Preaching Series on 1 John

July 13, 2014

Preaching text: 1 John 1:1-4 God's Tangible Word of Life
Gospel: John 1:14-16 The Word became flesh

The short book known as 1 John re-proclaims the message of John’s gospel in a changed context. The gospel recognized that both Jesus’ followers and his foes agreed that he was human, but not everyone could see God’s work being revealed in him. So the gospel emphasized the divine side of his identity. 1 John, however, speaks to a context in which some have taken that emphasis too far, and saw Jesus only in spiritual terms. So the epistle emphasizes Jesus’ humanity.

Most people today certainly agree that Jesus was human, yet many have trouble with the particularity of that claim. They may find it plausible to think of Jesus an expression of spiritual or ethical ideals, but have difficulty with the particulars of his life, crucifixion, and resurrection. So 1 John focuses on the embodied word of God, and calls for an embodied faith.

The opening line of ...