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TranscriptIntroduction
I’m your host AMBrewster, and I welcome you to our newest family devotional series. I’m very excited to be studying with you through the letter of I John. Like every book in the Bible, it’s God’s Word to mankind in general, but it’s also super practical and relevant to the family in particular.
If you’re listening to me today, and you’re not a parent—if you’re son or a daughter joining the rest of your family for this—I welcome you and encourage you to be excited about this opportunity. I know how easy it is to see something like this as a chore or academic or . . . in a worst case scenario . . . as distasteful. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Studying God’s Word is a privilege and a blessing, and having a family that will study it together is practically a miracle. You should be excited and thanking the Lord that your parents have invited you into this study. And I am honored to be joining you. I’m publishing these sessions as an act of worship to God and as an act of love for my own family. And I’m overjoyed to be sharing them with you. But before we can get started, I want you to know that each session of this series has episode notes, a transcript, LifeWork, and links to related resources in the description of this episode. You can make this study as deep as you would like. So, let’s get started. Topic
Hopefully, you’ve all read the passage we’ll be studying today. Hopefully, you’ve been meditating on it and asking the Lord to teach you something from His Word. But, if you didn’t read the passage yet, don’t worry, we’ll start today by doing that together.
We’re going to be going over the first 4 verses of I John 1. I’ll be reading out of the Legacy Standard Bible all during this series, but you may feel free to utilize whatever version is your favorite or most accessible. Here we go. The Apostle John starts his letter to the professing believers in Asia Minor this way, “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we are writing, so that our joy may be made complete.” Now, believe it or not, verses 1 to 3 were all one sentence. So, we’re going to work through this letter carefully to make sure we understand exactly what the Holy Spirit wanted to communicate through John’s letter and then be able to apply it to our lives and families. But before we do that, I want you to know that Truth.Love.Family. has another family devotional series called “A Family United in God.” In that series we step through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians to understand and pursue true, God-grounded unity in our family. The American Christian family is less unified today than it has been in centuries. We need to better worship God by pursuing family unity rooted in Him. Normally, the 9 session Family United in God devotional with its LifeWork assignments and guidance for how to dig deeper as a family, costs $50, but you can gain access to it today for only $25 by using the link in the description of this episode. And you can access it in the Evermind App. I hope your whole family will take advantage of that family devotional when you’re done with this one. Now, let’s get back to I John. Today’s session is called The Groundwork for Biblical Families. I called it that because that’s the focus of John’s introduction. In verse 1, he starts his letter in a very interesting way . . . almost as if we all should have known exactly what he was talking about. But it’s not until the end of verse 3 that he identifies the subject of his discussion as being Jesus Christ. But this is important. Before John unveils the groundwork for our families, he wants us to understand all of the proof that this truly is the groundwork. So, John starts by telling us that . . . 1. The groundwork for your family was from the beginning. Now, I want these episodes to be short and concise, but I also want your family to truly understand the importance of what we’re discussing here. When John starts his letter with “from the beginning,” he’s deliberately alluding to the very first book of the Bible. In the first verse of Genesis 1, we read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In John’s Gospel, he writes in verses 1 and 2, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.” This idea of the “beginning” is very important to John—John being the author who repeatedly focused on the divinity of Jesus Christ—to once again identify for us that the groundwork he’s discussing is divine. It’s God Himself. Why is this important? If your family is not founded on the very God of the universe, you can’t be truly unified, you can’t be spiritually successful, you can’t be victorious, and you can’t be a biblical family. But, you know, there are a lot of people in the world who worship false gods. The thing is, they’ve never seen their god. No one has. They’ve never heard from their god. They’ve never even had anything written by their god. None of them has. That’s why the next part is so important. 2. The groundwork for your family communicates Himself. Right here in verse 1 and onward through verse 3, John continues to convince us why this groundwork deserves to be the groundwork for our families. “What we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also.” Listen to these descriptors again. This groundwork was heard, seen, beheld, touched, manifested, seen, born witness of, proclaimed, manifested, seen, heard, and proclaimed. “Now, you repeated a lot of those word, Mr. Brewster.” I know. I repeated them because John—under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—repeated them. Why did he have to use so many words when he could have simply said, “This groundwork is real. We’ve seen it”? John didn’t want anyone to doubt that he and the other disciples had personally witnessed this individual. They would testify through their words and their lives that this groundwork actually existed, was Who He said He was, and did what He said He did. And John is willing to put his life on the line to prove it to you. Did you know that most of the original disciples of Jesus Christ were martyred? They were killed by other people because they followed Jesus. What’s interesting is that John was one of the only apostles who actually died of natural causes at an old age. But he was ready to die for Jesus. People do not risk their lives and willingly sacrifice them for something they don’t fully believe. John and the other disciples who saw Jesus Christ firmly and passionately believed Him to be the foundation stone for all believers. And they all want us to know that He was real. So, it’s important that we recognize that the groundwork for our families has made Himself known. He has come to us, and He has communicated with us in His earthly life and through His Word. That is so comforting. You don’t have to guess. You don’t have to figure it out on your own. You don’t have to make it up on your own. You don’t have to hope you got it right. You can know because the groundwork of your family has communicated Himself. That means that the Bible, the book we’re studying in this series, is special and important and powerful and awesome. That’s one more reason we should be excited to study it together. Our God has communicated Himself to us. But there’s more. 3. The groundwork for your family is life. I skipped over this part in the previous reading, but we need to stop and consider it here. Verse 1 identifies this groundwork as the Word of life. And he starts verse 3 saying that the life was manifested. And then later in verse 3, John says that this life that he saw and heard and touched and which was manifested to him, he is proclaiming to us the same eternal life. The groundwork of the biblical family, the groundwork that I pray is the foundation of your family, is life itself. Not only does Genesis 1 say that God created all life in the beginning, and not only does John 1 say that the Word of God—Jesus Christ—created all life in the beginning, but the life that John is talking about here is not mere mortal, human life. It’s eternal life. This is a different kind of life. Our lives on this planet are limited and short. Unless the Lord returns soon, everyone listening to me right now—including me—will die physically. Whether because of old age or sickness or an accident, we will die. The Bible even says in Hebrews 9:27 that, “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgement.” Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden brought death to all mankind. I would encourage your family to continue this study in I Corinthians 15. That passage has a lot to say about death and the resurrection to new life and from where they both come. But the point here for us now is that the groundwork for a biblical family is spiritual life. You cannot be truly unified simply because you are all physically alive. Physical life isn’t much of a unifying factor. Living people sin against and hurt and kill living people all of the time. But spiritual life is the only true unifying factor. Now, if we were sitting in the room together, I would stop and ask each of you to tell me what you think spiritual life is, how to have spiritual life, and what it means to have spiritual life. But we can’t do that, and this point is the most important truth in the world. Do you have a living, saving relationship with the true God of the universe? Have your sins been forgiven because you have put your trust in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross? Have you confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead? To put it another way, have you been born again? If you have not been grounded on the life of Christ, then you are not biblically grounded and can’t be a biblical, Christ-honoring family. And why do we need this life? Well, though we all currently have physical life, we’re born into this world spiritually dead. We have no spiritual life or power in ourselves, and our spiritual deadness results in sin, self-worship, and eventually spiritual death separated from God forever in a place called the Lake of Fire. But God created us to have a relationship with Him—to be His children and to worship Him for all eternity. Since He knew we couldn’t earn or work our way into eternal life, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the debt we could never pay. Jesus took our sin and death on Him and offers us His righteousness and life. He extends that offer to us all, and all we need to do is believe Him and submit to Him. By the way, if you’re uncertain whether you’re truly a Christian, a great question to ask is whether you’re living for yourself or for Christ? Are you striving to follow His example, obey His will, know Him better, and please Him? Or, do you go about your day without ever thinking about Him and get annoyed when people encourage you to live a Christ-honoring life? Christians aren’t perfect, but the Holy Spirit is working in us to mature us in the image of Christ. That means that we’re sinning less and less and doing the good works God created us to do. We need to move on from this point, but I would do a disservice to God and to you if I talked about the importance of the Gospel but didn’t explain it. Now, of course, there is so much more that could be said, and if you’re the parent or the child, and you’re not certain that you are truly born again, I would encourage you to reach out to a Bible-believing pastor. You can even email me at [email protected], and I would be honored to open God’s Word, speak with you, and help you understand God’s plan for your salvation. But, for now, let’s do a quick review. The groundwork for our individual lives and families needs to be God Himself, Who communicates Himself so we can know Him and His will, and Who is life eternal. But why do I keep saying that He’s the “groundwork” when that word isn’t even in the text that we’ve been reading? 4. The groundwork is that on which we can joyfully fellowship. At the end of verse 3, John explains why he’s done everything he’s done: “so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we are writing, so that our joy may be made complete.” The Greek word translated “fellowship” has the idea of participating, contributing, and sharing. In fact, the root of this word has the idea of something being in common. The Greek language that was spoken during this time period was called Koine Greek. It was the common Greek that everyone spoke. They shared this language in common. So, twice in this passage John uses this word to describe that his whole purpose is for us to be participating and contributing and sharing in the Father, with Jesus, and with each other. Our relationship with God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and God’s people is the whole goal. And then John says that if we have that same common groundwork, if we’re all built on Christ, there is nothing in this world that would make him more joyful. His joy will be complete. And I whole-heartedly agree with John. My joy would be made complete if by participating in this study you come to understand and know and be grounded on Jesus Christ. I could not be happier were I to hear that your family became a biblical family grounded on God Himself. It’s so important, nothing could make me, John, or God happier. So, that’s it. That’s the groundwork of the biblical family. God, the God who was from the beginning, Who communicates Himself so that we can know Him and believe in Him, the God Who offers us eternal life in Him, that’s the God in whom we should all be fellowshipping. So, with today’s study in mind, let’s read through the passage again with new understanding: I John 1:1-4, “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we are writing, so that our joy may be made complete.” Is everyone in your family rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ? Are you all born again? If not, I hope that you’ll pray for each other and share the Gospel with each other. If you are all genuine Christians—not just people who call themselves that but live for themselves—than you are on your way to being a biblical, Christ-honoring family. Conclusion
I hope this excites you. I hope the idea of becoming a biblical family and growing together as a biblical family is your goal.
So, to that end, here are a couple things I would like you to do before we meet together next week. In preparation . . . 1. Read I John 1:5-10 at least two times. You can all do this individually, you can do this as a family, but everyone should read and or hear I John 1:5-10 at least two times before we meet next. 2. Ask God to teach you something new. Pray the way David did in Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” 3. Review the Gospel. We can never be too careful, and we can’t talk about the Gospel too much. Therefore, it would be good, at least once this week to make sure everyone in the home truly understands what the Gospel is and whether or not they truly believe in Jesus Christ. I have a link for you in the description of this episode to a fantastic Gospel tract called, “God’s Bridge to Eternal Life.” That would be a simple way—not necessarily the absolute best—but a simple way to make sure that everyone in your family has at least heard the Gospel. So, read I John 1:5-10 at least 2 times, ask God to teach you something from this study, and review the Gospel. But there are two other things you could do. 4. Share this family devotional with your friends. 5. Continue your study this week by interacting with the additional resources linked for you in the description of this episode. I’m very excited to be doing this with you, and I look forward to meeting together next week as we talk about the Start of Biblical Families. Just one more thing, though. If you forget to do the LifeWork, please still meet with me next week. I would hate if you didn’t continue this study simply because you didn’t read the passage, pray, or review the Gospel message. You are very much allowed and invited to continue this study even if you don’t do those things. But I promise you that it will be so much better if you do. Have a great week!
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