Whatever darkness shades any part of our lives, God – when given access to that part – can lift it. Our text in 1 John 1:5-9 makes it clear that God is light!
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God is Light
1 John 1:5-9
- Jesus Christ is called light and described as “the light” many times in scripture
- You’ll see it both in the Old and New Testaments
- You could go back to Isaiah 42:6-7 and a prophecy about His coming…
“I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.”
- Or in the New Testament gospel of John, chapter 1, verses 6-9…
“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
- Christ, and His sacrifice on the cross, make it possible for us to have a relationship with God
- And when we have a continuing, ongoing relationship with Him, this can be called walking in the light
- We’ll learn more about this as we consider the theme “God is Light”
- From 1 John 1:5-9 today
- 1 John begins talking about a fellowship men can have with God the Father
- Through Jesus Christ
- And that He was a person, walking on earth
- Known by many people, even physically touched by them
- It is through Jesus and His saving power that men can have fulness of joy
- Though we may dwell in the darkness of this world
- In bodies of mere flesh
- He can bring light
- And we can walk in that light
- Our first verse just makes this clear…
1 John 1:5
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
- The darkness of sin that pollutes everything in this world cannot touch God
- Though circumstances are polluted
- Relationships are polluted
- Systems of the world are polluted by sin
- God is wholly separate from that pollution
- Whatever darkness shades any part of our world
- God, when entering into that part, can lift it
- With light that is strong
- And light that is permanent
- There is no darkness in Him
- Coming to Him means coming into the light
- This is not without difficulty
- Light exposes that which the darkness covered
- But His light can not only expose it, but make it right
- This is the hope we have in God
- But if we come to the light, we need to walk in the light…
1 John 1:6
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
- It’s possible to say that we have fellowship with God
- Maybe even to think we have fellowship with God
- But to not actually have it
- It can be a lie that we tell to others
- Or a lie that we tell to ourselves
- The reality is revealed in how we walk
- Are we walking in darkness?
- Darkness is characterized by sin
- By disobedience
- By thinking and acting in ways that are not consistent with Godliness
- To be walking in darkness is to be doing our own will
- Not God’s will
- To be satisfying the desires of our flesh
- Not the desires of God, which are outlined in scripture
- If it becomes obvious that we are walking in anything other than light
- We can be certain that we have lied about our fellowship with God
- But this is not a hopeless situation
- In fact, the next few verses are abounding in hope…
1 John 1:7
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
- Walking in the light is walking according to His will
- Fully surrendered to Him
- Allowing Him to work within us the character traits that are necessary for Godliness
- Altering ourselves based on His instructions
- Getting to know Him in a way that changes us
- That makes it almost impossible for us to turn away from Him and go it alone
- It is our surrender to Him
- Our commitment to rely upon His strength
- Our embrace of the light
- That makes fellowship within the body of Christ possible
- For we are very different
- We have divergent opinions
- Our cultures are not the same
- We have little in common, sometimes
- But Christ is our Savior
- We are part of His family
- And when we are unified in our determination to walk in His light
- We have fellowship in Him
- Because we have all been cleansed by His blood
- And the darkness in which we once walked is now incompatible with our discipleship
- So, we keep relying on Him for forgiveness
- Hopefully, we are not deceiving ourselves…
1 John 1:8
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- While we still dwell in these bodies of flesh, we struggle with sin
- We are not sinless
- We rarely make our way through the day without uttering sinful words or having sinful thoughts
- And sinful actions are not far behind
- If anyone of us says we “have no sin” we are deceiving ourselves
- And the truth has not lodged deep enough in us to dislodge the deceit
- That means continuing to walk in darkness
- But God makes something else clear…
1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- Sin is a big problem
- But failing to admit the sin
- And failing to confess the sin
- That is a permanent problem
- Because Jesus offers cleansing
- He is faithful
- He is just
- He is forgiving
- If His light has revealed the darkness in us
- We must confess it
- Turn from it
- Ask Him to forgive
- And accept that cleansing, with a commitment to keep asking
- To keep confessing
- And to keep walking in the light
- Because God is light
- Jesus is the light of the world
- And we are His disciples
- On a mission to be more like Him every day