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; (2) (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) (3) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. (4) And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
It is impossible to enter upon this Epistle, where so much display of the glories of Christ's person meets us at the door, without being overwhelmed with the contemplation, if so be God the Holy Ghost be our teacher. Reader! pause, before you go a step further. That which was from the beginning. Who, or what can God the Holy Ghost be speaking of but the Lord Jesus Christ, who is emphatically That, even that Holy One, who is the sum and substance of all revelation; by whom were all things created, and who is before all things, and by whom all things consist! Colossians 1:16-17, Not That, in his divine nature and essence only. For then the words added would be unsuitable; That which was from the beginning. What beginning? Not eternity. For eternity hath no beginning. But the beginning of God's going forth in his three-fold character of persons; in those great events which concern Christ and his Church. Such as John relates in his Gospel. See John 1:1 and Commentary. And Paul; Ephesians 1:4 and Commentary.
That these words are so to he accepted is very plain from what follows; for the Apostle adds, which we have heard and seen. No man hath seen God at any time. But the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him; John 1:19. Hence this glorious That is Christ, the glorious God-Man-Mediator; and which John opens his Epistle with speaking of, in this most blessed and sublime manner. I detain the Reader to observe with me, the peculiar blessedness in which the Holy Ghost hath influenced the beloved Disciple to speak of his Lord, That. Not his name; but in a more striking and descriptive way of blessedness: THAT. It is similar to the phrase used by the Angel sent to Mary, when he called Christ, That Holy Thing! Luke 1:35. As if (and which is in reality the case), holiness is only in Him. He, and He alone is holy. He and He only is That. Reader! do, I beseech you, ponder it well. It is at all times sweet. It hath been so in all ages of the Church. Multitudes now in glory have felt the sweetness of this expression, That. And, in the present Christ-despising generation, it becomes eminently so to the true believer in Jesus, See Isaiah 49:7
But we must not stop here. The beloved Apostle having introduced his Epistle in the first word of it with this glorious That, speaks with confidence and delight of his gracious familiarity with his people, in having allowed them to hear him, to see him, to look upon him; and that their hands have handled this word of life. Reader! here again, I beseech you, pause over this account. And when you have done it, ask your own heart this single question. Had John considered Christ simply as a man, (as some who call themselves Christians presume to do, and yet deny his Godhead), would he have thought it necessary to have said, that he and his companions heard Christ, and saw him, looked upon him, and touched him? Would there have been anything surprising in those acts? But that he who was, and is God, should tabernacle among men, and should manifest his Godhead in a bodily substance, go in and out before them, and day by day make himself known to them, in all those wonderful transactions, of which John and his brethren the Apostles were ear and eye witnesses: these, indeed, were things to record, and which, while recording, their minds were overwhelmed with the contemplation of such astonishing manifestations!
The Apostle hath put the second verse of this wonderful relation, concerning the Person of Christ, in a parenthesis. Not as if it might be omitted, for it is too blessed for that purpose; but because his mind seemed to be, for the moment, lost in the marvelous subject, and he left speaking to the Church, to contemplate more immediately the Lord's Person. And how doth he express himself here? Truly, in the same delightful stile as might most fully shew his apprehensions of the Godhead of Christ, manifested in a body of flesh. For the life was manifested, (saith he), and we have seen it What life? He adds, that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested to us. What words can be more full to the purpose, in confirmation of Christ's Godhead? For who less than the Eternal God, can have Eternal life? And what can be more plain, in confirmation, that the Son of God became incarnate, than when the Apostle adds, that this eternal life was manifested, and we (he saith) have seen it; that is, seen God in Christ. Similar to what the same Apostle said, in the Gospel which bears his name. For the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory: the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth; John 1:14
The Apostle having thus introduced to the Church the glorious Person of Christ, God-Man Mediator, in this most exalted point of view; he next proceeds to state the motives for which he sends this Epistle to the Lord's people; namely, that the whole body of Christ's Church might have partnership with them, in the knowledge and enjoyment of God in Christ, and the joy, both of Apostles and People, might be full. This, indeed, is the great object and design of all revelation. And, when God the Holy Ghost hath regenerated the souls of Christ's people, and through his quickening and illuminating grace, the child of God is brought to see the love of God the Father, in the choice of the Church before the foundation of the world; and the love of God the Son, in having taken into union with himself his Church before time, and redeemed her in time for his glory and delight, to all eternity; then, every individual of Christ's Mystical body, thus renewed, and thus taught of God the Holy Ghost, is brought into this blessed fellowship and communion with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
Reader! pause over the glorious truths here made known, Then make the subject personal and practical. Then ask your own heart, what know you, in a real heart-felt knowledge and enjoyment of them? Recollect what Jesus himself said on the subject, to the Father. That he should give eternal life to as many as thou host given him. And this is life eternal; that they might know thee, the only true God; and Jesus Christ whom thou host Sent; John 17:2-3. Who can contemplate the unspeakable blessedness of this fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ, but with the most heartfelt joy! By reason of our union with Christ, we have communion with God in Christ. There is an union between Christ and the Father, in which we have no part. And, though this union of the Father and the Son becomes the cause of ours; yet is it perfectly distinct from, and unconnected with it. And Jesus himself sweetly, and blessedly marks this distinction, when he saith: At that day ye shall know, that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you; John 14:20. But our blessedness is the more, from having all in Christ, and from Christ, and by Christ. For all is softened and humanized, from coming to us in a nature like our own. See John 17:1 and 1 John 5:7 and Commentary in both.
And how sweetly Jesus speaks of this fellowship which his people have with him, here in grace, and hereafter in glory, from their oneness with him. Thus Jesus speaks, in relation to the former. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it; that the love wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I in them; John 17:26. And in relation to the latter; as it is Jesus's delight to give his people grace, so it is to give them glory. Hence he saith: To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne; even as I also overcame, and am set with my Father in his throne; Revelation 3:21. In both which, let the Reader observe, that our fellowship is with Christ, and with God in Christ. His Church stands eternally safe and secure in him. And from the human nature in the Person of Christ united to the Godhead, Christ stands in union with the Father, and we in him; as he himself hath blessedly said: That they all may be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. Yea, Jesus adds, that the world may know, that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me; John 17:21-23. What words are these? Who shall fully explain them; or what heart fully conceive the extent of blessedness them! See John 17:1 and Commentary.