BLUF: Another reason to believe.

Of the biblical writers, I very much track with the apostle John’s style of writing. I think it is because he is such a master of imagery and antithesis in literature. He uses the metaphors and concrete images of light and bread and water, etc. for the Lord Jesus. And he uses manifold antitheses or foils to illustrate contrasts: light vs. darkness; holiness vs. sin; hearing vs. deafness; sight vs. blindness, etc.

Connection to Scripture: In John’s first letter, he writes the following:

1 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— ³ that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. (1 John 1:1-3 ESV)

Here John indicates they “touched” the Lord Jesus, that he (Jesus) was and is the “word of life,” that the Lord Jesus was “made manifest to us,” and that by being grafted into the Lord Jesus, Christian fellowship is the overflow and joy. I think it is one more reason why the Lord’s Supper is so powerful. We “feed upon” the Lord Jesus’s person and work by the Spirit of God. We celebrate what he accomplished in the past; we look forward to what he will sum up when he comes again; we have fellowship because we are indwelled by the Spirit who searches all things.

Encouragement: Another reason to believe, you see. It’s the religion of history because it’s centered on the God who rules history. It is His story. Over the holidays, some folks may attend a church or a Bible study or a Christmas ceremony of some fashion. Odds are, they may not otherwise come again until next year. As we go through this holiday season, may God’s people feed upon the deep things of God. May the true church overflow with God-saturated fellowship, so that the world will say, “Behold, those people know the real God.”