “Throughout the past centuries even as today those who reject the testimony of the apostles have no fellowship with them, have no fellowship with the Father and with His Son, who is none other than Jesus Christ. Although they may preach God and fellowship with God as much as they please they are antichrists (4:3) and deny the Father as well as the Son. “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father” (2:23), may he claim what he will. “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” (4:15), which alone is fellowship with God. All this is basic for the entire epistle and thus appears in John’s basic statement (v. 1–4).”

Furthermore, true joy is not something that we manufacture for ourselves. True joy is the wonderful byproduct of fellowshipping with God. David knew this fulness of joy and wrote about it in Psalm 16:11, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Peter also wrote about the fulness of joy, “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” (1 Peter 1:8)

Spurgeon writes, “Hear ye this, ye people of God! The object of the revelation of Jesus Christ is that you may have joy, — yea, that you may have a heart full of joy, and that you may know what full joy means; for, here below, we get but drops and dashes of joy, unless we are brought into fellowship with God through Jesus Christ; and then, we have the very joy of God in our souls. Oh, the delight of it! Oh, that you could all know it to the full!”

Closing Thoughts

All men desire fullness of joy, but very few experiences it. Not because it is not available or freely offered to them but because they seek it in the wrong place. And sadly, so many true believers today are guilty of making the same mistake. In addition to sin, worldliness and earthly mindedness are some of the causes of lack of joy and unhappiness in the world today. The world promises joy, but it always leads to sorrow, pain and emptiness. Sin and worldly pleasures may bring enjoyment, but they are brief and momentary enjoyment. But pleasures and enjoyment in the presence of and communion with God last eternally—they are pleasures forevermore. God wants you and me to have fullness of joy and that is only found in the fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ

Chuck Smith commenting on 1 John 1:3 wrote, “I feel so sorry for those whose hearts and minds are closed to Jesus Christ. If they only knew what they were missing out on. The philosophers who talk about the ultimate experience, confess that they know nothing about it. We know what it is. It is walking in fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.”

If you want joy, real joy, wonderful joy,

Let Jesus come into your heart;

Your sins He’ll wash away,

Your night He’ll turn to day,

Your life He’ll make over anew;

If you want joy, real joy, wonderful joy,

Let Jesus come into your heart.

Oh, if you have not opened your heart to Jesus Christ do so today and you will enjoy the privilege of true fellowship and close communion with the Father and with His Son, which leads to joy, joy unspeakable and full of glory!

AMEN!