Seeing Jesus

The book of 1 John opens with the testimony of John's personal relationship with Christ:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us...

John wants people to know he met Jesus and really knew him. It is the testimony of his personal experience but it's the change in his life as a result of this meeting on which he focuses. He says, "I met Jesus and because of that I need to proclaim Him to you. I want you to know that you can know this same Jesus and in knowing him we will have fellowship together, we will have fellowship with God and we will be cleansed of our sins finding joy, complete joy". I point this out because it is so instructive how when John saw Jesus it compelled him to show Jesus to others.

To experience Christ, to see Jesus, inevitably leads us to want others to experience Him and the more we know Him the more we want others to know Him. I believe one of the reasons we in the church move away from showing others Christ is because we have moved away from seeing Christ. Often times when we first come to know Jesus we are excited for others to see Him too but over time we move from the central focus of Christ onto other things. We get too caught up in actions and practice and methods and turn from the face of Christ. We abandon the central focus of Christ and His Gospel life embracing behavior modification and good advice and as such lose an enthusiasm for others to see Him too.

John had that every day experience with Jesus, he walked with Him daily, talked with Him daily, gave his life to the pursuit of a relationship with Him and as a result his central desire was that others would know Him too. His focus wasnt on building a bigger church or better life but helping others see Jesus. 

If we keep our focus on the face of Jesus, if we approach His word with the intention of having Christ's image daily impressed on us we will not only see Him more clearly but we will help others to do the same.