The First Epistle of John
Chapter 1
Eternal Light of Hope Study
God's Light of Truth Quest
It is always nice to have you back with us at Daily Bread! This is
the first in a series of three letters written by the Apostle John
that are in the New Testament. If you've read the Gospel according to
John, you know that he's a writer that appeals to your emotions. He
is very spiritual, and you can sense his desire to make you feel what
he feels.
What does Live in the Light mean? The Bible is clear that we are to
live in the Light but what light are we to live in?
Ephesians 5:8
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as
children of light ...
1 John 1:7
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.
We will get to the explanation of what Live in the Light means as we
look into what is shared in 1 John.
Eternal Light of Hope Blessing
God's Light of Truth Adventure
In this first letter John begins talking about Jesus. You'll notice
that he refers to Jesus as the "Word" of God, just as he did in the
very beginning of the Gospel of John. He also stresses, that Jesus
existed from the very beginning with God, and later on in his
epistle, he clarifies further, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit are truly one.
Jesus, was from the beginning, who we have heard, who we have seen
with our eyes, who we have looked upon, and our hands have touched,
of the Word of life; (for the life was made known, and we have seen
it, and testify, and show to you that eternal life, which was with
the Father, and was shown to us;).
That which we have seen and heard with our own eyes and ears, we tell
to you truthfully, so you also may have fellowship with us and truly
our fellowship is with the Father, And with His Son Jesus Christ. And
these things we write to you, that your joy may be complete.
This, then, is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare to
you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say
that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and
do not (speak) the Truth: 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 cleanses us from all sin. (John
8:12)
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is
not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say
that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in
us.
Eternal Light of Hope Prevails
God's Light of Truth Trail
God is Light and Light = Truth
When you turn off the light, you can imagine all kinds of things that
aren't really there. But turn the light on, and it's very clear to
you, that what you imagined isn't really there at all, it wasn't
true. When we sin, we're turning off the light. We can feel our
distance from the Lord (the light). It's the darndest thing, but the
world con-vinces you to sin.
Immediately you can feel that you've fallen into darkness. You know,
that empty, thick, heavy, horrible feeling. Here's the aggravating
thing about sin; you even know that what you're doing is wrong, and
you do it anyway. If you didn't know it was wrong, then, it wouldn't
be sin. Now, you've knowingly, voluntarily, walked right out into the
darkness, where you've been thousands of times before, and all you
want to do is be back in the light again. You want to know the
curious thing about it all? You're gonna do it again. John says, if
you deny that, you make God a liar. Ouch. Okay, you're feeling about
as low as you can feel now, but you're waiting for the good news,
right?
If ...
... We confess our sins, God just flat out forgives us, and cleanses
us from all unrighteousness. That's right. He just reaches out
His loving, comforting, forgiving hand, and pulls you up out of that
deep, dark, ugly mess you're in, and it's all gone in His eyes. What
about other people? Yes, there will be people who don't forgive you,
but those people don't understand what you've learned about sin and
they're walking in darkness themselves. You just read what John said
...
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 cleanses us from all sin
Eternal Light of Hope Warning
God's Light of Truth for You
Fellowship is a state of being in harmony, and that would mean that
forgiveness is mandatory if you're a child of the light. So if you're
worried that someone knows about what sin(s) you've committed, and
that they look down on you for them, you may want to remind yourself
that God has forgiven you, and that's about all you have to worry
about. Remember this, the world cannot provide the light that it
takes you out of, only God can.
So once you've found yourself in a
dark corner, there's only one way out, and that is to ask your Father
for the Grace that
only He can give you.
Guess what. You can confess your sins to Him daily, hourly, even
moment by moment if you need to. You don't have to retain your sin
until a certain day and time of the week, and you don't have to tell
a minister or a priest, you can just go straight to God.
David said:
Psalms 32:5
I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I
said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou
forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
Go straight to the source. When you're in the dark, you walk over to
the light switch and you turn it on. Let me ask, who's forgiveness
are you in need of, anyway? Any given moment is the perfect time to
confess your sins to God. In fact, each moment that you don't
confess, it's kind of like you're trying to keep it a secret from Him.
Eternal Light of Hope is Near
God's Light of Truth Promise
You can sense when you're about to step into the darkness again, you
can just feel it. That's when Satan and his friends are saying to one
another, Watch what I can make him/her do. Then when you do it, and
you're stumbling around in the darkness again, they're giving each
other high fives, and waiting in line to tell God what you've done
now.
Yes, that's right. The Bible says that Satan waits in line to accuse
us night and day for our sins. (Revelation
12:10 and Job 2:1-5)
It always turns out better when you beat Satan to the punch and
confess your sins. Wouldn't it be better if, when Satan reaches the
front of the line and tattles on you, God says to Satan ... I already
know, he/she told me, and I have forgiven them ... Next!
While we're on the subject of confessing, there's something that
should be discussed. Let's say you committed a sin. You slip into
that all too familiar darkness that John described for us and you go
off to your private place (
Matthew 6:6) kneel down and say ... Dear Father, please forgive
me, but the sin was so appealing and I haven't sinned in three
weeks, and I forgot and that's why I did it.
Friend, that's not a confession at all. That is just giving excuses
as to why you think it's okay that you did what you did. It's always
a good idea not to use the word "but" at all in your
confessions. We don't want to try to justify the unjust actions we
took. It may be a more sincere request for forgiveness if you simply,
from your heart, said, God, I have sinned, and I was wrong, and I'm
sorry. Please forgive me. Amen. Confession is admitting your guilt
and your sincere repentance for it. Period. No excuses of why you did
it. No explanations are needed. God knows why. Your job isn't to
con-vince Him that you had a good excuse. That really defeats the
whole purpose of repentance.
Find the Eternal Light of Hope
Discover God's Light of Truth
Try this. The next time you feel anything luring you out of the
light, look down at your hand. Imagine God holding it, and His eyes
asking you to stay close to Him, and not to go away again into the
darkness.
Then enjoy the fellowship of being in the light with Him. What about
that spare time you're gonna gain by not having to wallow in the
darkness? Maybe you can do something cool for God during those times,
like fellowship with Him or share Truth with another for the cause!
As you live in the light, you will regularly confess your sins
to Him, but keep an eye out for the things that most frequently lure
people into the darkness, and that is the world and the
unrighteous things that it offers, and the alluring lies of Satan and
his imps. Those are things that you experience each and every day.
They're everywhere.
But so is the Holy
Spirit!
Eternal Light of Hope Conclusion
God's Light of Truth Summary
John's message in this first chapter of his first epistle, is that
God is Light. Light up your life! Confess your sins, and walk in
the light with Him, in the freedom of Truth. In the next chapter,
John explains that God is Love, too. Let's discover what he has to
teach us about that, together, in our next Daily Bread. Until then,
may you walk in the light and fellowship of the Lord, and may His
face shine upon you!
Live in the Light of Truth!
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