Verse of the Day 1/7

 

1 John 1:1-2 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—  English Standard Version (ESV)

 

Having recently celebrated Christmas the images of the birth of Christ, the angels appearing before the the shepherds, the wise men travelling from afar, and the humble beginnings in the stable, the story, the accounts of our faith should be very real to us.

Here in 1 John, John looks back to all of the encounters with Jesus, the teaching, the antagonism and worse from the pharisees, and the death and resurrection of Jesus remain clear to him as are the words of Jesus that are left in his mind.  He had seen, touched, heard and listened to the Savior, the Word made flesh, the Words of life.  These words of life are as important to us each day of our lives as the first day that we heard them, received them and took them to heart as God's truth.

I visited a church last night for their Wednesday evening service.  We sang a few hymns, heard prayer requests, the pastor prayed for these and then gave a message from 1 John.  It was a reminder of similar services that I have attended from my childhood on.  The words spoken, the scriptures taught are as true now as then.

I had the following notes in my e-Bible on these verses from a message from John Piper, he  writes, "Our physical life is created and upheld by the Word of God, and our spiritual life is quickened and sustained by the Word of God. How many stories could be gathered to bear witness to the life-giving power of the Word of God!  Indeed, the Bible is "no empty word for you" — it is your life! The foundation of all joy is life. Nothing is more fundamental than sheer existence — our creation and our preservation. "

The words in the verses "concerning the word of life" reminded me of the old hymn, I'll close with that today.  The words of the gospel are truly Wonderful Words of Life.

1. Sing them over again to me, 
wonderful words of life; 
let me more of their beauty see, 
wonderful words of life; 
words of life and beauty 
teach me faith and duty. 

Refrain: 
Beautiful words, wonderful words, 
wonderful words of life. 
Beautiful words, wonderful words, 
wonderful words of life. 

2. Christ, the blessed one, gives to all 
wonderful words of life; 
sinner, list to the loving call, 
wonderful words of life; 
all so freely given, 
wooing us to heaven. 
(Refrain) 

3. Sweetly echo the gospel call, 
wonderful words of life; 
offer pardon and peace to all, 
wonderful words of life; 
Jesus, only Savior, 
sanctify forever. 

Blessings, 

Mike

1 John 1:1-4The Message (MSG)

1 1-2 From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us.

3-4 We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!

 

Mike Follow the verse of the day at mikesvotd.blogspot.com