1 John 1:1 KJV
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;
What an interesting phrase, especially
since the obvious subject is Jesus Christ. It is fascinating because it seems
so impersonal, so generic. The term is, in fact, gender neutral, which makes it
unlikely to be a direct reference to
Christ. Barnes has interesting notes concerning this....
“There can be no doubt that the reference here is to
the Lord Jesus Christ, … The apostle, … uses a word in the neuter gender
instead of the masculine, It is not to be supposed, I think, that he meant to
apply this term “directly” to the Son of God, … the particular thing here
referred to was “whatever” there was respecting that incarnate Saviour that
furnished testimony to any of the senses, or that pertained to his character
and doctrine, he had borne witness to. …
The sense may be this:
- ‘Whatever
there was respecting the Word of life, or him who is the living Word, the
incarnate Son of God, from the very beginning, from the time when he was
first manifested in the flesh;
- whatever
there was respecting his exalted nature, his dignity, his character, that
could be subjected to the testimony of the senses, to be the object of
sight, or hearing, or touch,
that I was permitted to see, and that I declare to
you respecting him.’.”
The gist is that John is referring here
not only to Jesus Christ but to all that is true concerning Him, especially
those things that concern our conviction that He is the Christ. In other words
all that is true of Christ's earthly life was always true of Him. All that He
was when He was seen and heard and handled of the Apostles was always true.
Jesus was not just a man possessed of God nor was He merely God in a man's body
for a period of time but that which was seen and heard and touched of Him was
always Him. His nature and character and essence was always the Christ. From
the beginning, before the foundations of the world, before there was a man on
earth and a sin to separate that man from God, there was already and there had
always been a Saviour.
What a thought. The eternal essence of
God is Saviour. It is as much a part of His character as "God is
love" and "God is holy".
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