Last Sunday, we concluded looking at John’s prologue to his 1st Epistle. Verses three and four makes the message of Christ the basis of all significant Christian fellowship—first with God, and then with each other. “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3, NIV84).

In order to create and nurture deep Christian fellowship you have to talk about who you think Christ is and what he taught. That's what John begins to do in verses 5–7. Let me begin by giving you the overall structure of this paragraph first, and then go back and unpack its meaning.

There are two parts of John's Argument:

First, verse 5 gives the message of Christ that John has heard.
Second, verses 6 and 7 describe some practical implications for life that come from this message.

So verse 5 is the theological foundation. Verses 6–7 are the practical application.

I. FOUNDATION—GOD IS LIGHT v. 5

"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5, NIV84)

John begins this passage with the affirmation that this message—the one he is about to proclaim—is the true truth

John puts the stress on the word is as in This IS the message
John reveals the timeless significance of the Gospel message that Jesus proclaimed during his public ministry

it’s the true truth because it’s not John’s truth—he’s not makn’ this stuff up as he goes along

the apostle writes, we have heard from him and declare to you

this message has not been subject to change and modification, because it did not originate with John or with any other apostles or writers

the him of verse 5 refers to non other than Jesus

it’s his message, John and the other disciples are merely passing it on as they heard Jesus teach it and preach it

what’s the message?

that God is light; in him there is no darkness at all
wow, now that takes some unpacking

John is good at formulating short pithy statements that describe God’s nature

in John 4:24 he says, “God is spirit”
in 1 John 4:16 he says “God is love”
here, in 1 John 1:5 he reveals God’s essence in three words: “God is light”

God is not a light among many other lights;
God is not a light-bearer;
God does not merely have light as one of his characteristics

God is light; and although he created light (Gen. 1:3), he himself is uncreated light

moreover, the light of God is visible in Jesus, who said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12)
so then, what does it mean that God is light?

A. GOD IS LIGHT MEANS THAT GOD IS TRUTH

this comes from verse 6: "If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the TRUTH."

John might have written, "When we walk in darkness, we do not live according to the LIGHT."

but he puts truth in the place of light
so it seems that John is using truth and light interchangeably

in other words, God as light means that God is the source and measure of all that is true

practically, that means everything that we consider true, or beautiful, or good needs to be evaluated in the revealing light of God’s Word
in the beginning of Creation, everything that God spoke into existence was meant to bring glory to God

this is why at the end of every day, God looked at what He had created and pronounced it “good”

why was it “good”

because what He had created was perfect—God never had to worry about ‘do-overs’
because what He had created perfectly reflected His will—whatever it was it was there because God intended for it to be there
because what He had created perfectly fit into His total plan for creation

but, because of the Fall, sin taints everything man lays his hands to

this is why the Christian needs to measure everything against God and His Word
John contrasts the light of God with the darkness of this world

B. GOD IS LIGHT MEANS THAT GOD IS HOLY

light speaks of the glory, the radiance, the beauty, the wonders and all of the other attributes of God

we describe the sum-total of these attributes as referring to God as Holy

ILLUS. One of the ways that God revealed His Holiness to the Hebrew people was through His Shekinah Glory. It was God manifesting Himself in the unapproachable light of fire such as at the burning bush where He spoke to Moses or the Pillar of Fire that traveled with the Hebrews in their wilderness wanderings.

in Scripture, God is frequently styled simply as “The Holy One”

He is so because the sum of all moral excellency is found in Him
He is absolute purity, unsullied even by the shadow of sin

this perfection is solemnly celebrated before the throne of heaven, as the seraphim cry out day and night, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts” (Isa. 6:3)

the psalmist pictures God clothed in garments of light

“He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent” (Psalm 104:2, NIV84)

light then, is an appropriate symbol for the One who is pure, righteous and holy

we are told that, at the end of time, the New Jerusalem will need no external light source because the Holiness of God will light the city

“I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” (Revelation 21:22–23, NIV84)

C. GOD IS LIGHT MEANS THAT GOD IS LIFE

light and life go together—it is hard to conceive of one without the other

ILLUS. We all know from science class that light initiates that process of photosynthesis. It is the light from the sun that allows a plant to chemically convert carbon dioxide and water into organic compounds that cause plant growth. Whether it’s a stalk of wheat or an apple tree—both depend upon photosynthesis to grow and produce fruit. Oxygen is the waste product of plants, but necessary for our survival. Sooo ... no light, no plants to eat and no oxygen to breath—we’re all dead.

I don’t think it’s an accident that a God who is Light has revealed Himself in the light of His Word and that

Word, when it is ingested and digested produces growth

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105, NIV84)

D. GOD IS LIGHT MEANS THAT GOD IS REVELATORY

what is the main value of light?

it helps us to see where we are going!

when you walk in the darkness, you may stumble over a log, or step on a snake, or fall into a hole, or hit your head on a low-hanging branch
darkness is full of threat—It frustrates your ability to successfully navigate to where you want to go

that God is light means that God has revealed Himself through His Word and through the Person of His Son

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:1–4, NIV84)
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”” (John 8:12, NIV84)
“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” (John 12:46, NIV84)

He has done so in order to show us exactly where He wants us to go, to show us how to get there, and to show us how to live while we’re getting to where He wants us to go
the light of God exposes dangers and frees you from their lurking power
it opens the way to the Christian’s goal—conformity to Christ

so then, when the Bible says that God is Light it means at least these four things:

God is Truth
God is Holy
God is Life
God is Revelatory

II. APPLICATION: WALK IN THE LIGHT

“If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 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, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:6–7, NIV84)

in many ways the statement that God is light is the thesis of the epistle

it includes a definition of God's character as well as implications for the life of Christian discipleship
in fact, to lay bare the relationship between the character of God as light and Christian life as "walking in the light" is the whole point of the first part of the epistle

verses 6 and 7 draw out the practical application from this truth about God

verse 6 gives the negative side of the application: "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. "

A. WALKING IN DARKNESS

what does it mean to walk in the darkness?

John gives us some clear indications in chapter 2

\“Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.”/ (1 John 2:8–11, NIV84)

John says that he who hates his brother is in the darkness and he who loves his brother abides in the light

walking in the light means being a loving person and walking in the darkness means being a person of hate

but there is something more basic than that

verse 8 "The darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining"

what is this darkness that is passing away?
notice that the same word for passing away is used in 1 John 2:17

“The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:17, NIV84)

John would have us understand that walking in darkness means being controlled by the desires for this world instead of desires of God

the reason this is called walking in darkness is that the only way people can desire things more than God is if they are blind to the light of God

ILLUS. To choose gravel over diamonds you have to be blind.

everyone who loves the world more than God is in the dark

but the awful tragedy of this darkness is that it is a willful blindness

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19, NIV84)

if we are controlled by desires for the world instead of desires for God, it doesn't matter whether we say we have fellowship with God or not; we don't have it

John is blunt

“If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.” (1 John 1:6, NIV84)

B. WALKING IN THE LIGHT

verse 7 gives the positive side of the application

“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, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7, NIV84)

walking in the light is the opposite of walking in darkness

there is a walk, there is a lifestyle, that the Apostle writes necessarily results from the miracle of the new birth when we are given eyes to see the surpassing worth of the light of God
what does the Apostle mean when he writes that believers are to walk in the light?
it means walking in God’s light

it means walking in the truth
it means walking in holiness
it means walking in the life of Christ
it means walking in the revelation of God’s Word

according to verse 7 two things accompany walking in the light:

"we have fellowship with one another"

who is the one another?
verse 6 suggests that it is both God and fellow believers

this brings us to an issue that the Church must address openly and honestly

it is the recent phenomenon of unchurched Christians

it is not a new phenomenon—we have always had people who kept their distance from the church, even though they professed faith in Christ
we have never, however, had them in such astonishing numbers as we do today

ILLLUS. Christian pollster George Barna has found that roughly one-third of Americans are unchurched. That means that apart from Christmas and Easter, these people have not attended a worship service in the last six months. However, three out of every five unchurched Americans is a self-professing born-again Christian. Survey’s reveal that nearly all of these people claim that their spiritual life is very important to them, but for tens of millions of them, spiritual life has nothing to do with church.

but the Apostle John seems pretty clear about this: Walking in the light means, among other things, living in fellowship with other believers

ILLUS. We’ve all heard it: “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” Maybe some of you have said so yourself. And maybe you even believed it. But is it true? Let’s ask this question: Does a baseball player have to go to Busch Stadium to be a St. Louis Cardinal? If someone called themselves a Cardinal—insisted to everyone they met that they were a Cardinal—but they never showed up on the ballfield to play a game, is that person really a St. Louis Cardinal? What a dumb question, you say. How could a professing-player who never shows up at the stadium be on the team? If that’s what you think, then I’m inclined to agree with you. “But wait,” someone might say, “What right do you have to decide who is and is not a St. Louis Cardinal?” That may seem silly to us because some things are just obvious: A St. Louis Cardinal is a person who shows up at the stadium and plays the games.

so why do we get so squeamish when it comes to determining who is and is not a Christian?

well, you’re right I don’t get to decide who is and is not a Christian—but Jesus does

if he thinks I’m a Christian, I am; if he doesn’t, I’m not
I can call myself a Christian as loudly as I like, and think whatever I please about going to church and being a believer, but in the end, it won’t matter a lick
what Jesus calls me is what I am

thankfully, we don’t have to wonder what Jesus said on the subject

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46, NIV84)
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:21–27, NIV84)
ILLUS. After 30 years of ministry, I find myself haunted by the faces of people who insist that they are Christian, but who have not darkened to the doors of their church in five or ten years or even longer. Some of these are faces I see belong to people I’ve supposedly won to faith in Christ and baptized. It grieves me to think that some of these folks will one day hear those fateful words, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.’

we cannot evade or explain away the words of the Apostle John: Walking in the light means walking in fellowship with God and with fellow believers

the New Testament knows nothing of unchurched Christians—it is an oxymoron

the other thing that accompanies walking in the light in verse 7 is cleansing from sin

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, ... the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7, NIV84)

we have already seen that walking in the light means living under the controlling desire for God instead of the world
it’s the kind of life you live if you see things the way God sees them and share his values
but walking in the light also means walking in the progressive sanctification of Christ’s atoning sacrifice

by this, I’m referring to the moral power of the blood of Jesus to help us conquer temptation so that in the end all of our sin will actually be overcome and we will stand really pure and sinless before God

“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6, NIV84)

this brings us to the second great issue the Church must address openly and honestly

the lack of Christ-likeness among the Church’s congregants

ILLUS. A recent survey by the Barna Research Group discovered that only 4% of American adults have a biblical worldview. Why is our worldview important? Because it shapes how we think and act every moment. Our worldview tells us what is real, what is important, what is right, and what is wrong. Thus it comes as no surprise that Barna found those with a biblical worldview live according to a much higher moral standard than those without such a worldview.

if Jesus Christ came to this planet as a model of how we ought to live, then our goal should be to act like Jesus
sadly, few people consistently demonstrate the love, obedience and priorities of Jesus

the primary reason that people do not act like Jesus is because they do not think like Jesus

which is why John commands us to walk in the light

the reason Christ died on a cross was not merely to cover sin but to conquer sin

He came not only to justify but also to sanctify—not only to acquit but also to reform
the ongoing effect of Christ's blood is to cleanse our hearts in such a way that we cannot be content to go on sinning

“How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (Hebrews 9:14, NIV84)

the condition for the sanctifying work of Christ in our life is walking in the light

it’s walking in truth
it’s walking in holiness
it’s walking in life
it’s walking in the revelation of God

if we walk in the light of these attributes of God it ultimately sends to our knees in repentance

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, NIV84)

Con. A powerless gospel is not good news. A gospel that only wins lip service is not different than all the other philosophies of the world. Such a gospel produces a Christianity that is a game of words. It encourages lukewarm church-goers that they are safe from God's wrath because of some inherited mental assent to the love of God.

Such a gospel accounts for how 40 million people can claim to be born again in America at the same time that our moral condition is at all time low of corruption inside and outside the church.

The message of 1 John—that walking in the light is not optional, but necessary for salvation—is good news because it creates the moral atmosphere of urgency in which serious business is done with God. It gives the flavor of eternity to all we say and do. It mitigates against religious gamesmanship. It honors the purpose of God in Christ to destroy the works of the devil. It takes seriously the necessity of glorifying God in our bodies. It leads people to real faith instead of encouraging them to be content with a lip service that cannot change and cannot save.

The Word of God says that "if we walk in the light as he is in the light . . . the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." If we walk in darkness, we cut ourselves off from the cleansing effects of Christ's blood. And if we cut ourselves off from Christ's blood, where will hope be found!

Politically Incorrect Christianity: Living the Truth--God, The Light of Believers