| Copyright 2017) by Brenda Branson (Hanson, Kentucky) |
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| “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. 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. 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. Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.” (1 John 1:1-4 NLT) Can you feel and hear the excitement in John’s words? He had something so important to share that he just couldn’t contain it: “We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands.” He repeats it three times in those first three verses. Wow, can you imagine what that must have been like to see Jesus’ face, to hear his voice, and sit as close to him as John did! I’m so thankful God inspired John to write down what he saw and heard. Although we don’t worship the writings of John or Paul or any of the other writers of the Bible, they point us to Jesus, the “Word of life” whom we worship. My friend, Sally Lloyd-Jones, author of The Jesus Storybook Bible, says it this way: “The Bible isn’t a book of rules or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne–everything–to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life! You see, the best thing about this Story is–it’s true. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story, there is a baby. Every Story in the Bible whispers his name.” I hope you are as excited as John was when you read scripture and encounter Jesus there. You can’t reach out and touch him like John did, but his Spirit will be there to teach you and guide you. As we study scripture together, we will experience the fellowship and joy that John hoped we would, and not only fellowship with each other, but “with the Father and with his son, Jesus Christ.” Hmmm, sounds like a party! We’re all invited. ———————————————————————————————————- See Brenda Bransons other articles at: Branson, Brenda – Church of God, Bismarck (church-of-god-bismarck.org) Reprinted with permission from: Broken People https://www.brokenpeople.org/ ———————————————————————————————————- |
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