Word given by brother Pedro Dong and transmitted by Instituto Vida para Todos, directly from the church auditorium in Barranquilla, Colombia, on 18/08/2024. Text not revised by the author.

We encourage you to watch the full message on the IVPT YouTube channel.

1 John 1:1-4; John 3:16

1. At the beginning of his first epistle John highlights the word of life, eternal life, and the fellowship of life. We must always bear in mind that God’s intention is to give eternal life to man: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God desires to give life to man. Life was in His Son, Jesus Christ, who came to earth as a man to die for us, rise again and become the Spirit of truth, and today everyone who believes in Him receives Him. Whoever believes in the Word receives the Son of God and has eternal life.
2. Christ is the Word, which is the means by which God transmits eternal life to man, we need to believe in the word. Therefore, John begins his first letter by saying, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life” (1 John 1:1). Jesus, the Word of life became palpable, it could be seen, heard, contemplated, and received by men.
3. The word of life is concrete, not abstract, it is the life itself that manifested itself and to which we bear witness, just as the apostles did. They did not announce their own messages, but they spoke of the word that contained eternal life, which was with the Father. These are not words simply written in the Bible, the spoken word needs to be the words of life.
4. The apostles spoke words of the revelation of Christ, eternal life itself, and not words coming from biblical knowledge. John announced: “that which we have seen and heard […] that you also may have fellowship with us” (1 John 1:3). Those who believed in the Word received eternal life and were included in the fellowship of life with John, the apostle who announced it, and John was in fellowship with the Father and Son. By hearing John’s word, the recipients were also included in fellowship with the Father and Son. In this way, we are all included in this fellowship of life. All the different members of the body of Christ, even those on the most distant continents, are connected to each other through the fellowship of life.
5. The word that the Lord brings through the apostle can include us in fellowship and connects us to all members of the body of Christ. What a joy! We have been included in the fellowship of life with the Father, His Son, and all the members of the body! It brings us complete joy. We feel the flow of Spirit and life among us. Everywhere we go we feel the same Spirit because of the unique flow of the word.
   

   1 John 1:5; 1 John 4:8; John 4:24; Gen 1:1; Job 38:4; Isa 45:18; 1 Cor 12

    

6. From verse 5 onwards, John apparently points out another aspect to us: “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). At the beginning, John emphasizes the word as eternal life, and how it involves us in a fellowship with the Father, the Son and the children of God; and suddenly, he gets into the subject of light. God is light and love (1 John 4:8,16) and Spirit (John 4:24), but not in the metaphorical sense; rather, these are assertive and absolute statements regarding the nature and essence of God. God is light, love, and Spirit by nature.
7. In Genesis 1:1, Job 38:4-7 and Isiah 45:18, we see that God formed the heavens and created the earth in a harmonious way and in order to be inhabited. However, it became formless and empty due to Lucifer’s rebellion (Ezek 28, Isa 14). Because he was created so perfectly, Lucifer was proud, thought he was very capable, and didn’t want to be beneath anyone. He used his own means to rise, which is why Ezekiel 28 speaks of his “trade,” that is, he rose through bargains and exchanging favors.
8. In 1 Corinthians 12, we read that God distributed the members of the body as He pleased. If you were placed as a foot, do not aim to be a hand, but be faithful in what God has entrusted to you. We must follow the principles that the Lord gave us: let us be faithful in a little, and the Lord will put us over much, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. As members of the body, we must think only about being faithful to the Lord. He knows the best place for us to be positioned. The problem is in wanting something that was not given to us by God. This will fill our hearts with pride and generate disobedience, rebellion and fall. This was the reason why God cast Lucifer on earth, which contaminated the creatures that existed before Adam. God had to exercise His judgment, and for this reason the earth was left formless, empty, and with darkness on the face of the earth.
   

   2 Cor 4:7; 2 Cor 3 6-7, 18; Ps 119:105,130

    

9. From that moment on, God turned the page and began the new creation on earth. He created man in His image and likeness to exercise His government through him. Man was created less capable than the angels, but with the ability to receive God. God did not need to create us very capable. It was enough to create us with a human spirit that has the capacity to receive Him.
10. We are weak, but capable of receiving God in us: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Cor 4:7). Ministers of the new covenant do not need to be capable: “who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor 3:6-7). We are not powerful, but we need to always be in fellowship with the powerful God, just like Moses. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor 3:18).
11. There was darkness on the earth, but the Spirit of God moved over the waters to restore the damaged universe. The Spirit of God is life, and to generate life the first need is light, which is why in Gen 1:3, God established light. This is how life could appear on earth. Therefore, the Word of life in 1 John 1:1 brings life through the light that is in the word of God, for God is light. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps 119:105).
12. When we received the word of life from the apostle John and were brought into the fellowship of life and received the light, our paths were illuminated and we no longer walked in darkness. Thank God we have the Bible with us, but we also need revelation. Today all of God’s children have the Bible in their hands, but not everyone has the revelation of the word. The word of the apostles’ teaching, as Paul says in Galatians 1, comes from the revelation of Jesus Christ. “The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple” (Ps 119:130). The word simple, in this passage, refers to one who loves and believes in the word of God and it gives him understanding.
    

    John 5:24; Gen 3; John 17:14-15

     

13. In the Garden of Eden man ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil and through this act sin entered the world. This indicates that Satan did not have access to the new world that God created, but entered when he made man disobey God. Death came through sin and spread to all men. At that moment, Satan became the prince of this world.
14. The world lies in the evil one. “Lying” is a verb used for someone who is dead in a coffin, that is, the world is lifeless and is controlled by the evil one. However, God wants an organism of life. In the midst of this chaotic situation, Jesus came as the word that is light for men. Life is in the Son, and this life is light to men to restore the organism of life. Just as God has the church to do His will, Satan has the world as an instrument to oppose God’s will. “World” has a very serious meaning, which is why Jesus stated that He and His disciples are not of the world. “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of this world” (John 17:14).
15. If we hadn’t received the word that comes from the prophets and if it hadn’t been circulating among us and carrying out God’s work, the world wouldn’t hate us. But we love the word and it is circulating life among us. When we perform God’s work, we see miracles occurring because this is a work that man cannot do. That’s why Satan hates it when the church allows the word to circulate. Now, the enemy is out of control, because the word we hear is being transmitted to all continents, and whoever is listening to it is also receiving it as the word of life to carry out God’s work! Satan needs to act everywhere to stop God’s work, but he won’t succeed! God’s work will advance!
16. For many centuries in the history of the church, there was the word. However, there were not always those who received it and understood that this word carries out the work of God. Furthermore, it is only recently that we have obtained technology capable of transmitting the word throughout the world. This word is carrying out God’s work throughout the earth! Satan hates you, who is listening to the word simply and is going to practice it.
17. At this moment, it is not yet time for God to rapture us. He still needs us on earth to build the church, preach the gospel, win more people who are distressed and exhausted, like sheep without a shepherd. The Lord needs you to bring them into His fold!
    

    John 6:63; John 5:39-40; John 1:1-9

     

18. “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). The word that the Lord speaks to us is “rhema,” the word for the moment. In this word we find life! Many believe that the Bible contains life, but if the Scriptures do not become “rhema,” they are simply dead letters. “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40). What does it mean to “go to the Lord to have life?” The Lord is today in the “rhema” word, in the prophetic word, which contains life: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God […] In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1,4). This life is the Lord Jesus Himself, who is light to men, because God is light. When we enjoy the fellowship of life, through the word of life, we receive light: “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:5). If there were no light in the fellowship of life, there could still be darkness in us, but if we are in the fellowship of life, which is the light of men, any darkness that is in us flees. “That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world” (John 1:9).
    

    1 John 1:6-10; John 17:17; Rom 7:15-20,24-25; Rom 8:1-2; 1 John 1:8

     

19. “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:6-7). If we are in the fellowship of life, like our teenagers, who are immersed in the word, we will not walk in darkness. The fellowship of life is incompatible with darkness. After the fall of man, he disconnected from the true God and connected with the Devil, in whom there is no truth. How do we regain the truth constituted within us? Through the word which is truth, and sanctifies us in the truth (John 17:17). The fallen man is false and full of vanity, but he can constitute himself in the truth through the word.
20. God must sanctify His church by the washing of water by the word. Washing with water is dynamic: if we use a basin of water to wash clothes, the water becomes increasingly dirty and less efficient in cleaning. We need to wash under running water to continue removing dirt. Similarly, blood is also dynamic, if it stops, we die; but, through circulation it gives life. When God gives us a word, we must not keep it still, but make it flow! This way it will generate life and remove dirt. The Spirit must have freedom and bring more revelation, more words, and take away all toxins!
21. We still have the sinful nature in us (1 John 1:8). It would be heresy to say that, when we believed in Jesus, the nature of sin was eradicated, as we still have sin dwelling in us: “But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me” (Rom 7: 17). But, thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, despite having the nature of sin within us, we live in the fellowship of the body, which enlightens us when we sin.
22. The sins we commit are not always considered serious, they can be subtle and apparently harmless. However, the light detects them and provokes us to deal with them before they grow. If we leave sin untreated, our conscience will be seared, and the light of the word will have less effect. That is why it is so important that we receive the light through the fellowship of life! When we come across something that needs to be fixed, let us deal with it as soon as possible: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).
23. We must not commit sins habitually, that way we would have fellowship interrupted all the time. We must be aware that every sin committed interrupts fellowship, so we need to always keep a good and clean conscience, confessing whenever there is an obstruction in life. The goal is to always keep the Word of God within us.
    

    Eph 4:17, 22-25; Eph 5:8-13,26; Zec 8:16,17 (KJA)

     

24. In the old man, we walked in darkness, in the vanity of our thoughts (Eph 4:17). Through the circulation of life and the washing of water by the word (Eph 5:26), we are putting off the old man that corrupts itself according to the lusts of deceit; and putting on the new man, created according to God, in righteousness and holiness proceeding from the truth (Eph 4:22-24).
25. In the sphere of light and life, we leave lies and each one speaks the truth to his neighbor, because we are members of one another (Eph 4:25). “Speak each man the truth to his neighbor; give judgement in your gates for truth, justice, and peace” (Zech 8:16). As long as there are falsehoods in the church life, the fellowship of life does not work, because God is light, and whoever walks in darkness does not practice the truth: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord” (Eph 5:8-10). God wants His church to walk in the truth and leave injustice, gossip, lies, and slanders aside.
    
26. Those who live in the light are enlightened to see their sins, falsehoods, and lies. Thank God we have the redeeming blood of Christ that can purify our conscience from dead works, to serve the living God! (Heb 9:14). God does not expose us with the aim of condemning us, but with the aim of having a good conscience to serve Him. He wants all members to serve in the light.
    

    Rom 8:3, 6:6; Prov 28:13; Heb 9:14

     

27. The Lord wants to free us from sin through life in the Spirit. God dealt with sin on the cross of Christ. Jesus had no sin, but the likeness of sin, and in His flesh, God was able to condemn sin: “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (Rom 6:6). If I live in the Spirit, this reality is true for me and, therefore, the law of the spirit and life frees me from the law of sin and death. How can we no longer be a slave to sin? Living in the Spirit, going to the word.
28. The objective of everything John says in his epistle is to have a clear conscience so that we can serve the living God, maintaining the fellowship of life, immersing ourselves in the word, speaking to each other, and making the word of Christ dwell richly in our hearts. Thus, we will fulfill God’s will: the church will be built, the gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the earth, and our beloved Lord Jesus will return!