The Apostle John wrote 1John around 50-55 years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ!Right after Christ’s Ascension the devil got busy leading people away from the TRUTHS of Christ by spreading UNtruths about Christ,specifically denying HIS Absolute Deity that John talks about in John1:1-14”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.....The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth”.Because of the efforts of the devil leading people away from Christ and toward Gnosticism having such an impact on the “religious”,John was compelled to point everyone back to God’s Word through Moses and the prophets found in what we have in the Old Testament.Just as triangulation is the needed information making it possible for our current GPS technology to give us pinpoint revelation of our geographic position,we need the Old Testament to give us all the information necessary to give us pinpoint revelation of ALL the TRUTHS about Christ and His Gospel.If we don’t have this “spiritual triangulation”,we will be susceptible to MISinformation guiding us to all things other than the TRUE Gospel of Christ,& Absolute AWE of God.So 1John begins with verses 1-4 putting an immovable stake in the ground about the Deity of Christ,& that HE is the fulfillment of everything that has been said and prophesied about the coming Messiah since the beginning of time (“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-this we proclaim concerning the Word of life(God’s Word made flesh-Christ).The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.We write this to make our joy complete..”).John is yearning for everyone to have the fellowship that he has found with The Father in Heaven through Christ...only Christ!The Gnostics around John we’re not having a problem with believing Christ rose from the dead,nor that He was “a divine being”.In fact the Gnostics made it part of their false gospels.But they allowed themselves to be MISled into all sorts of dark spiritual areas because of not leaning into “the Word of life”/God’s Word for the spiritual guidance/information that would’ve given them the “triangulation” that would have led them to an AWESOME REVERENCE for GOD & WHO CHRIST IS, and ALL CHRIST has done for our salvation from sin, and ETERNAL GIFTS!The Gnostics of John’s time based their spirituality on Christ being a divine being that raised from the dead...,and NOT The Word Made Flesh/God Made Flesh...living/teaching/suffering/dying/resurrecting,& ascending to Heaven to show us God’s Only Way to have Eternal Salvation.This was because of their lack of awesome appreciation for the Word of life God had given them from Genesis to the book of Malachi!For us,without Genesis to Malachi in our lives,we will have less than the true AWE of The Word made flesh/Jesus Christ that is revealed to us in the books of Matthew to Revelation.This is the same AWE that brought Moses prostrate...turned Esther’s heart to God’s purpose for her life....gave Joshua perseverance&courage...humbled David so he could chase after GOD’s own Heart...made Josiah tear his robe & change a nation for God...led Shadrach,Meshach,&Abednego faithfully into a fiery furnace to walk with The Lord...led Daniel into a lions den & be saved...led the Prophets to boldly live for God & declare HIS Word in TRUTH...led the Apostles and the early Disciples to live,suffer,&even die in such a way that the first century Roman Empire was turned upside down for The Gospel of Christ.This is the same AWE of God that Christ came for us to have...so our life and the lives around us will have the same Eternal Impact that these men and women had.For they are “the great cloud of witnesses” that Hebrews 11 draws us to look to for inspiration/encouragement/discernment/perspective/perseverance...& the TRUE HOPE found ONLY in Christ.Dear Lord,I pray for Your help in having my mind&heart drawn to Your Word of life in IT’s entirety...& for Your Spirit to help me understand Your TRUTHS in such ways that I am AWED by You in the same ways that “the great cloud of witnesses” were...so my heart/mind/life would be changed as theirs were….and live with the passion for and commitment to YOUR LOVE that they did…