Through the years there has been much fascination with the spectacular, science fiction and make believe. Think for a moment about some of the movies and TV shows of recent decades that would fit that description: Super man, Six Million Dollar Man, the Bionic Woman, Star Trek. The list could go on and on.

In more recent years the networks have tried to capture the attention of viewers with what they have often called reality shows, real life adventures, like the Survivor Series. While some of these may be a little more down to earth I am not convinced that most of them accurately would be described as reality shows because it seems to me that they still focus on the spectacular that is not reality as most of us would see it.
As we begin a new series of messages I would like us to have a real return to reality as we look at the opening verses of the First Epistle of John. John gets right to the point; to tell what he knows is for real. Real life is found in a person, Jesus Christ and the life He gives to us. John heard those words Jesus spoke before He died on the cross for us, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." So today I would like us to think about real life.

Real Life is

I. Revealed.

Reread verses 1 and 2.

Jesus Christ is the word of life spoken of here. He was from the beginning. Before creation God was and Jesus Christ was. However, this was not reality for humankind until Jesus was revealed. He was made manifest to us. This means that He was made visible or made known. He had previously been hidden or unknown. So John is telling us that real life was made visible to human beings through the humanity of Jesus Christ. This corresponds with John 1:14 where we read, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." This is the historic fact of the incarnation that God did in fact come into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. John began the first verse of his Gospel with :In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God."

Jesus Christ reveals to us the mind and heart of God. He is the living means of communication between God and human beings. To know Jesus Christ is to know God. I already mentioned these words of Jesus: "I am the way, the truth, and the life." A few verses later Jesus said, "He that hath seen Me had seen the Father." God has revealed Himself through Christ who offers abundant and eternal life to all of us. The consequence of this life being revealed is historical, but the results are personal. For this revealed life to become meaningful for us it must become personal. This leads to my next point.

Real Life is

II. Experienced.

John had a personal experience with Jesus Christ. It was no second hand religious experience. In his Gospel John wrote about this experience and our need to be born again. The tense of heard in verse 1 is the perfect tense in Greek, referring to a process completed in the past time and having present results. They heard not just once, but over and over so that the hearing could be complete.

John goes on to tell us that he has seen with his eyes. Again, the tense is perfect for action completed in the past with present results. I believe that this word indicates not only the physical sense of seeing with eyes, but understanding what he was looking at. Sometimes when you and I say, "I see," it has nothing to do with our eyes, but we are speaking of understanding.

In his Epistle John also says he looked upon, speaking of viewing attentively, contemplating, gazing upon as a spectacle, not merely a quick glance. We might picture eyes fixed on Jesus in wondering love.

Another description of this experience John and other had is expressed with the word touched. John handled, felt, and examined Jesus closely. I believe this is also a reference to Jesus' proof to the disciples that He had risen from the dead. Remember how Jesus had instructed Thomas to touch him. Thomas experienced real life through Jesus Christ when he did.

Testify to it speaks of a word of authority, of experience. Witness may refer to the activity, which properly belongs to eyewitnesses. For example, my parent and some of you were witnesses of the great depression and WWII.

Life that is real is revealed in Jesus Christ and it is experienced when we put our trust in Jesus Christ and are born again. But it is not expected to stop here.

Real Life is also

III. Shared.

John wrote of proclaiming to you eternal life that is showing, bringing tidings from a person or thing. This proclamation is of eternal life. The implication here also implies fellowship, so that the real life here involves a person and a person is required for fellowship. An abstraction cannot have fellowship. We cannot have real fellowship with a golf ball, a baseball, a video game or a television.

Zoë is the Greek word for life, indicating the absolute fullness of life, both essential and ethical, that come from God. A believer is one who has experienced this life in Jesus Christ and demonstrates the qualities of God in his or her own life. We proclaim by word and deeds, sharing this new life, this real life with others.

A result of sharing this life is fellowship, not a superficial relationship, but a relationship of depth and meaning. We might ask, "What do sinners have in common with a holy God?" We have nothing in common apart from God's grace. Through Christ's' sacrifice we can become partakers of God's nature and share in real fellowship with God and other who walk in fellowship with God. So fellowship is the answer to the loneliness of life without Christ.

Joy is the answer to the emptiness of life without Christ. Sin causes unhappiness and emptiness. The pleasures some get from sin are only temporary. Real life in Jesus Christ produces real joy, not a cheap substitute. Jesus gives a joy that cannot be duplicated by the world.

Conclusion

Real life is revealed in Jesus Christ. It is personally experienced. And it is shared with others. I picture John saying, "I have experienced this joy of real life myself and I want to share it with you."

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