Walking in Light, Living in Love

last week we looked at the fellowship that John described would make our joy complete in 1 John one, and in those verses he gave us a command to walk in the light. Today we are going to look at the first 11 verses of chapter 2 and in these verse John is going to continue to show us what does walking in the light actually look like. Not what is it as a concept or an idea what does it look like for you and me in our everyday lives. How do we walk in light when it takes 30 extra minutes to get out the door because your daughter cant find the special stuffed animal? How do you walk in light when your surrounded by darkness? How do you walk in light when someone in the church hurts you? We are going to find as we look at this chapter today and the rest of the book in the weeks to come It all comes back to Jesus.

1 John 2:1–2 NIV

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

In these verses we see that John is continuing the thought he introduced in the last chapter. Where he said look if you claim to be without sin then put theologically you are a liar liar pants on fire. and you make God out to be a liar as well because he has made it clear that all have sinned. but if you confess your sin He is faithful and just. Faithful and just to what give us what we deserve death? no he is faithful and just to forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness. It is just for him to do that because the blood of Jesus has paid our penalty.

So with all that in mind John says I write to you so that you will not sin. John is again saying walk in the light. Life is better in the light of God. But if we sin we have an advocate.

1. Jesus is our Advocate.

Advocate is not really a word we use in our everyday vocabulary. What does it mean for someone to be an advocate. The greek word we translate as advocate is also translated helper. The definition is “a noun refering to one who helps, advocates, comforts someone on behalf of another.” outside of the new Testament the Greek word we translate helper or advocate is often used to describe a legal assistant or advocate in a court of law. It is also the same word used when Jesus describes the Holy Spirit. Here John claims that Jesus is our advocate with the Father.

What does it look like to have an advocate. Have you had someone advocate for you to someone on your behalf? Dan Spencer.

Jesus is there ready to make that call and advocate for you. John says here that he is the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. But that doesn’t mean that all the sins of everyone everywhere are now covered. You have to make that call confess your sins believe that what Jesus did on the cross was enough and make him the Lord of your life and he will advocate for you.

I want you to imagine for a minute that you are living through a drought and famine like what happened in the 1930s in the midwest during the dust bowl. your crops have all been destroyed there is no mcdonalds. If there was you couldnt afford it anyway. You are at home with your family and you are all close to starving. When suddenly someone comes to your door and tells you that someone is handing out food downtown. and it has already been paid for. Food for the whole town has been paid for, but this isnt uber eats you have to believe that the guy is telling you the truth and you have to go receive the food that is going to save your families life.

Jesus has paid the price for the salvation of the whole world. There is plenty of food. The bread of life is there for all. But we have to confess our sins, surrender to him and then we get Jesus as our advocate with the father. And he is the best advocate you could ever have. Better than any reference or lawyer you could hire. Because our advocate loves us. he’s the one who gave his life for us. If this was a trial in United States he would have to be removed as our advocate because he loves us so much. Major conflict of interest. and he is advocating to the father who also loves us. We have been given the best case scenario. and yet still people choose to stay at home and starve, they choose to let their children starve, when they have access to the bread of Life.

Lets make sure that is not us. and we tell as many people as we can about the bread of life.

How can we know we have the bread of life, how can we know that we are in fellowship with God and walking in the light?

1 John 2:3–6 NIV

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

We know that we know him if we keep his commands. John is saying you can say you know God. You can say he’s your God. But if you don’t do what he says how can that be true. He is not saying that if you sin you aren’t a Christian. and if you stumble then God is done with you. He’s saying if you say you know God and don’t try to follow his commands with the help of Holy Spirit then its just words.

2. We say what we know, We live what we Believe.

You can say that you know what God says is best all day long and you might really know that. but your actions. how you live away from this building will show if you really believe that. Show me your search history and ill tell you if you believe that. Show me your screen time ill tell you if you believe that. Show how many of your prayers this week were about other people and ill tell you if you believe that. Show me all the jokes you told and laughed at this week and ill tell you if you believe that. Show me all the lyrics to the songs you chose to listen to and let the words marinate in your mind and ill tell you if you believe that. Show me how you treated your spouse this week and ill tell you if you believe that. Show how much time you spent discipling your kids this week and ill tell you if you believe that. Tell me what you turned to when something went wrong this week and ill tell you if you believe that. Let me ask your co-workers how you treat them and ill tell you if you believe that.

Its not about earning salvation it isn’t about constantly working so you don’t lose it, worried about if you are securely in the fathers hand. That isnt why John wrote this letter. Remember I told you last week that one of the objectives for John writing this letter was that they would feel reassured in their salvation. John is saying if your desire to walk in the light is coming from your belief in him and what he says than thats how you know. Feel reassured. But if your belief never leads to action. God may be thing you know about rather than a person you are in a relationship with.

Those of us in this room who have said yes to Jesus. We have given him our lives from that first yes, yes is the only response we can give him. Because if we tell him no how can he be our Lord? No Lord, No King, No boss, it doesn’t really work does it. Like when you say yes to enlist in the military, your next response cant be no general. You already said yes when you committed. You cant give someone your life and then try to take pieces of it back. “This is how we know we are in him whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did” Jesus came to earth and lived his life for the glory of God. That is what we are called to do as well, and we do that by yes. To the person we claim is our Lord. That truth moves from head knowledge to belief when we deem it worthy of living out.

1 John 2:7–11 NIV

Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

Verses 7-8 sound contradicting. He says I am not writing you a new command and then immediately says I am writing you a new command. Whats that about. This command to love that he’s explained in the previous verses and is about to give an example of in the next verses isn’t new. Its consistent with the law and everything they knew about God from the Old Testament, But it is new because now we have seen it lived out through Jesus. Jesus fulfilled the law and gave love an ever deeper meaning. This command to love is also made new in that our motivation to love is the grace of God thats been given to us and we are not motivated by fear or obligation.

John has showed us that Jesus is our advocate he has taken the penalty for our sin and now sits with the father reminding him that even know we still sin our sin has been covered by his blood. Then John showed us how our response to that is if we really believe that and not just know that our response must be to keep his commands because we live out what we believe. Mainly the command that all other commands flow out of which is to love like God. and now he gives us a practical example on what that looks like.

He says look if you claim to be in light you got to love your fellow Christians. If you say you are in the light and hold hatred in your heart for other Christians then you aren’t walking in light.

3. To Walk in the Light Means Loving Others in it

You can’t say you are walking in the light while hating other people who are walking in the light.

John isnt just using this as one of many examples he says “anyone who loves their brother or sister lives in the light and there is nothing in them to make them stumble., but anyone who hates a brother or sister is in darkness and walks around in darkness”

He’s not even talking about nonbelievers here he is talking about other Christians. If you can’t even love other people who have experienced God’s love and you are supposed to be in fellowship with, how are you supposed to love those who haven’t experienced God’s love and you arent in fellowship with?

Look I know church can be hard. Some of the greatest relationship pain I have ever experienced has been in the church. Church would be easier if we only let perfect people in, but then I wouldnt be allowed in, and neither would you.

It gets a little easier when you realize that when we gather its not about you. I heard a pastor say once that when you leave church on sunday afternoon you will hear people say did you like that message? did you like that worship? You never hear anyone say do you think God liked it? We gather for him. to celebrate him to glorify him and the thing that makes him happier than anything else is the same as any good father when His children love each other.

I think of the pain it would cause me if my two daughters grew up to hate each other. and decide that they were better off never speaking to each other. The pain I would experience have 2 of my 3 favorite people hate each other. I want you to think how much it pains God to see two of the children that he made in his image, that he loves so much he sent Jesus to die for hate each other and decide they don’t need each other.

We need each other if we are going to walk in the light and avoid stumbling we need each other just like John says. You cant walk in the light hate other people in the light.

Conclusion

As we close today I want you to consider is Jesus your advocate? Do you believe that his death and resurrection was enough to save you? Today can be the day where you leave behind the house where you are slowly starving to death and receive Jesus as your bread of life.

If you are here today and you say Daniel I know all this stuff. I want you to look at your life and ask yourself do your actions show that you don’t just know it but believe it. This altar is open to you to confess your sin. Of course he knows your sin. Us confessing our sin isnt about him finding it out. It is about you saying I went my own way but i believe your way is better. Help me go and sin no more.

Lastly I want to give everyone in here a chance to respond to this. If you are harboring hate and bitterness towards someone else that is in the light. If you have had a disagreement with a church member and that disagreement led to hating that person and deciding that you don’t need them. If you have hate in your heart right now for fellow brother or sister in Christ I want you to raise your hand. Everyone who raised their hand and those who were to scared to. confess your sin to God. and then as soon as this service is over take out your phone and put in your calandar a time when you are going to have an uncomfortable conversation with that person. every situation is different but go to that person and say I am sorry for the role I played in the sitation that drove a wedge between us. We may never be best friends but I want you to know I love you as a brother or sister in Christ. and we need each other to be able to walk in light.