Eye-Witness to the Word of Life | 1 John 1:1-4 | Walking in the Light

About this episode

Pastor Mark discusses the significance of eyewitness testimony in Christianity as presented in 1 John 1:1-4.

What is Christianity actually about? In this opening message of our series on 1 John, Pastor Mark begins where John begins: with eyewitness testimony. John declares that he and the other apostles heard, saw, and touched the Word of Life — and that claim was not made in a corner. It was a public proclamation of a real Savior who entered history in an actual human body. Drawing on the historical context of early Gnosticism, which denied the goodness of the physical world and infiltrated the early church like a parasite, this sermon unpacks why the bodily reality of Jesus matters so much. Our deepest problem isn't a lack of enlightenment — it's sin before a holy God. And our only hope is the real, historical, bodily work of Jesus Christ, testified to by eyewitnesses and proclaimed so that our joy may be complete.

People in this episode

Host: Pastor Mark

Topics covered

• Christianity
• eyewitness testimony
• historical context
• Gnosticism
• sin
• salvation
• joy

Keywords

• Christianity
• eyewitness
• 1 John
• Gnosticism
• sin
• Jesus
• salvation
• joy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: early Gnosticism

Books & works: 1 John

More episodes of Edgerton First Reformed: An Evangelical Presbyterian Church

• He Passed Through the Heavens | Luke 24:44-53 & Hebrews 4:14-5:10 | The Ascension of Jesus · May 17, 2026 · 21 min
• Redemption Secured | Ruth 4 | Redeeming Love · May 10, 2026 · 26 min
• The Redeemer's Kindness | Ruth 3 | Redeeming Love · May 3, 2026 · 23 min
• Under His Wings | Ruth 2 | Redeeming Love · April 27, 2026 · 24 min
• Where You Go, I Go | Ruth 1:6-22 | Redeeming Love · April 19, 2026 · 24 min
• The Breadless House | Ruth 1:1-5 | Redeeming Love · April 12, 2026 · 19 min