SEEING GOD IN OUR LIVES.

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SEEING GOD IN OUR LIVES.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life” 1 John 1:1.

This verse was read out in a sermon I was listening to, and it made my heart miss a beat, and spoke clearly to my soul and spirit, I hope and pray I can reach your souls and spirits today with what I felt. The word used means “declare,” “announce,” or “make known.” What is being “made known” in this letter something which existed from eternity; it is something with which the writer has the most detailed personal friendship.

1. IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS GOD!
“That which was from the beginning.”

What beginning is John talking about? In the Scriptures there are two beginnings I can think of, both of which we are very familiar with. The first is found in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning GOD created the heaven and the earth.” That is an undated beginning for us all.
The second beginning which we find in the Word of God. It is the first verse in John’s gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with GOD, and the Word was GOD.” He adds, “The same was in the beginning with GOD.” Then he comes to the act of creation: “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made” John 1:1–3.

Before I say more, take note:
1. In the beginning there was GOD.
2. Then GOD became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, so that Jesus became GOD walking among us.
3. Now let me read this verse again.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard GOD, which we have seen GOD with our eyes, which we have looked upon GOD, and our hands have handled GOD, of the Word of life.”

This is the answer to all my prayers and desires. To hear from GOD, to see GOD, and to touch GOD, more so for His touch to be upon my life! Let me now read the first two verses of 1 John 1 from the amplified bible
“(WE ARE writing) about the Word of Life (in) Him who existed from the beginning, Whom we have heard, Whom we have seen with our (own) eyes, Whom we have gazed upon (for ourselves) and have touched with our (own) hands.
And the Life (an aspect of His being) was revealed (made manifest, demonstrated), and we saw (as eyewitnesses) and are testifying to and declare to you the Life, the eternal Life (in Him). Who already existed with the Father and who (actually) was made visible (was revealed) to us (His followers).”

2. IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS CHRIST WHO WAS GOD!
“Which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life.”

Now John says, I want to tell you about Him, and he asserts the reality of the total personality of Jesus:
1. “We have heard” (through the ear-gate). John is not speaking about his opinions and his speculations. He is talking about the fact that he heard the Lord Jesus GOD, heard His voice, and when he listened to Him, he listened to God.

2. “We have seen” (through the eye-gate). Not only had the apostles heard Him speak, but they also had seen Him with their own eyes. In our day we cannot see Him with our physical eyes, but we can see Him with the eye of faith. We today are walking by, faith, and the Lord Jesus Christ GOD can be made as real to us as He was to Thomas. Many of us need to do more than simply look to Him for salvation. We need to spend time gazing upon Him with the eye of faith.

3. “We have looked upon” (lit., gazed intently upon). The word looked is from the Greek word theaomai from which we get our English word theatre, meaning “to gaze intently upon.” The theatre is a place where you sit and look, not just with a passing glance but with a gaze—a steady gaze for a couple of hours. John is saying that for three years they gazed upon Jesus GOD.

4. “Our hands have handled.” John says that they did, more than merely gaze upon Him from a distance; they handled Him. John himself reclined upon His chest in the Upper Room. Speaking to His own after His resurrection, He said, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me have. And when He had thus spoken, he showed them His hands and His feet” (Luke 24:39–40),

When John says that they handled GOD, I think he means they felt His hands and fingered the nail prints which convinced them that He was indeed man, the Word made flesh, GOD manifest in the flesh. “We handled Him—He was still flesh and bones.” You see, John is not talking about a theory. He is talking about someone he heard, he saw, and he handled.

3. IN MY BEGINNING I CAN KNOW CHRIST WHO IS GOD!

There is an intelligence being who is GOD behind this universe in which you and I live. As to the date of the beginning, because we are dealing with the GOD of eternity. God has eternity behind Him, AND BEFORE Him. He is working out a plan in His universe today which is bigger than any human mind can comprehend.

Go back as far as you can think, beyond creation, back billions and trillions of years, and out of eternity comes the Lord Jesus Christ. Way back there He is already in the past tense; He is the Ancient of Days. Notice that John has written, “In the beginning was the Word” means that you can go back in the past as far as you want to, and Christ comes out of eternity to meet you.
That is bigger than my little mind can comprehend. I am unable to grasp the immensity of it until I come to John 1:14: “And the Word (GOD) was made (born) flesh.” That takes me back to Bethlehem where He was born, and I begin to catch on at that time.

CONCLUSION:

The same One who existed from all eternity with God the Father came down into this world as a real Man. To establish the case for the full humanity of Jesus, John presents his evidence in terms of seeing, hearing, and touching. And the same GOD, in the person of Jesus Christ is here to meet with YOU, and for YOU to meet with HIM.

GOD wants you to have a living fellowship with Him; even though you cannot see Him and touch Him as the apostles did centuries ago, He can still be real to you as His Holy Spirit touches your life.