The Manifested Life
W. Carl Ketcherside
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Jesus was the embodiment of eternal life. As such he was from the beginning and was with the Father. He was manifested in such a form that eternal life could be tested by the senses. John says that the apostles heard, saw, looked upon, and handled the Word of life. These companions of Jesus had audible, visual and manual contact with him. They even looked upon the Word, which means they had opportunity to carefully and intently scrutinize the Word which was made flesh.
The apostle says, "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." Observe the order of this thrilling array of statements. There was the fact of the incarnation, the act of observation and the testimony related to the fact. The design of the testimony was to manifest to others what had been manifested unto them. They were the revealers of that which had been revealed unto them. That which had been revealed was eternal life embodied in a person.
The purpose of the testimony was made quite clear. "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." The best definition of fellowship is "to share a common life." The Father and Son had shared eternal life with the chosen witnesses. They had lived intimately with that life--hearing, seeing and touching it--and now they declared that which they had seen and heard in order to share with us the eternal life they had seen
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But we must distinguish between "the Word of life" and the testimony about him. The Word was with God and was God. The testimony was not "the Word of life" but the joy-bringing news about him. "And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." You cannot reduce a person to writing. You can describe him, relate his sayings, tell of his doings, and men may come to know these things without ever knowing the person at all. It is not knowing what was written but knowing Him about whom it was written, which produces fellowship, that is, the sharing in eternal life. Eternal life does not consist of Jesus pointing to a book, but of a book pointing to Jesus--not as the source of life, but as life at its source.
Eternal life is an absolute. It leaves no room for death. If that life is light, and it is, then it must be perfect light even as it is perfect life. This leaves no room for darkness at all. We are not surprised to read, "This then is the message we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all." Study the context carefully. The witnesses declared the eternal life which they saw and heard, that we might share in the common life, and the burden of their message was that Deity is perfect light, devoid of all darkness.
What is that quality called "light" which is identified with God in the absolute until it is said, "God is light"? John equates it with love. To love one another is to be in the light. To hate one another is to be in darkness. This is as true of God as of ourselves. "Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you; because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling (no darkness) in him."
If it be true that God is light, and if light is love, it follows then that God is love. This is correct. "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love" (4:8). "God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him" (4:16). Now note the statement: "If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth." This can only mean that when one professes to share the common life with God in whom there is no darkness (hate for his own), while at the same time walking in darkness (hate for God's own), he is a liar. So we read, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (4:20).
"But if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." This passage has suffered much abuse. To walk in the light is the opposite of "to walk in darkness" which is equated with hating a brother (2:11). "Fellowship one with another" has to do with fellowship between God and ourselves as contrasted with the previous verse. Let us paraphrase. "But if we walk in the light of love for our brothers, as God exists in the perfect love for us all, we will not lie when we say that God and ourselves are in fellowship, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son will continue cleansing us from all sin."
Perhaps no other passage is more important to recapture a proper sense of our relationship to God and our brethren than this one. We shudder to think how often it has been used to defeat the very purpose for which it was written. It is time that those who are serious understand and affirm its significance.