WITH THE FATHER FROM THE BEGINNING

1 John 1:1-2
1 That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life 2 (and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us); (WEB)

We know from many scriptural accounts, that Peter, James & John seemed to be the three disciples that were in Jesus' inner circle. But from John's account in the Gospel of John, I get a sense that he might have been the closest to Jesus. After all, he was the one that seemed to lean at Jesus' breast at meal times. John had such a revelation of the love of God that he didn't even refer to himself by name in the gospel he wrote. He just referred to himself as 'The disciple whom Jesus loved'.

It was this same John that wrote the books 1, 2, 3 John. If you haven't spent much time in 1 John, I would encourage you to give this book of the Bible a good read. He starts off by telling us about Jesus and how he himself was an eyewitness of all that Jesus did.

In today's passage of Scripture, John says that Jesus did not only declare life, but He Himself was eternal life. Many times when we think of 'eternal life' we think about living forever. However, John tells us that eternal life does not describe a time frame, but rather a person. Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, is the very source of eternal life. And the eternal life that He carries within His being was with Him and His Father from the beginning.

Everything that Jesus did on earth and everything that He imparted to others came from the very source of His own life, and that was His Father. In John 13:1-5, we read how Jesus knew He came from the Father and would be soon returning to His Father and the knowledge of this amazing truth gave Him the strength to embrace the cross.

My prayer today is that we would know that Jesus was with His Father at the beginning. Everything that He ever did on earth was a manifestation of His Father's heart in heaven. When we said yes to Jesus, we said yes to His Father as well! Because of broken father relationships in the world today, many still struggle to relate to God as a father. But if that is you, be of good cheer for you cannot separate Father from Son.

Jesus came two thousand years ago to reconcile us with His heavenly Dad (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). If you have received the free gift of Jesus' life for your life, then you have all that heaven has to offer. The Apostle John goes on to say in 1 John 2:23 that whoever confesses the Son has the Father also! May the revelation of knowing God as Father go deeper today.

1 John 2:23
Whoever denies the Son, the same doesn’t have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also. (WEB)