Pure and Perfect Light

John has begun telling his readers about eternal life; that life which is found in the Word of Life who is Jesus Christ our Lord. He has written this letter in order that those who read it would be able to have the assurance that they know God and that they have eternal life. He began by saying that this Christ, who is eternal life, was manifested to them, the apostles. And further, that they had positively identified Him as both God and man; real flesh and blood humanity, and truly Divine as well. It was He Who had taught them the truth of the meaning of life, and He had lived it out before them. They had seen Him and they had touched Him after His resurrection. And they knew that everything that He had given to them of Himself and His teaching had real spiritual substance. It was not a matter of speculation. He was not a spirit being bringing a philosophic teaching. He had brought them into fellowship with Himself as the God-Man. He had really granted to them a participation in divine things. He had brought them into the greatness of the reality of fellowship with the Father as well as with Himself. All of this fellowship with God had become so real to the apostles that they had come to have a fullness of joy in this great salvation. And they desired that every reader of this book would have this same assurance as well. So now John begins to tell us what they had been told by the Lord Jesus, as to the nature of God Himself. It was a message of their declared fellowship with the Father and the Son.