In this message we begin to consider aspects of the experience and enjoyment of Christ in the Epistles of John.
In 1 John 1:1-7 we see Christ as the Word of life. First John 1:1 says, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life.” The Word of life in this verse is the Word mentioned in John 1:1-4 and 14, who was with God and was God in eternity before creation, who became flesh in time, and in whom is life. This Word conveys the eternal life and is the divine person of Christ as an account, a definition, and an expression of all that God is. In Him is life, and He is life (11:25; 14:6). The phrase the Word of life in Greek indicates that the Word is life. The person is the divine life, the eternal life, which we can touch.
First John 1:2 continues, “And the life was manifested.” This indicates that life is a synonym for Word of life in the preceding verse. Both denote the divine person of Christ, who was with the Father in eternity and was manifested in time through incarnation, and whom the apostles saw and testified and reported to the believers. Christ as the Word of life is the eternal life itself for our experience and enjoyment.
The Greek words rendered “the eternal life” literally mean “the life the eternal.” This life denotes the divine spiritual life, not the human soulish life or the physical life (Rom. 5:17). Eternal denotes not only duration of time, which is everlasting, without end, but also quality, which is absolutely perfect and complete, without any shortage or defect. Such an expression emphasizes the eternal nature of the divine life, the life of the eternal God. The apostles saw this eternal life and testified and reported it to people. Their experience was not of any doctrine but of Christ, the Son of God, as the eternal life, and their testimony and preaching were not of theology or biblical knowledge but of such a solid life.
The eternal life is an indestructible life (Heb. 7:16). Nothing can destroy or dissolve this life. It is an endless life, being the eternal, divine, uncreated life, and the resurrection life which has passed through the test of death and Hades (Acts 2:24; Rev. 1:18). Satan and his followers thought that they had terminated this life by crucifying it. The religious leaders had a similar concept. However, crucifixion gave this life the best opportunity to be multiplied, to be propagated (John 12:24). Because this life is unlimited, it can never be conquered, subdued, or destroyed.
Eternal life is the life of God (Eph. 4:18; 2 Pet. 1:3). We may say that this life is actually God Himself with the contents of divine love and divine light. And this life is of the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:2), especially when it becomes our life for our enjoyment.
Eternal life is also the Son of God. This life is not simply a matter or a thing; this life is a person. The divine life is God Himself expressed in His Son. First John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has the life.” In our experience we know that eternal life is the Son of God Himself.
First John 1:2 goes on to say, “We have seen and testify and report to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us.” Here we see that Christ as the Word of life is in three stages. First, He was with the Father from the beginning, that is, from eternity past; second, He was manifested to the apostles through His incarnation and human living on earth; third, He was reported to the believers.
The Greek word rendered “with” in verse 2 implies living and acting in union and communion with. The eternal life, which is the Son, not only was with the Father but also was living and acting in union and communion with the Father in eternity. This word corresponds with John 1:1-2. The source of the eternal life is the Father, from whom and with whom the Son was manifested as the expression of the eternal life for those, whom the Father has chosen, to partake of and enjoy this life.
This manifestation of the eternal life was through Christ’s incarnation, which John stressed strongly in his Gospel (1:14) as an antidote to inoculate the believers against the heresy which said that Christ did not come in the flesh. Such a manifestation, corresponding with being touchable, indicates again the substantial nature of the Lord’s humanity, which is the manifestation of the divine life in the New Testament economy. The manifestation of the eternal life includes the revelation and impartation of life to man, with a view to bringing man into the eternal life, into its union and communion with the Father.
This Word is the Word of life. God is life, the Word, which is God, is life to us, and this life was manifested. This life is the Lord Jesus Christ. When He was manifested in the flesh, He was manifested as life. If we prayerfully consider the record in the four Gospels with all the stories recorded concerning Jesus, we can see that in His human living, life was always manifested. The Lord Jesus was a person who manifested life. The disciples, including John, saw that life. Therefore, John could testify and report to us the eternal life which was with the Father. Today if we read the Word prayerfully, we will receive the benefit of the manifestation of eternal life.
The apostles saw eternal life, the life that was manifested, and then testified and reported this life to the believers. What they reported was not some theology or doctrine which they had heard and been taught, but the divine life, which they had seen and testified by their practical experiences.
When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He said, “I am the bread of life,” “I have come that they may have life,” and “I am...the life” (6:35; 10:10; 14:6). John indicated that the Lord Jesus is this life and that he saw, heard, handled, and was made sure of Him; then John reported this eternal life to us. He did not report merely by speaking and preaching about it, but he conveyed and transmitted it into us.
The apostles preached the eternal life, which they had heard, seen, and handled. This shows us that the ministry in the early days was a ministry of life. The preaching, teaching, and ministry of the apostles were to preach life, teach life, and minister life. The preaching of the gospel is the declaration of life as a person to people. It is not the passing on of doctrine or knowledge but the proclamation of a person who is life.