1 John 1:5-10

English Standard Version Chapter 1

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Last week we saw that John is writing this letter so that his readers would know the life of God that is revealed to us in Jesus - the life that is the birthright of and shared among every follower of Christ. That’s the reason that John is writing this letter, and now we get to dive into the contents of the message, which is summed up in this first line: “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

Remember, John has a knack for packaging huge theological truths into memorable phrases, and this is one of those times. What does John mean when he says that God is light? First, let’s remember that John was born and raised in the Jewish faith and the Hebrew Scriptures, which we call the Old Testament. And we see that light is a common metaphor throughout the Old Testament to describe and characterize God, and for the most part we can lump these uses in three buckets: What is True, What is Good, and What is Revealed.

For example, the law of God is often equated to light, such as , “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” or Proverbs

When I was a kid

I remember a story that a camp counselor of mine told of a time when he was a kid, he woke up in the middle of the night and was utterly convinced that Batman was in his room. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, but sure enough as best as he could tell, Batman was hanging out in his room. So he called out to the Dark Knight, which of course the sullen hero remained silent. Eventually, he turned the lamp on to reveal that in fact, it was not Batman, but his jacket thrown over the desk chair. The light revealed what was true.

This is how light is often used in the Old Testament - God, usually through his word, reveals what is true, what is real, what is correct. The Psalmist says that the word of the Lord is a lamp to his feet and a light for his path - the word of God keeps him securely on the road, so he doesn’t miss his turn or take the wrong exit. When the Israelites were running from Pharaoh, God was with them, guiding and directing them as a pillar of fire, lighting the way that they should go. C.S. Lewis said that we know that the sun has risen not because we see it, but because by it we see everything else. Light plays the role of teacher and guide - showing us what is true and right and good.

And the greatest teacher of what is true and good is, of course, Jesus - God in the flesh. And so John in his gospel says that “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” Jesus, who calls himself the light of the world, is the truest revelation of what is true and good, because when we see Jesus we see God himself.

But light is also used to describe what is pure and holy and flawless. Paul says that God “dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see.” Which is strange, isn’t it? Light is something that helps us to see. But anyone who has ever driven eastward to work in the morning as the sun is rising knows that light can be blinding when there is more than our eyes can handle. Well in the same way, God’s perfection and holiness is more than our eyes can handle - which is why the idea of light is such a useful way to think about God’s flawless righteousness.

Okay, so putting this all together, Light is that which is true and pure and perfect and righteous and illuminating and enlightening and instructing - and all of this is who God is. If God is light, than God is true and pure and perfect and righteous and illuminating and enlightening and instructing. This is who God is is. And to drive that home even further, John says that there is no darkness at all in him - there is nothing but what is true and pure and perfect and good and enlightening in God. There is not even a hint of anything less. We as 21st century folk know that darkness is just the absence of light, but John is adamant that we know that there is nothing lacking at all in God.

Clearly, there can be no greater privilege or higher blessing than to know and be known and loved by such a God as ours. There can be no greater life than living in fellowship with the God who is Light.

Now here’s the kicker: why does John begin this letter by affirming that God is light and has no darkness in him at all? Because in this letter, John want to show us what it looks like to walk in the life of God which is ours through Jesus - to show us what it looks like to abide in God. And so he begins by saying that God is light and in him is no darkness at all to rule out claims to fellowship with him by those who are walking in darkness.

Now here’s the kicker: why does John begin this letter by affirming that God is light and has no darkness in him at all? Because in this letter, John want to show us what it looks like to walk in the life of God which is ours through Jesus - to show us what it looks like to abide in God. And so he begins by saying that God is light and in him is no darkness at all to rule out claims to fellowship with him by those who are walking in darkness.

There are people in the Christian community in Ephesus, to whom John is writing, that claim they have a share in the life of God, but, John says, are in fact deceiving themselves, because you cannot have one foot walking in the light while the other walks in darkness. How many America’s Funniest Home Video clips have we seen where someone is trying to get in the boat, but they hesitate for too long with one foot in the boat and the other on the dock, and sure enough, because the two are moving in opposite directions, things end terribly. John says it’s the same with our life with God - we cannot have one foot in the light and the other in the dark, one foot in the truth and the other in error, one foot in righteousness and the other in sin. We cannot experience the life of God when we do this. And to illustrate this, John looks at three ways people stumble in this way. And as we look at these examples, don’t immediately write them off and say, “Oh that’s not me, I don’t do that.” Because if we are honest with ourselves, we fall into these traps a lot more often than we may want to think.

The first of these traps is found in verse 6:

English Standard Version Chapter 1

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

So this category of people claim to have fellowship with God, claim to be walking in the light, but are in fact walking in darkness. The only way that we can claim to walk in the light while in fact walking in darkness is if we redefine what is in the light and what is in the darkness. If light refers to the true and good that is revealed by God than darkness is that which is untrue, and evil, existing apart from God - namely, sin. So this group of people are those who redefine sin. And John teaches us that we cannot experience the life of God when we redefine sin.

You can’t

There are times when we redefine what is sinful, though we rarely think about it such direct terms as that. We redefine what is sinful when we justify sinful behavior. Oh we are quick to call some things sin: murder, adultery, theft - but what about greed? What about the fact, that if you’re anything like me, the vast majority of our expenses are self-serving, and the rhythm of our life is to make money so that we can buy the things that we want to buy and live the way we want to live, and generosity or charity or using our money to bless others is a mere afterthought or reserved for particular seasons of the year? Now, you can’t possibly find that rhythm of life sanctioned in the Scriptures nor in the character of our God. But when was the last time you were kept up at night over that? Ironically, I’m more kept up at night dreaming up ways to make a little more so I can get that next thing on my Amazon wishlist. When we minimize or excuse or justify sin, we redefine it and when we do, John says we lie and do not practice the truth. We do not experience the life of God, we do not have fellowship with him when we redefine sin.

We don’t just redefine what is sin but we re-characterize it as well. We do this when we minimize our sin. Again, we hardly do this as directly as some of the false teachers were in Ephesus, but we do it in much more subtle ways.

The second and third example are similar to one another and in fact play off one another and are found in verse 8, and 10:

English Standard Version Chapter 1

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Most people who walk into a church on a Sunday morning would never say that they had no sin. In fact, the Bible talks about how one of the evidences of the Spirit of God in us is a conviction of sin. It often happens that new believers actually grow discouraged after coming to faith because they look at their lives and see for the first time all the many ways they are living outside of the light of God - when in reality it is the Spirit that is giving light to these sins so that they can work in conjunction with the Spirit to put those sins to death through the work of Jesus. But sometimes instead of welcoming and allowing this difficult and messy work of healing in our lives we actually resist it, and we barricade off parts of ourselves and parts of lives, allowing God to go so far but no further. When we feel the beginnings of that conviction, that movement of the Spirit in our lives calling us to bring what is hidden into the light, we clamp down, distract ourselves from the thought, and in doing so we essentially claim that we do not need the Spirit’s work because there is nothing wrong under that rock. There’s no sin to be found. All is well. But this is self-deception at it’s most dangerous.

Have you ever seen an argument with someone where things are escalating quickly and one of them says, “Stop yelling,” and the other person, red in the face, screams back, “I am not yelling!” That’s kind of like what John is saying here. When we refuse to allow God to go deeper into our lives, effectively claiming that there’s no sin in there to found, we are deceiving ourselves. Not only are we deceiving ourselves, but we call God a liar! That is meant to shock us awake! We do not experience the life of God, we do not have fellowship with him when we claim to have no sin in this way.

We cannot claim to live in the light of God, privy to all the blessings and promises that he offers, when we are walking in darkness, because God is light and in him there is no darkness at all! And we walk in darkness when we redefine sin, justify, minimize, excuse it, and when we claim that God need not pry any further into our lives, because all is well deep inside.

So if these are surefire proofs that we are not living in the fullness of God’s life in Jesus, the question becomes how can I experience life in God and fellowship with him? If God is light, and in him is no darkness at all, than we need to walk in the light. We need a lifestyle that is characterized by God’s light. We need to plant both feet in the light. So how do we do that? What’s that sort of life look like?

The only way to experience the life of God is to be transparent about your sins and transformed by the work of Jesus. We walk in the light when we are transparent and transformed. Look at verses 7 and 9.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

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

English Standard Version Chapter 1

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10

The way to have fellowship with the God who is light is not to deny or belittle or reframe our sins, but to be transparent, open, and honest about them - and to make a habit of acknowledging and confessing them.

Walking in the light, as we see John claiming here, has everything to do with walking in the light of Jesus. John says that if we walk in the light the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. That verb cleanses is the type of verb that means ongoing continuous action, so we could translate it that if we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus keeps on cleansing us from all sin.

Walking in the light has nothing to do with walking in our purity, our goodness, our truthfulness, or our righteousness. Walking in the light, as we see John claiming here, has everything to do with walking in the light of Jesus. John says that if we walk in the light the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. That verb cleanses is the type of verb that means ongoing continuous action, so we could translate it that if we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus keeps on cleansing us from all sin. So part of life with God and fellowship with him is the continuous cleansing of our sin by Jesus.

One of the ways we are deprived of the joy of walking in the light is because we feel like we have failed so often that we dare not ask God for forgiveness again. We all have signature sins, recurring sins that seem to haunt us. After a number of failures we feel like we can’t come to God once again and say, “Lord, it’s me again…and it’s that again.” But there is perhaps no greater joy-robbing lie of the enemy than the lie that says that God’s forgiveness is reserved for those who’s sins are few and small. No, the blood of Jesus keeps on cleansing us from not some sins, not unique sins, not minor sins, but from all sin, and the joy of the life of God and fellowship with him is that we can never come too often to God when we come in faith and humility. Ours is the God who called himself the shepherd who leaves the flock to find the single lost lamb. Ours is the God who called himself the Father who ran from his home to greet his lost son. Ours is the God who called himself the poor widow who overturned every scrap of furniture in her home to find her lost coin.

To walk in the light, then, is to become increasingly conscious of the sin in our lives that would hinder our relationship with God, and as that sin is revealed, not to run away into darkness again, but to bring it in faith to the God whose Son gave his life that all our sins might be forgiven and removed. That is what it means to walk in the light, and to experience the life of God, and to practice the truth. Living transparent and transformed.

Every week, I remind us all of this wonderful truth. says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

He is faithful, trustworthy, consistent. He has promised his forgiveness, and when we come in faith and humility, he always gives it. He is just to this, because the penalty and guilt of our sins, yes all of them, have been erased when Jesus took them upon himself, and put them to death on the cross.

He is just to this, because the penalty and guilt of our sins, yes all of them, have been erased when Jesus took them upon himself, and put them to death on the cross.

He is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse. Forgiveness frees us from the punishment of sin, and cleansing frees us from its stain. When you spill coffee on the counter and wipe it away, it doesn’t stain. But when that coffee is left, when it lingers, perhaps you saw it but were in too big a hurry, or perhaps it was in a hard to reach place and you’d have to move a bunch of stuff to get to it and it be too big a pain. But the longer it remains, the darker the stain becomes. Jesus’ blood wipes that stain clean. But when we redefine or minimize or deny the existence of the stain, it just remains, discoloring the countertop. You see forgiveness looks backward, covering our past; but cleansing looks forward, transforming our future, because a clean countertop, a righteous life is to characterize the life of the believer. Because the cross that pardons us also promises power to be transformed. As our old self is crucified with Jesus, the way is opened for us to share in the newness of his resurrection life, a life that we can only experience when we walk in his light by being transparent about our darkness, with ourselves, with others, and surely with God.

So family, the way to experience the newness of Christ’s resurrection life is to be transparent and transformed. Walking in the light means regularly acknowledging and even seeking out the darkness in our lives, offering them to God in confession, and asking that in his mercy he would forgive and cleanse and transform you. There is a sweet joy to this habit of life that is only known to those who follow Jesus, and God wants you to know it today. During our time of confession this morning, we’ll have a longer silent pause before our corporate confession - I encourage you to be real and specific with God. Ask the Lord to show you the stains that you’ve been hiding or purposefully looking the other way. Ask him to show you the ways that you’re walking outside of his light, and claim the forgiveness and cleansing and transformation that is yours in Jesus Christ. Pray with me.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.