Another Jesus
A personal relationship with Christ was lacking in the lives of many in the first centruy. A heresy called gnosticism had made inroads into the early church. The people who promoted this heresy presumed they possessed special knowledge from Christ about the kingdom of God. But this knowledge was at best folly and at worst deadly.
The gnostics taught that all matter was evil and only what is spiritual and ethereal is good. They could not accept that Jesus came to earth in a physical body. A true incarnation, they claimed, would be evil. Thus, they denied Jesus’ humanity and said He was actually a phantom.
As the apostle John starts his letter of 1 John, he must first carefully define who the real Jesus is. No apparition or ghost, the true Christ was fully man, someone with flesh and blood who could be heard, seen, and touched. John begins by affirming that the first mark of assurance for a true believer is experiencing a personal relationship—fellowship John calls it—with Jesus Christ.
Excerpt taken from Absolutely Sure, by Steven Lawson
Posted by Matt Monge on May 14, 2009
If we desire to end our days in joy and comfort, let us lay the foundation of a comfortable death now in good time. To die well is not a thing of that light moment as some imagine: it is no easy matter. But to die well is a matter of every day. Let us daily do some good that may help us at the time of our death. Everyday by repentance pull out the sting of some sin, that so when death comes, we may have nothing to do but to die. To die well is the action of the whole life."
Former English Theologian
London, England
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