Prepare: Imagine you are in a small first-century church, and a letter arrives. What would convince you that the writer is a genuine Christian and not trying to lead you astray? God is light John understands the suspicions of the churches, so he lays out his credentials in the first four verses. His authority is that he has actually lived with Jesus from the beginning (v 1). He knows that Jesus was both God and man. And he was a close friend. Having assured his readers of his authority, John goes straight on with his message. God is light, he says (v 5); he is completely pure, good and holy. But it is not a spotlight, just illuminating one thing. God’s clear piercing light illuminates everything around. There are no shadows with this light (v 5). Forgiven people Darkness, that is wickedness, sin and evil, cannot exist in God’s light. So it follows that if we live sinfully we cannot be in God’s light and therefore do not have the privilege of being in fellowship with him (v 6). But although everyone sins (v 8), because we have owned up to our sins we can live our lives as a forgiven people (vs 7b,9) in fellowship with God. But we are not alone. Spiritual union with God means friendship, empathy and a sense of belonging with all other Christians, whatever their denomination (v 7a). Respond: Pray for those Christians in countries where they are in a minority and face persecution. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 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, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:1-10 NIV)
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 14:37:35 +0000
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