In these four verses three things are highlighted: A relationship, a fellowship, and a joy.
John writes, "He who gives life was shown to us." Twice he says it. What does he mean by it? He means that this eternal life was visible in the relationship of the Father and the Son.
Jesus did not come to show us God, he came to show us man related to God.
As we look at the life of Jesus we see this secret relationship, this lost secret of humanity, this new way by which man is intended to live -- continual dependence upon the life of the Father.
In John 14:10, He said, “I don't do these things, it's not I who accomplishes these works, it is the Father who dwells in me.”
He simply looked to God and trusted God to be working through him. In doing this he expressed exactly the mind of God. It is that life that John is talking about, a new way of living, a new way…in dependence upon God.
"This life was manifest," John says, "and we are going to tell you about it, we are going to proclaim it to you."
Then he says that this life will result in two wonderful things: First, fellowship. John arrives upon the most beautiful thing about family life -- fellowship, companionship:
In 1 John 1:3, we read, We announce to you what we have seen and heard, because we want you also to have fellowship with us. Our fellowship is with God the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
Fellowship means "to have all things in common." When you have something in common with another you can have fellowship with him. If you have nothing in common, you have no fellowship.
We all share human life in common.
Most of us share American citizenship in common. But John is talking about that unique fellowship which is only the possession of those who share life in Jesus Christ together. This makes them one and that is the basis for the appeal of Scripture to live together in tenderness and love toward one another. Not because we are inherently wonderful people or remarkable personalities, or that we are naturally gracious, kind, loving, and tender all the time -- for at times we are grouchy, nasty, and irritating. But we are still to love one another. That is his point.
Why? Because we have something in common. We share the life of the Lord Jesus, and therefore we have fellowship with one another. There is not only the horizontal relationship but that, in turn, depends upon a vertical one.
He goes on, "and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ."
The horizontal relationship is directly related to the vertical one. If the vertical is not right, the horizontal one will be wrong. Now, fellowship there means exactly the same thing it means elsewhere. It means having things in common. Here we come to the most remarkable thing about Christian life, communion, or fellowship with Christ. It takes two English words to bring out what this really means.
There is, first of all, a partnership, i.e., the sharing of mutual interests, resources, and labor together.
God and I, working together, a partnership. All that I have is put at his disposal. All of my mind, all of my body. True, these are gifts of God, but they are put at my disposal to do with as I please. That is what I have, and now I put them at his disposal. Everything that he is, is put at my disposal. The greatness of God, the wisdom, the power, the glory of his might -- all is made available to me, when I make myself available to him.
This is the great secret of fellowship. This means that he makes available to me that which I desperately lack, wisdom and power, the ability to do. There are things I know I want to do, things I would like to do because it is his will, what he wants. But I can only do them as I make myself available to him, depending upon him to come through from his side, making himself available to me.
Then I discover that I can do what I want to do. That is what Paul says: "I can do all things, through Christ who strengthens me," {Phil 4:13}. But it is not only partnership, there is also friendship. Friendship and partnership together spell fellowship.
Have you ever thought of this, that God desires you to be his friend? What do you do with a friend? You tell him secrets. That is what friends are for. You tell them intimate things, secrets. And God wants to tell us secrets. Jesus said to his disciples, "I have not called you servants, but I have called you friends," {John 15:15}. He said this in a context in which he was attempting to impart to them the secrets of life.
Now God will do this, he wants to do it. This is what that wonderful word, fellowship, means. But it will be as you are able to bear these secrets. As you grow along with him you will discover that your eyes are continually being opened to things you never saw before. God will tell you secrets about yourself, about life, about others around you, about everything, imparting these to you because that is part of fellowship. That is what we are called to.
The fellowship is based upon the relationship. You cannot have the fellowship until you first come to Christ and receive him. When you have the Son you are related to the Father, and when you are related to him, you can have fellowship with him.
Then, when you have fellowship, you have the third thing that John mentions.
"These things we are writing," he says, "that your joy may be full."
I want to close on that note for that is where John closes his introduction, but I want to use a different term than joy. In some ways it is not as descriptive and accurate a term as joy, for joy is compounded of many things. Joy is an excellent word here, but perhaps it will be more helpful for us to understand what John means if we use the word, excitement.
"That your excitement may be complete."
Joy is a kind of quiet inner excitement and this is what results when we really experience the fellowship that John is talking about. When we discover that God is actually using us, it is the most exciting and joy-producing experience possible to men. Do not make the mistake of thinking that the only way to have joy is to be free from pressures or problems. No, take all the pressures and the problems, but with them that wonderful feeling down inside that God is at work, and he is at work in you. You are a vital part of God's program. God is using you to do his eternal work. There is nothing more exciting than that. That is what John is writing about. That is worth listening to, is it not?
