Transcript

I have read that the Bible is still the best-selling book, not only of all time—some 5 billion copies—but also annually with around 100 million sold each year. To me the tragedy is that it is probably one of the most ignored books of all time. For instance, here in America, 25 million Bibles are sold every year, but only 2 million people read it regularly.

For most people, the Bible is something to have; but for genuine Christians, the Bible is something that has us.

We now set sail into the first of three letters written by the apostle John. We call it 1 John. And it is clear that John cannot get over this treasure God gave him—the unique privilege of recording inspired words of the living Lord. He even states early on that this fills him with complete joy.

John is the last living apostle. He has written the Gospel of John, and he will later write the book of Revelation; but he has also written these three little letters, as an eyewitness to the person and ministry of Jesus. And near the end of the first century, an eyewitness account was desperately needed.

An early form of Gnosticism was already making inroads into the church. False teachers claimed Jesus was not divine, because deity would never take on evil humanity. So, they said that Jesus was only a man. He could not provide forgiveness or promise eternal life to anyone, and His body did not rise from the dead. He simply had the essence of God, the spirit of Christ, upon Him, they taught.

So, John steps up and immediately testifies to the reality of who Jesus is:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life–––the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us–––that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (verses 1-3)

That is a long way of saying, “Listen, I saw Jesus, I knew Jesus, I heard Him speak, I traveled with Him. He was fully human and fully divine; He is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

John clarifies that Jesus was “the eternal life, which was with the Father.” This means Jesus had a preexistent, face-to-face relationship with God the Father. This is rich doctrine: Jesus Christ, the preincarnate Son of God, existed in eternity past in fellowship with God the Father.

To John, this is not some dry doctrinal statement. This is an electrifying truth of life-changing power in Jesus Christ.

John then moves on to tell us about our relationship with God the Father. He writes in verse 5, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

So, the God of the Bible—the God proclaimed in John’s letters—is not like the gods created by world religions. Those gods cheat and lie; they are immoral and spiteful toward mankind; they quarrel and fight with each other and are just as covetous and corrupt as mankind.

John is saying here, “No, no, our God is different. There is nothing in Him that is evil or deceitful. There is no darkness in Him at all.”

But here is the question: Since God is light, and light dispels darkness—and we daily demonstrate darkness in our lives—how do we have fellowship with God? John gives us four answers in verses 6-10.

First, we have to be honest. Verse 6 says, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

Now some say that John is not talking to believers here. They argue that it is not possible for a Christian to walk in darkness or not practice the truth. I would like to talk to their supervisors and their spouses!

John is writing to Christians. Throughout this paragraph, he uses “we” and “us” to remove any doubt. We can lose our fellowship with God, and we do when we sin against Him.

If you are married, you can offend your spouse and ruin the fellowship you once shared. But when you come to your senses and apologize, you do not have to get married again. And I am glad—that costs a lot of money! But you can restore your fellowship.

But we have to get honest about our sin. John writes in verse 8, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” In verse 10 he adds, “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

You will never reach perfection in this lifetime. So, get off your pedestal and admit the truth about yourself. We all sin, and the light of God and His Word exposes that dark sin within us.

Second, we need to stay close. If we desire fellowship with God, we must intentionally, consciously purpose each day to live like He tells us to live in His Word. Note verse 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.

Beloved, do not be afraid to hold your life up to His light. No matter what stains the light reveals, Jesus Christ cleanses and forgives.

That means we not only need to get honest and stay close, but third, we need to come clean. Look at verse 9:

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

The word translated “confess” means “to say the same thing.” Confession means saying the same thing that God says about our sin; we actually take His side against ourselves.

I have had people sit in my office and try to convince me that their immoral lifestyle was not sinful. I have had many others tell me their sin was excusable—they could not help it.

Well, God does not forgive victims; He forgives sinners. He does not forgive excuses; He forgives admissions.  

And here is the good news, as John wraps up this theme in chapter 2:

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (verses 1-2)

John obviously wants us to avoid sin. He knows the most miserable person on the planet is a believer who is pursuing sin. The believer knows better; he knows God is not happy with him; he knows he has lost fellowship with His heavenly Father.

So, here is the fourth thing we need to do to have fellowship with God: we must confess sin quickly. Avoid sin, but then confess quickly when you do sin. Spiritual maturity is not measured just by how little you sin but by how long it takes for you to confess sin.

And when you confess, John writes here that you have an advocate—a divine Defense Attorney—and He has never lost a case. And that is because Jesus can point to Himself as the one who satisfied the payment for our sin. That is what “propitiation” means—satisfying justice. Jesus satisfied the demands of divine justice, and through Him our fellowship can be restored immediately as we walk with God.

The apostle John is right, as he wrote earlier in verse 4: this letter will bring us joy. And there is much more joy to come.