Sermon Re-cap: Assured – That You May Know, Part 1

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The gospel is not only the message we need for salvation—it is the truth we need throughout the Christian life.

As we continually submit to God’s Word, the gospel strengthens our fellowship with God and His church and sanctifies us as we grow in Christ.

Introduction: The Gospel Is the Power of God

Romans 1:16–17 establishes the importance of the gospel:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes… For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.”

We often think of the gospel primarily as the message an unbeliever needs in order to be saved. That is certainly true, but the gospel is not something Christians graduate from after salvation.

We are saved by the gospel, and we continue to need the truth of the gospel as God sanctifies us. The gospel brings us into fellowship with God through Christ and continues to shape how we live in fellowship with Him and with one another.

In the opening verses of 1 John, John shows us that the gospel message is trustworthy, transactional, and transformational.

I. The Gospel Message Is Trustworthy

“What was from the beginning…”

John begins by pointing his readers back to something that existed “from the beginning.” This could refer to the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the beginning of John’s relationship with his readers, or ultimately to eternity itself.

The language deliberately echoes two important passages:

Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

The gospel is not a new philosophy invented by John or the early church. Its central person—Jesus Christ—existed before creation itself.

“What we have heard…”

John then emphasizes that this message was heard and received. When he says “we,” he is speaking as part of a group of eyewitnesses who personally encountered Jesus.

The gospel was a message they heard with their own ears. Jesus taught them. They listened to His words and received His teaching firsthand.

“What we have seen with our eyes…”

John moves from hearing to seeing.

Christianity is not based merely upon abstract ideas or philosophical claims. The message of the gospel had a physical manifestation. John and the other eyewitnesses saw Jesus with their own eyes.

There may also be a deeper sense of perception here. They did not merely look at Jesus—they came to understand and discern the truth about who He was.

John is steadily building his case: we heard Him, we saw Him, we observed Him, and we touched Him.

“What we have observed and have touched with our hands…”

This points directly to the incarnation.

John 1:14: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory…”

Jesus was not merely an idea or spiritual apparition. God the Son truly became flesh.

John personally witnessed the ministry of Jesus. He saw His miracles, heard His teaching, witnessed His death, and encountered the resurrected Christ. The resurrection itself was witnessed by many people.

The message of Christianity was therefore personified in Jesus Christ.

“Concerning the Word of life…”

The Greek word translated “Word” is logos. It can refer to a message or word, but John also uses it theologically to refer to a Person—Jesus Christ.

And He is the Word of life.

That means more than simply saying Jesus possesses life. He is its source and origin. The Word is life, and He gives life to others.

John 1:4: “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”

Illustration: A Love Note vs. a Dozen Roses

There is a difference between receiving a note that says, “I love you,” and having someone personally show up with a dozen roses.

The message has taken visible form.

In an infinitely greater way, God did not merely send humanity a message about His love and salvation. The Word became flesh. The gospel appeared in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Application

The Christian gospel is not a fairy tale. It is anchored in historical reality.

It is also not primarily a philosophy to be considered; it centers on a Person to be known and trusted.

The incarnation of Christ gives substance to the gospel message. The testimony of eyewitnesses such as John gives us confidence that the message they proclaimed is trustworthy.

We can trust the gospel because it is grounded in the real Person and work of Jesus Christ.

II. The Gospel Message Is Transactional

John moves from establishing the reliability of the gospel to explaining what must happen when someone encounters it.

The gospel demands a response.

The Message Was Revealed

John says that “the life was revealed.”

God has made Himself known to humanity.

He reveals Himself through general revelation—what can be known about Him through creation.

Romans 1:19–20 teaches that God’s eternal power and divine nature are evident through what He has made.

But God has also given us specific revelation. He has spoken through His Word and, ultimately, through His Son.

Hebrews 1:1–4 explains that while God spoke through the prophets in previous generations, “in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son.”

Jesus is the fullest revelation of who God is.

The Message Must Be Received

John and the other apostles did more than physically see Jesus. They perceived and accepted the truth about Him.

That distinction is important.

Someone can hear the gospel without believing the gospel. A person can know facts about Jesus without placing faith in Jesus.

The gospel is not merely information to be learned. It is truth that must be personally received by faith.

The Message Must Be Reported

Once the apostles received the truth, they became witnesses to it.

John uses language such as testify and proclaim.

To testify is to speak as a witness—someone with knowledge of what has occurred.

To proclaim carries the idea of publicly announcing a message, much like a town crier delivering important news.

The pattern is:

The gospel is revealed → the gospel is received → the gospel is reported to others.

Those who receive the good news become people who proclaim the good news.

Illustration: Signing on the Dotted Line

There are some documents that cannot simply be read and filed away. Eventually, a decision is required. You are expected to sign on the dotted line.

The gospel similarly demands a response.

It is not enough merely to understand its claims intellectually. We must decide what we will do with Jesus Christ.

Application

We have good reason to know that the gospel is true. But knowing that something is true is not the same thing as personally responding to it.

The gospel is not merely something we learn for intellectual purposes. It is something we receive for a spiritual purpose.

There must be a transaction. We must respond to the truth God has revealed.

And once we receive the gospel, we become responsible for reporting that good news to others.

III. The Gospel Message Is Transformational

The gospel does not merely change what we know. It changes our relationship with God and with other believers.

The Gospel Brings Us Into Fellowship

John says that he proclaims the gospel so that his readers may have “fellowship with us.”

The word translated fellowship is koinonia, which carries the idea of sharing something in common.

Apart from Christ, humanity is separated from God. Through faith in Jesus, however, we are brought into fellowship with Him.

That relationship with God then becomes the foundation for our fellowship with other Christians.

Christian fellowship is therefore much deeper than friendship or spending time together. What believers ultimately share in common is Jesus Christ.

There are two dimensions to this fellowship:

Objectively, we enter into fellowship with God through our initial faith in Christ.

Subjectively, we experience and maintain healthy fellowship with God as we continue walking faithfully with Christ.

Our relationship with God begins through the gospel, and our daily walk with God must continue to be shaped by the gospel.

The Gospel Produces Fulfilling Joy

Salvation brings tremendous joy. But the Christian life does not end with the initial salvation decision.

There is joy at the starting line, but finished joy is found at the finish line—in seeing believers continue faithfully in Christ.

John expresses this pastoral concern elsewhere:

3 John 1:4: “I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in truth.”

Likewise, near the end of 1 John, he explains why he has written:

1 John 5:13: “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

John does not simply want people to make an initial profession of faith. He wants them to know Christ, remain in fellowship with Him, walk in truth, and have assurance of eternal life.

John’s Concern for His Readers

John’s language concerning fellowship and joy indicates genuine pastoral concern.

Something about the lifestyle or theology of his recipients has caused him to question whether they are walking in healthy fellowship with the larger body of believers.

John therefore writes to fortify their fellowship through truth and sanctification.

He brings them back to the gospel.

Why? Because the gospel is not only the means by which unbelievers come to Christ. It is also the truth through which believers are continually corrected, strengthened, and sanctified.

Illustration: The Parable of the Sower

Jesus’ Parable of the Sower reminds us that an initial response to the Word does not always reveal the final condition of someone’s heart.

The lasting evidence appears over time.

In the same way, an initial profession of faith must be followed by a continuing life of faith.

Application

The legitimacy of an initial decision for Christ is demonstrated through ongoing faithfulness to Christ.

When someone is no longer walking in fellowship with God, there may be different explanations. A genuine Christian may have fallen into sin or become spiritually backslidden and therefore needs correction and restoration. Or someone who appeared to believe may eventually reveal that his or her profession was never genuine.

In either situation, the gospel is the answer.

The false believer needs the gospel for evangelism.

The genuine but struggling believer needs the gospel for edification and sanctification.

That means the ministry of the church must continually invite people into fellowship with God through faith in Jesus Christ while also continually proclaiming the gospel so believers can grow and remain faithful.

We need the gospel initially for salvation and continually for sanctification.

Conclusion: We Never Outgrow the Gospel

The gospel evangelizes sinners, and the gospel edifies saints.

The gospel message must remain central to our lives personally and to our ministry collectively as the church.

It is uniquely able to do two things at the same time:

We should never reach a point where we believe the gospel is something we already know and therefore no longer need. We must continually place ourselves under the teaching of God’s Word because we continue to need its truth.

The same gospel that brings us into fellowship with God also strengthens and maintains that fellowship as we walk with Christ.

This brings us back to Romans 1:16–17:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes… For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith…”

The Christian life begins by faith in the gospel and continues by faith in the gospel.

We need the gospel to be saved. We need the gospel to be sanctified. And we need the gospel to remain faithful in fellowship with God and His church.