1 John: Life in the Light

Blinded by the Light: 1 John 1:5-2:2

Twice in John’s first letter he writes these words:

1 John 1:5 (HCSB)

Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him.

and

1 John 3:11 (HCSB)

For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another,

In both instances John wants his audience to note that what he writes/reveals/proclaim to them is not just his opinion.

What he is declaring is

a). from God and His Son Jesus Christ;

and

b). truth that exists from before the creation of the world.

The announcement John makes is only because Jesus:

- the ‘word of life’; the ‘life that was revealed’; the life John expereienced first hand - having ‘heard…seen…observed…touched with our hands...’

has entered our world and opened for all who believe a radically new kind of life.

In this first statement,

1 John 1:5 HCSB

Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him.

John explains to us that because Jesus has entered our world, we can know the very essence of God.

LIGHT

Our very existence is dependent on light.

What is John pointing us to when he writes,

God is light....?

Remember the words of Genesis:

Genesis 1:2–5 HCSB

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.

This essential characteristic of God - light - is clear to us only because Jesus - the One who identified Himself as ‘the Light of the world’ has entered into our world.

Because God is light, darkness cannot exist in Him, or in His presence.

In vs 6 - 2:2 John calls his audience to hold to the central significance of the person of work of Jesus.

1 John 1:6-7

Does sin matter?

Many believers - then and now - act as though sin in irrelevant and unimportant.

The popular bumper sticker that read

‘Christians are perfect....Just forgiven’ is a classic example.

Yes, believers are imperfect. Yes, God forgives our sin. However, there is no license to sin just because one is promised forgiv Instead, as John writes, we need to recall God’s fundamental essence as light. To claim to experience the presence and power of God - who is pure light, and carry sin with us is impossible.

Darkness cannot co-exist with light.

1 John 1:8-9

To claim sinlessness is to lie.

It is John who wrote that in the appearance of Jesus :

John 1:14 HCSB

The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

It is John’s gospel that records Jesus’ claim:

John 8:12 HCSB

Then Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

John reminds his readers that sin can be forgiven.

If, as the light of God reveals sin, we confess sin, through the cross we can be forgiven.

Light eliminates darkness, light illuminates darkness.

1 John 1:10 - 2:2

In the third set of contrasts John identifies, he reminds his audience that we cannot say ‘we have not sinned.’

To make such a claim, as some did, and as some still do, is to demonstrate God as a liar.

Paul, pulling together a series of statements from the Old Testament - the Bible from which all these believers knew,wrote

Romans 3:10–18 (HCSB)

as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away; all alike have become useless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Because God is light, He has provided a remedy for sin:

1 John 1:7 HCSB

But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:9 HCSB

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 2:2 HCSB

He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.

This Jesus, whom John is proclaiming, is God’s own provision for the human condition known as ‘sin.’

Look at these assurances:

the blood of His Son cleanses us...

From the beginning of human life sacrifice has been essential to forgiveness.

When God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden, a sacrifice was offered so that Adam and Eve would be clothed (see Gen 3:21).

HE is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness

God cannot deny His nature. He always fulfills His promises.

In an encounter Moses had with God, God Himself reveals His character:

Exodus 34:6–7 HCSB

Then the Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: Yahweh—Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

1 John 2:2

One author helpfully notes,

1, 2, 3 John (2) Resist Sin (1:8–2:2)

Jesus is now in the Father’s presence as the eternal High Priest, who, having atoned for the sins of his people, now stands as their effective Advocate to ensure that their sins do not disqualify them from fellowship with the Father.

REFLECT AND RESPOND

What does it mean to ‘live in fellowship’ with God (1 John 1:6)?

John had already declared one of his purposes in writing:

1 John 1:3–4 HCSB

what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may have fellowship along with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

To have ‘fellowship’ with God suggests

a life that reflects the light of God’s presence.

In other words, living in fellowship with God means a life free of whatever might cause His light to be dimmed.

To have fellowship with God means

a life of honesty and accountability before God

You and I can - and often do - lie to one another. We cannot lie to God. He sees beyond what we show and share to those around us.

I don’t need you to confess sin to me, and I don’t need to confess sin to you.

As John indicates,

1 John 2:1 HCSB

My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the Righteous One.

Finally, living in fellowship with God - and with His people -

a life consistently displaying the light of God’s presence and power.

Will we be these people?

Honestly seeking to reflect the light of God’s presence?

Honestly confessing our sin so that we might live free from the guilt and shame of sin?

Openly declaring that as we have received forgiveness in Jesus, others in our sphere of life can also experience the presence and power of God as He intended?