Steven S Veach

Researcher, Author, Christian Philosopher

Spiritual Disciplines: 1 John 1:4 – The Joy of Us

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How Does God Wish for me to Proceed When Faced with Offense? It is, in essence, what God did, what Jesus did, and what we are all called to do in Christ. Forgive.

The Text

“καὶ ταῦτα γράφομεν ὑμῖν, ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ἡμῶν ᾖ πεπληρωμένη.” (1 John 1:4).

Ἀπλῶς (aplōs) Peshat (פְּשָׁט) (Literal Meaning)

  1. And these things [I] write [to] you, that our joy [would be] full.

Ἀλληγορία (allēgoria) Remez (רֶמֶז) (Hinted Meaning)

  1. These things…everything written from verse 1 to verse 3, all that is contained therein, the declaration of the message of Christ to the apostles, the manifestation of the light, the eternal life that is with the Father, being declared that we might enter into fellowship with the Father and with the Son.
  2. I write to you…he wrote specifically toward and to them. It was a personal letter, written in his own hand, an individual writing to a group of people who were of like precious faith in Christ.
  3. That our joy… the joy that is indescribable, unbaffled, this is the main purpose of the Holy Spirit, as he works in us, for us, and through us to produce in us Christ-likeness.
  4. Would be full… the purpose of those first verses and the entire letter is this: that our joy would be full. It is already full, complete, having been perfected in the past and stands now the utter representation of what was produced by that previous action. It is the state of complete fullness, this is our identity. This is a shared identity for those who are hidden in Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit.

Διδασκαλία (didaskalia) Derash (דְּרַשׁ) (Homiletical Meaning)

  1. This is the purpose, the theme, the intention of this letter. Everything is to be directed by and funneled into this declaration. Everything written in this letter is intended to bring about his joy, their joy, and [by means of the Holy Spirit] our joy, as well as the joy of those to come who have not yet read and tasted and experienced the joy of Christ and walked into transformation.

Μυστικός (mystikos) Sod (סוֹד) (Mystical Meaning)

  1. This is the very purpose of Scripture, the declaration of a message, the message of God to his creation, to us specifically, to those who have been given a like precious faith in Christ, who have been created as vessels of mercy, who hear his call and walk according to his Spirit to fulfill his purpose.
  2. He wrote them, the corpus of his message, to bring about fullness in the joy of all the saints.

Μυστήριον (mystērion) Pesher (פְּשַׁר) (Prophetic Meaning)

  1. None

Next Session:

  1. Next session I will meditate on 1 John 1:5….

Prayers:

Note: These are privately posted to my blog and not available to the public.

Benediction:

“Now [may] the God of peace himself sanctify us completely; and our whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who calls you is faithful and is willing to do it” (1 Th 5:23-24).

Amen…

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2 responses to “Spiritual Disciplines: 1 John 1:4 – The Joy of Us”

  1. liamjefreagan Avatar
    liamjefreagan

    “These things I write to you so our joy will be full.”

    There aren’t enough words for John to write that could convey his and his apostle brothers experience with their time with Jesus Christ. It’s not Christian to envy, but how I wish I could have seen our Lord face to face as they did. Even with my prayer, devotional reading every morning followed by deeper study into the 66 books, I fear I can’t grasp what John had. It is my weakness.

    We have the benefit of the Word and Holy Spirit to put the truth of Christ in our heart, and even then my old man, my sinful self will sprinkle doubt on the undisputed genuine truth. I pray and wait for the day when we are free from the presence of sin, and not just its power, so that even one thought in a million won’t spoil the perfect understanding and life we have with and of Jesus Christ. 

    I can only see through my eyes, and experience life with my one heart, so in this limitation I doubt other’s profession of perfect doubtless faith. (Jeremiah 17:9; Genesis 6:5; 8:21) And I hate that weakness in myself, and that doubt of the word of a God-fearing brother; all because I can’t conceive of it. 

    When that fleeting thought leaves though, then God’s joy, peace and comfort is experienced and refreshed. Worldly life situations always push aside thoughts of the eternal, and we are thrust back to our limited linear three-to-four dimension existence. We constantly battle what we know as a fleeting life. We await the words from Matthew 25:23 with our entire being, hanging on our Blessed Hope with every breath, knowing our pain is but temporary, yet still struggling to eradicate that one doubtful thought in a million.

    A constant state of prayer takes practice, moment by moment, with our old man battling to come to the surface; but the Holy Spirit that dwells in us, when given free reign, has the power to mold us toward perfection. But as stated earlier, I fear perfection will only occur at Glorification, and we remain to battle against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against wickedness in high places. Maranatha.

    Jef

    Reply
    1. Admin Avatar
      Admin

      Hey Jef,

      Great comment. I’m not sure about there being no sin in heaven, though. I have wrestled with this idea for several years now. If Satan was the first to sin (presumption), then he did so when he was in heaven. Sin was then in heaven. Likewise, if Adam and Eve sinned, they were immortal at the time, Sons of God. Yet, they still were capable of sinning and did so. Third, if the angels of Genesis 6:2 truly left their domain and came to earth, had intercourse with human women, produced hybrid offspring, and were subsequently imprisoned for this sin. They were part of the heavenly host, dwelling in the supernatural realm at the time of their transgression, then that means (I speculate) when we are revealed as Sons of God, we too will still have the “capacity” of sinning. It makes me wonder how long it will take before another disgruntled inhabitant causes problems and the process begins again. Isaac plans to cover this subject at length in a future book called WRITTEN, where Jake Polasky finds himself being ushered into heaven, his name being found written in the Book of Life, yet he knows deep down that he does not belong there. He did not believe in or accept Jesus when he was alive, and now he faces eternity in a place he doesn’t believe in. It should be a fascinating exploration of this idea.

      Steven

      Reply

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