Get Real

1 John 1:5–10 “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him. If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. 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. If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

Let’s pray.

In the movie “Catch Me if You Can,” based on a true story, Leonardo DiCaprio plays a young man by the name of Frank Abagnale. Frank is depicted is getting into trouble of all kinds and ends up moving on to bigger crimes. Throughout the movie he leads police and the FBI on a long chase trying to track him down. The movie depicts him writing fraudulent checks, impersonating airline pilots and pushing the limits on what he could get away with.

Why do I share this with you? Because 1 John 1:5-10 is calling out frauds within the church.

I’ve titled this message “Get Real” because, as we’ll see, John is going to make it very clear to us what it means to have true fellowship with God

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him. If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth.

John opens his letter by saying “What was from the beginning, what we heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have touched with our hands concerning the word of life” 1 John 1:1 is what he is declaring to his readers. He is reminding them of the message, the teachings, and all that was revealed to him through Christ is the basis for their Christian fellowship.

1 John 1:1 CSB

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—

We then come to our text this morning with the summarized message: God is light and there is absolutely no darkness in him. It’s an interesting phrase in the Greek. It almost reads “In his is not not darkness.” The summary of John’s message is that God is light and has no darkness within himself. And this is not simply his own opinions. What he is saying is what was revealed directly by Jesus.

The opening line of v.5 should immediately bring us back to John 1:1 which when we read carefully, should bring us also to Genesis 1:1, 3. God from all eternity has been light, God was light in the beginning was light, and he continues to be light today. “God is light.” We often view God’s light as a guide for us. God is like the light he provided in the pillar of fire by night for the Israelites in the Wilderness.

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Genesis 1:3 “Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”