John the apostle tells us that it is possible to have the fullness of joy or complete joy. But how do you get a complete of full joy? First, you don't get it by aiming at it or looking for it. How come? Because the complete joy is a by-product of something else. So, what kind of joy are we talking about here? 1 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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 We write this to make our joy complete. (1 John 1:1-3) So, what is joy a by-product of? The fullness of joy is a by-product of knowing God/Jesus. But, how do we come to this experience? 1. We Come to Know Him Objectively 2. We Come to Know Him Subjectively 1. We Come to Know Him Objectively Disciples of Jesus were eyewitnesses of His life, death and resurrection. So, is this the end of it? It's not. The point of knowing His life, death and resurrection culminates in something else. It is to know Him personally or experientially or subjectively. 2. We Come to Know Him Personally “So, that you may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (3) So, having a fullness or completeness of joy is a by-product of knoing Jesus rationally and personally. “And this is eternal life, that they may know you … and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” The two esential elements of which both, eternal life and joy is made of for knowing God/Jesus is to know Him rationally and to know Him personally Both are essential Intelect and experience, both are neccessary. There were two major heresis in John's time: Materialism and Gnosticism 1. Materialism For materialists only physical is real. Spiritual is an illusion. For them God does not exists and therefore if Jesus existed he was only a good person. However, according to them he did not resurrect from the grave. Here is the reply to materialists present and past: This evidence of witness comes from Jesus' disciples and more than 500 people who saw resurrected Jesus. "We saw Him." "We touched Him." "We heard Him talk to us." 2. Gnosticism According to gnostics only spiritual is real. Physical is just an illusion. Christian response to gnosticism: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." So, Christianity is not all physicall or all reason and rationallity. Christianity is also not only experience and spiritual reality. It is both. Why is both neccessary? Because God created both physical and spiritual reality and He will redeem both physical and spiritual reality. There are Two Important Implications for Knowing God rationally and personally: 1. It is For Everyone 2. It is For Everyone to Share It With Others 1. It is For Everyone “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.” Paul mentions all kinds of people: fathers, mother, young men/women, little children… 2. This is For Everyone to Share It “… so that our joy maybe complete.” Our joy will only be complete when others have the same fellowship with God as we do. The consequence of knowing god rationally and personally is to have a deep personal joy which comes to its fulness when you share this knowledge with others.