Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 21

January 21;      I John 1:1;       230/260(III);        ‘The Word of Life’

1 John 1:1 The one who existed from the beginning is the one we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is Jesus Christ, the Word of life.     NLT

The Apostle John begins First John in pretty much the same way he began the Gospel of John, talking about the Lord Jesus who is the Word of God.  Both First John and this epistle teach us that the Lord Jesus always existed.  He temporarily divested Himself of His deity and was born into this world as a human being.  He did this for several reasons.  The first Adam sinned and never fulfilled what he was called to do.  Jesus came to live victoriously, as we were created to live, and He did.  Jesus came to experience everything we experience so that He could be aware of what His creation deals with.  Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, so that we could as well.  Jesus came as a Man to take back the authority Adam gave to satan when he sinned. Jesus came to die on the cross for us as a Man, taking our sins and sicknesses upon Himself, being punished as a Man in our place so that we would not be punished.  John heard what the Lord taught and He saw the love Jesus showed to everyone.  He saw the kindness and compassion of Jesus.  He saw Jesus’ manners with the women and His genuine love for the children.  He saw the miracles Jesus performed and the absolute authority He exercised over demons.  Here is something interesting.  Gnostics taught that Jesus had no body, He was just a spirit.  John tells us that He touched Jesus with His hands.  Everything in the Word is there for as reason.  Jesus, the Word of Life.