DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
What does it mean that "God is light," and how does this truth impact our daily lives?
How does walking in the light differ from walking in darkness, according to 1 John 1:5-10?
Why do people often fear being fully known, and how does the gospel address that fear?
Why is confession of sin essential for walking in the light, and how does it reflect a genuine relationship with God?
What practical steps can we take to ensure we are walking in the light rather than retreating into darkness?
SERMON MANUSCRIPT
In our introduction last week, we learned that the book of 1 John was written so that we might know that we have eternal life. God, through the apostle John, is highlighting the fruit of faith. He’s highlighting what allegiance to Jesus looks like. Through this study, I believe God will (1) confirm the saints and (2) call the sinner. Some of us will read this book and feel the Holy Spirit’s comfort as he assures us that we are in him, walking in the light. Others will read this book, feel the Holy Spirit’s conviction, and realize our entire life has been marked by darkness, and we’re not Christians.
In our passage today, John reveals a major truth about God and then begins to offer practical applications of that truth. The big truth is that God is light. From that big truth, we begin to learn what walking in the light looks like for us as believers.
Let’s dive in.
“5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 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. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
THE MESSAGE OF JESUS
Today's passage begins with John highlighting the message he heard from Jesus: “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you…” This indicates that John is proclaiming someone else's message—the message of the one who eternally existed from the beginning. As Gary Burg puts it, “John’s reflex is to build everything he says theologically on the revelation, the historic revelation, he witnessed in the life of Jesus Christ.” John is basing everything he says and does on the foundation of the teachings of the historical God-man, Jesus.
GOD IS LIGHT
The message that Jesus proclaimed is that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” The claim that God is light is one of three definitive claims by John about God: God is Spirit (Jn. 4:24), God is light (1 Jn. 1:5), and God is love (1 Jn. 4:8).
This imagery is frequently found in the Bible and can highlight various aspects of God. God appears to Moses in a burning bush. God led his people by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Psalm 27:1 says, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” The book of Isaiah and Revelation prophecy is about a day when the sun will be no more, and the Lord will be our everlasting light. Throughout the Bible, the imagery of light can allude to God’s holiness, purity, or goodness. But it can also allude to his truthfulness and revelation. Within the context of John’s writings, this imagery seems to bring with it a sense of clarity, knowledge, and life. John says in John 1:4, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Then, in John 12:44-50, Jesus says, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”
Light brings clarity. It helps us see objects distinctly. Have you ever sought to walk in a dark room? It isn’t easy. In a dark room, we trip over chairs or step on Legos. But it’s in the light that we find clarity. In the light, the chairs in our path are revealed. In the light, we’re able to walk around the Lego pieces. Light allows us to see clearly. So, the phrase “God is light” teaches us that God is the source of truth. Jesus came into the world as light, which means he came to reveal the truth about God so that we might find life in God. In embracing the light of Jesus, you experience the life of Jesus. Jesus came so we may have eternal life in him and him alone.
God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. There is not an ounce of falsehood in him. Life is found in him and him alone. And he isn’t hiding himself from you. The transcendent God has revealed himself through his Son so that we might know him. The unknowable, imperceivable, ungraspable God has come and revealed himself to his creation so that we might be able to perceive, know, and grasp who he is.
That’s our big truth about God today: God is light. Following this theological declaration, John begins to shine the light into the hearts and lives of the church. In doing so, he gives six “if” statements built off this truth about God.
FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD LEADS TO WALKING IN THE LIGHT
If God is light, then what does that mean for us today? In verse 6, he says, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
Timothy Keller often discussed how we fear being “fully known and not fully loved.” He says, “To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything.” Many of us fear coming to the light of being known because we’re worried we won't experience love. Therefore, many of us are content with hiding in darkness.
But John tells us it’s impossible to walk with God (who is light) while walking in darkness. In the same way that you cannot go up and down or east and west, you cannot have fellowship with God while walking in darkness. It’s impossible. The closer you get to the light, the brighter you become. You’re lying to yourself and others if you claim to have fellowship with God while walking in darkness. You’re not practicing the truth. You cannot run with God while running from God. You cannot have fellowship with the God you’re hiding from God. You cannot live in the light and walk in darkness. You cannot walk with God and remain unknown. The closer you get to God, the more his light will shine on you, the more his light will shine in you, and the more his light will shine throughyou. The God who has made himself known to you knows everything about you, and he wants to know you intimately and personally.
Here, we see that aligning our words and actions is a key element of the Christian life. Our actions often reveal the authenticity of our words. Some of us claim to have a relationship with God, while our actions prove that our claims are a lie. So, a tangible way to know that we have a relationship with God is by our proximity to the light.
FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD LEADS TO FELLOWSHIP WITH HIS PEOPLE
But what does that mean? What does it mean to walk in darkness? What does it mean to walk in the light?
Well, in verse 7, John gives us his second “if” statement, adding color to this statement of his. He says, “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.”
First, we see here that walking in the light is displayed by our proximity to the church. Closeness with God leads to closeness with God’s people, and fellowship with God leads to fellowship with the church. Walking with God leads to walking with one another. If you want to know if you have fellowship with God, ask yourself, “Do I have fellowship with God’s people?”
Listen, the lie of our hearts and the lie of the enemy is that safety is found in darkness and isolation. The reflex of our sinful hearts is to hide. We’re tempted to believe that the light is dangerous, so we withdraw from it. So, a tangible way to know if we have withdrawn from the light is by our proximity to God’s people.
Reflection question: Do you find yourself stepping back every time someone in the church gets close to you?
CLEANSING FROM ALL SIN
The second thing we see is that walking in the light brings with it a cleansing from all sin: “If we walk in the light… the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
There’s a temptation to think that “walking in the light” means never to sin again. But that’s not what’s being taught here. No, walking in the light is walking in truthful transparency. It’s coming to God humble and broken, confessing your need for a Savior. “Walking in the light” is displayed in you saying, “God, shine your light on me, expose to me the truth about me.” And when God’s light shines on you, exposing your wickedness, you’re met not with condemnation. You’re met with grace.
This is the beauty of the gospel!!!
The cross addresses the deep rooted fear within all of us of being fully known and not fully loved. The cross says to our hearts, “All who come to God empty-handed will be showered by his cleansing grace— ‘The blood of Jesus his Son will cleanse us from all sin.’”
The word “cleanse” is used frequently in the Bible's context of leprosy. So, this isn’t simply a washing away of dirt. It’s far more thorough, far more miraculous, and far more purifying than that. When we come to the light, the blood of Jesus thoroughly and miraculously removes from us the lasting, contagious, and fatal effects of sin.
All who come to the light are blood-bathed people, people showered in the grace and mercy of God displayed through Jesus’ death on the cross. When you come to the light, your sins are washed away, meaning you’re no longer stained with guilt and shame. God has applied the blood of his Son to your deepest, most shameful moments in life. You are cleansed. You are cured. You are justified. You stand before God without spot or blemish, holy, blameless, and above reproach. Jesus, the one who knew no sin, became sin so that in him you might become the righteousness of God.
Look at the language used in verse 9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” So, the cleansing we experience when we come to Jesus is a byproduct of God’s faithfulness and justice. He is “faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” So, at the cross, we see God’s faithfulness and justice colliding. Because of the cross, God doesn’t forgive us of our sins at the expense of his justice. Forgiveness is not a casual disregarding our wickedness. It is an act of divine justice, where God’s wrath was poured out on his Son so that you might be forgiven and cleansed. Therefore, confession will always lead to forgiveness because God was faithful in pouring out his just wrath upon his Son Jesus on the cross two thousand years ago. Confession always leads to forgiveness from God. No stain of sin is too great for God’s blood not to cleanse. No sin is too offensive for God not to forgive. All who humble themselves before the Lord will be met with forgiveness. Therefore, never grow weary in confessing your sins before the God who forgives.
BLAME-SHIFTING, THE WORK OF DARKNESS
Now, in the same way that there are parallels between verses 7 and 9, there are parallels between verses 8 and 10. Verses 8 and 10 are strikingly similar, saying the same thing in two different ways. In verse 8, John says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Then, in verse 10, he says, “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” So, in these two verses, we see a claim to be without sin (which is a false claim), which proves to us and those around us that Jesus’ word is not in us.
Here, we see that the fundamental element of walking in darkness is one's inability to confess one's sin. If you are unwilling to bring your true colors to the light, you have not encountered Jesus.
These two verses highlight this truth in a general and specific manner. The phrase “If we say we have no sin” can be applied in a general sense. And the phrase “If we say we have not sinned” can be applied more specifically.
John here covers all avenues that lead to a rejection of blame: from the child saying, “I didn’t eat the cookie,” to the teenager saying, “This is the way God made me,” to the adult pointing to their childhood trauma, saying, “If I had nicer parents growing up, I would be a nicer person,” to the spouse saying, “If you had brought me flowers, then I wouldn’t have cheated on you.”
A key indicator of whether or not you’re walking with God is your willingness to admit blame. If the words “I’m sorry” are never on your lips, Christ’s words are not in your heart. Blame-shifting is a favorite hobby of those who walk in darkness. Those who walk in darkness thrive off of giving excuses. Those who walk in darkness will always hold onto the word “but”— “Yeah, I did that. But {insert the excuse}.”
One of the most significant lies you could ever believe about yourself is that you are without guilt. You have been deceived if you think everyone else is the problem but not you. If you show me a man who is quick to confess, I will show you a man who has fellowship with God. If you show me a woman who is quick to confess, I will show you a woman who has the precious words of Christ in her heart. A key indicator of whether or not the truth of Jesus resides in our hearts is our willingness to confess our sins openly. Confession and repentance are the required footwear for walking in the light.
Now, James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you might be healed.” So, if we want to be a church that walks in the light, we must be quick to confess and pray. We must know and love each other so much that we’re willing to pull back the curtains of our lives so that we can begin to pray for each other honestly.
Friends, the beckoning call of 1 John 1:5-10 is, “Come to the light so that you might be cleansed. Come to the Savior that you might be healed. Come to Jesus that you might be forgiven.”
So, as we close today, I want to give us some time to reflect on our hearts and lives. Maybe you need to get alone, weep, and confess your sins to God. Maybe you need to grab the hand of your spouse and ask for forgiveness. Maybe you need to grab a brother and sister and ask for prayer. Then, after we spend some time in prayer, I want to invite you to participate in communion with your church family, hopefully fixing our eyes and redirecting our hearts toward Jesus.