Last week, we began a series of messages on the book of I John. We specifically focused on verses 1-4 where John wrote about the fact that Jesus had truly come in the flesh. John had seen Jesus and heard Jesus' teaching.
John's mission was to proclaim the wonderful message of Jesus so that people might be able to experience real joy. We can only find true joy through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Continuing in verse 5, John states, "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."
God is perfectly pure and holy. There is no imperfection or sin in God. Everything that God does is perfectly good, just and righteous. God acts in perfect love.
There are several places in Scripture where God is spoken of in terms of light. One of my favorite references is found in Revelation 21:22 which says, "And the city had no need of the sun neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."
Jesus Christ is the Lamb. While Jesus was on earth, He referred to Himself as the light of the world. Jesus was the light come into the world. He put it this way in John 3:19-20, "...light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."
Light exposes the darkness, and the darkness wants to carry out its sin without being exposed. When Jesus came into the world, His righteous and holy life showed the world the proper way of behavior. His righteousness put to shame the most righteous sinner.
This is why the Pharisees and the other religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus. His light exposed their evil deeds. It exposed their hypocrisy and self-righteousness. They hated His light and wanted to extinguish Him forever. Thank the Lord they were unsuccessful because Jesus rose again and is alive.
John goes on in verse 6 to say, "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth."
In order to have fellowship with God, we cannot have fellowship with darkness because darkness can have no part in the light of the glory of God. Sin separates us from God. This is the reason that Jesus needed to come into the world. There needed to be a reconciliation between God and man. The problem of sin had to be dealt with. Only the light of Jesus Christ could deal with the darkness of sin.
When someone claims to know Jesus as Savior, they are freed from the darkness of sin and transported into the kingdom of God's marvellous light. A transformation takes place, and the believer becomes a new creation in Christ. The old has passed away, and all has become new.
Anyone who is living in sin and living in disobedience to the teachings of Jesus is walking in darkness and cannot rightly claim to have fellowship with the Lord. Anyone who claims otherwise is not telling the truth.
There are many people today who claim to be followers of God and are even the leaders of entire denominations who are walking in darkness because they teach that which is opposed to the will of God.
I'll give you an example. A denomination that many in my family are a part of has stated for several years that they are pro-choice on the issue of abortion. This is something I can't understand at all. How can a religious body claim to be followers of Christ and at the same time be pro-choice? It is not possible.
I think that this is just one example of what John is talking about. However, we can bring it down to the personal level. How can we be dishonest or greedy and claim to have fellowship with the Lord? It can't be.
John goes on to say, "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."
The evidence of true conversion and fellowship with the Lord is walking in the light. We walk in the light when we follow the perfect example given to us by Jesus. Walking in the light means loving the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves. We walk in the light when we produce the fruit of the spirit such as love, joy and peace.
When a person has been truly redeemed by the blood of Jesus, there life will show the difference. I know of no better example of this than my Dad.
Before my Dad became a believer, he walked in darkness. He drank a lot, hung out in bars, and was a very rough character. But one day a minister shared the Gospel with my Dad, and my Dad got down on his knees and prayed to receive Jesus as his Savior and Lord.
From that day on, my Dad was a changed man. He quit drinking. Instead of hanging out in bars, he became a church officer involved in evangelism. He became a good, kind and nice person to be around.
My Dad went from darkness to light. He went from enmity with God to fellowship with God. His life showed that he was walking in the light.
Let us each examine our walk in the light of the life of Christ. Amen.
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