Joy! We read about it, talk about it, and we sing about it. The Bible says the joy of the Lord is our strength. Joy is also listed second just under love in the fruit of the Spirit. So the question is, how can we experience complete joy in the Lord?
We are writing these things so that our joy can be complete. 1 John 1:4 CEB
There is an excitement revealed as we read the words that John wrote in this letter. He started verse 1 by making a proclamation.” He said;
We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 1 John 1:1
John started his gospel, the Book of John with, “in the beginning was the Word.” His proclamation in this writing states a similar phrase.
John though, this time was saying “we knew Him and we touched Him.” According to verse 2, He is not just the Word, He is life itself.
This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 1 John 1:2
In verse 2, John proclaimed who was revealed and who he had seen. In verse 3, he proclaimed what he had seen and heard.
We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. . 1 John 1:3
John’s Proclamations
Did you notice that John used to word proclaim in each of the first 3 verses? He also focused on Jesus as the life. He is the Word of Life and eternal life. Now, we can fellowship together because our fellowship is with Jesus and His Father.
Encourage One Another
I believe when John wrote this letter he was filled with excitement. After his 3 proclamations in the first 3 verses, in verse 5 he made a declaration.
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 1 John 1:5
So John declared that God is light. Why was it important that he went from talking about life to now bringing up light? I think we’ll see why in verse 7.
If we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7
In verse 9, John tied everything together. Fellowship, life, light, and forgiveness of our sins. Look what he said.
If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 1 John 1:9
Experiencing Complete Joy In The Lord
When we look back at verse 4, John told us these things for his complete joy. That is precisely how we can experience complete joy in the Lord.
We must take our experience outside of ourselves, in other words, share it with others. When we do that, John says our joy will be complete.
Lord, you are the author and finisher of life and everything in it. Thank you for making a way for us to have fellowship with you for all eternity. Help us to share our experience with others so our joy can be complete.
Take a look at the first chapter of 1 John.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Christian Perspectives
Featured Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
