Incarnation: Ever since the fall, men have eagerly awaited the coming of the Deliverer, the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the seed of David.[1] This anticipation is expressed in the third generation since Adam when men “began to call upon the name of the LORD” (Gen. 4:26) and the anticipation lives in the tenth generation when Lamech named his son Noah, saying, “This one will give us rest … from the ground which the LORD has cursed” (Gen. 5:29). This cry for God the Savior echoes in the OT.[2] Then Christ came, born of a virgin, in fulfillment of the prophesies of Scripture.[3] John witnessed the eternal Son of God in human flesh, whom He saw with his own eyes and touched with his own hands, whose very voice he heard. John’s mouth is like a firehose as he testifies of Him. He can hardly contain the excitement.[4] The stunning reality of the incarnate Son of God had swept him off his feet.
Proclamation: The apostolic witnesses proclaimed the risen Christ. Moreover, their testimony was written down, as John does in his gospel as well as in this epistle.[5] They did this by the inspiration of the Spirit (John 16:13; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21) and for their joy. It gave them great joy to pass down the gospel of Jesus to future generations, that we too may know, believe, and have fellowship with God and with one another (1:7; Heb. 10:22-25).
[1] Cf. Gen. 3:15; Gen. 22:18; Psalm 89:29; Matt. 1:1. He removes the curse and defeats Satan (Rev. 20:10; 22:3).
[2] This is especially noteworthy in Isaiah: 25:9; 26:8; 33:2; 40:9; 52:7-10; 60:1-5; 64:1.
[3] Cf. Matt. 1:22-23; 2:15, 17-18; 3:3; 4:14-16; 8:17; 12:17-20; 13:35; 21:4-5; 27:9; John 13:18; 19:36-37.
[4] “[T]he author was so ‘full of his subject,’ so overwhelmed by the truth he sought to express, that his thoughts became crowded and his expression complicated” (Harvey J. S. Blaney, The First Epistle of John [Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1969], 349).
[5] Matthew wrote his own gospel. Mark, according to Papias (AD 60-130), wrote what he learned from Simon Peter. Luke wrote based on his research and investigation of eyewitness accounts (Luke 1:1-4). Peter wrote his epistles as a witness (1 Pet. 5:1; 2 Pet. 1:16). Paul also wrote as a witness (1 Cor. 15:8).