09-20-2020 – Is God’s Light Shining Through You?
09-20-2020
Is God's Light Shining Through You?
1John 1:5-10 & 1John 2:1-2
Last week 1John 1:1-3...
"What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ."
We read John’s declaration of what he (and the other Apostles) have seen, heard, and touched in reference to Christ; we also looked at how Jesus is the Word of God, the Creator of All Things, in Him was spiritual life; He became flesh and lived among us, in order to show us and provide for us God’s way of salvation.
John 1:1-4, 14, 18...
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men."
"14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
"18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him."
John 1:4...
"4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men."
In Him [God’s Son] was life [zoe - eternal life] and this life was God’s Light [revelation] to men.
John 11:25-26...
"25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”"
John 14:6...
"6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
John 8:12,
"12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” "
Read 1John 1:5-7…
“5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Today’s passage speaks about the Light of God, through which we are able to have fellowship with God the Father and God the Son, because “God is Light.”
John declares what he has personally heard from Christ: “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness.” “Light” is synonymous with God’s character and righteousness, referring to all that is God’s truth; “darkness,” on the other hand, refers to all that is false, all that does not please nor exemplify God.
God’s Word, from beginning to end, demonstrates God’s sovereign plan to separate light from darkness, forever.
Genesis 1:1-4,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.”
Revelation 21:23-24,
“23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.”
Revelation 22:3-5,
“3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him;4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.”
Those who belong to Christ walk in the Light, i.e., they live in obedience to God’s Word
(John 14:6-7, 15, 21, 23),
“6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. 7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” ”
“15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
“21 He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.””
“23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”
Our obedience to God openly declares our fellowship with Him, it also encourages us to fellowship with other Christians; all this made possible because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. It is Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross and sovereign resurrection from the grave that makes a personal and eternal relationship with God possible.
(1John 1:6-7)
"6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;" 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."
Read 1John 1:8-10...
“8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”
Everyone is a sinner, but only those who repent of their sin, trusting Christ to save them, receive forgiveness and eternal life.
Romans 3:10-12, 23...
“10 as it is written,“There is none righteous, not even one; 11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; 12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.””
“23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
Romans 6:23...
“23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”
Romans 10:13...
“13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” ”
No one can become a Christian apart from believing in and trusting the Savior for forgiveness and eternal life. Anyone who says that he/she is not a sinner is calling God a liar and does not belong to Him.
Read 1John 2:1-2.
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
Christians, forgiven their sins (past, present, future), will desire to serve the One who has saved them, and this is done by the power of His Holy Spirit living in us.
See Romans 8:5-8…
“5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Sinful man is a dead man walking! He can do nothing to please God, for he is an enemy of God; but believers are members of God’s own family, seeking to please our Father in heaven!
See Romans 8:9-11…
“9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
Those who confess Jesus Christ as Lord, repenting of their sins and trusting God’s Son for salvation, have God’s Spirit placed in them.
Ephesians 1:13-14,
“13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”
1Corinthians 12:12-13,
“12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit..”
Without God’s resident Spirit, a person is still dead in sin; but if God’s Spirit is in you, you have been made alive spiritually in Christ for eternity.
See Romans 8:12-15…
“12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!””
We are no longer to be slaves to our flesh, and so, we struggle to put to death the control our flesh wants to hold over us.
We are to feed upon God’s Word, expressing our love for the Lord by seeking to obey the commands we are given in His Word, telling us how we should then live as those who are born of God’s Spirit, children of God.
God’s Spirit is always in alignment with God’s Word, leading us to do what is right in God’s eyes
(Ephesians 5:1-2),
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”
God is our Father, Christ our Savior, and the Holy Spirit our counselor, comforter, trainer, conforming us to the character and nature of God. We have God’s Spiritual DNA in us, marking us as belonging to God.
As Christians, we aren’t perfect, we will continue to sin; but when we do we have “one who speaks to the Father in our defense.”
(1John2:1),
"“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; "
John is the only New Testament writer to use this word, it literally means “one who comes alongside.” In every other use of the word
it is translated “Counselor” or “Helper”; in other words, we have, the Counselor/Helper from God who comes alongside and speaks on our behalf, like a defense attorney, the greatest defense attorney, God’s Spirit!
John 14:16, 26;
“16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;”
“26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”
John 15:26;
“26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,He will testify about Me,,”
John 16:7);
“7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”
Did you know that Satan constantly brings charges against God’s people?
Revelation 12:10-12,
“10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.12 For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.” ”
Coming before God day and night. Satan points out our sins to God in a vain attempt to bring charges against us, like a prosecuting attorney seeking the death penalty. But thanks be to God! Whenever Satan makes an accusation against us, God overrules him by declaring the eternal forgiveness we have received through
Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Jesus is the once and for all atoning sacrifice or propitiation for all our sins (the final, full and complete payment, Tetelestai = it is finished!, satisfying a Holy and Righteous God’s judgment for the penalty of sin).
2Corinthians 5:21,
“21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Hebrews 9:27-28,
“27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, 28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”
1Peter 3:18,
“18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;”
Jesus died for the sins of the whole world but only those who repent and believe in Him are freed from the penalty of sin; genuine Christians come out of the darkness into the light, they go from death to life.
(1John 2:2),
"2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."
John 5:24,
“24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”
Even those who reject Christ benefit from God’s plan; for even unbelieving sinners are able to enjoy their earthly life, though at the moment of death they will begin their eternal existence apart from God’s presence, in Hell. God is ‘light’ and all those who genuinely belong to Him will walk in the ‘light’ of His Word, by the power of His Spirit who indwells each and every true believer and follower of Christ.
If God, who is light, is your Father, then you ought to at least be giving off a little glow. Jesus said
(Matthew 5:14, 16),
“14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;”
“16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven”
True believers “are the light of the world,” and we are to “let [our] light shine before men, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven..”
Has anyone come up to you lately and remarked how you seem to be glowing?
Or perhaps they have asked you what makes you shine? Probably not!
We all have room for improvement, but as God’s children, we should genuinely desire for Christ to be seen in and through our life, that we do not hinder the work of the Holy Spirit, who equips and empowers us, and causes us to shine like lights in this dark world, for the purpose of directing others to Jesus Christ: Crucified, Resurrected, and Coming Again!
And all God’s people said? Amen!
Pastor Mike Hale