To answer your good question, let’s begin by reading 1 John 1:1-3, “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; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 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.”

This important book was written by the Apostle John.  He states plainly his purpose in writing this book.  In 1 John 1:4 he says, “And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.”  He also says in 1 John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”  So, he writes to us that we might have full joy in the Lord Jesus and that we might have full confidence in the Lord Jesus!  John, who also wrote the Gospel of John, told us the purpose of writing that book in John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

We read about what was in ‘the beginning’ three times in the Bible.

• Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  This is speaking of the beginning of all things that God created out of nothing.
• In John 1:1 we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  This takes us beyond and before Genesis 1:1. This verse reveals Christ, by whom and for whom God created all things, in His eternal existence with God and as God.
• The third time is here in 1 John 1:1, “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.”  This ‘beginning’ is different from the ones in Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1.  This is speaking of the incarnation of the Son of God in the world.

The Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true God was manifested as man here below. This truth is further attested to by John in John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”  It is to this event that John refers in the first verse of this epistle.  John and his fellow-disciples had known and been with Jesus.  They heard Him, they saw Him, and they touched Him.  Notice that order.  You can hear someone, though you may be far from Him.  You can also see someone from a distance.  But these men had ‘touched’ the Lord Jesus, showing they were close, very close to Him.  Notice, too, that they had not only ‘seen’ the Lord, they also ‘looked upon’ Him.  The Greek word means that they had ‘contemplated or looked closely’ at the Lord.  Their examination of Him caused them to realize the truth of who He was…and is!

John calls the Lord Jesus the ‘Word of life’, the ‘life’, and ‘the eternal life’ in these verses.  In verse 3, John brings us into the precious portion of realizing that when we come to know the Lord Jesus for ourselves, we are able to fellowship with others who also know Him.  The basis of our common fellowship is that fact that “our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”  John goes on to write in verse 7, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”

I’ll end this brief devotion by bringing 1 Timothy 3:16 to our attention.  That says, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”  (190.6)