1 JOHN | FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD AND MEN
FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD: UNDERSTANDING HIS HOLINESS & OUR SINFULNESS
1 JOHN 1:5-10
[INTRODUCTION]
- There is something about famous people that causes us to act differently when we are around them than we normally act. Have you ever met someone who is famous, or extremely wealthy, or powerful? Do you remember that feeling? Odds are you felt differently than normal. Occasionally someone is so down to earth that your comfort level remains at equilibrium; but most of the time your pulse races and your excitement level rises.
- When we meet someone of great fame, fortune, or power there is almost an unwritten rule of conduct; and the rule varies depending upon the situation. I can remember when I was on vacation in my home state of Indiana last year and had the opportunity to attend a very small event where President Obama was speaking. My friend Rudy was doing Internet for the event and so we were able to get “backstage” passes. Before we were allowed to enter the building, we had to empty our pockets and set down whatever we had on us on the ground while the Secret Service checked us for any potential threats. Once we were inside, there were certain areas that were off limits to absolutely everyone, no matter what pass you had.
- Of course, this is standard protocol wherever the President of the United States speaks. Why? Well, obviously, because he is a very important, very powerful person who is protected at all times. Now I'm positive that you were not required to empty your pockets and spread out for a metal detector test when you entered the church building this morning. Why not? Because I'm not the President or anybody remotely close to as important (worldly speaking) as the President. The rules for conduct change when certain people are involved.
- When President Obama was done with his speech, he walked around the barrier between him and the audience and shook hands with some of the people. How did those who were fortunate enough to shake hands with the President act? Did they give him a fist bump and say, “What's up Prez? Glad you could come to Indiana, dawg!”? No. They most likely said something like, “Hello, Mr. President.” or “Nice to meet you, Mr. President.” Why did they address him that way? Because of who he is. Certain interactions and relationships require certain attitudes and conduct.
- This is true on an infinitely higher level when it comes to fellowship with God. We relate to God in a certain way; and if we claim to have a relationship with him, we act a certain way. When you meet the President of the United States, you act a certain way for as long as you are around him. When you encounter the King of the universe, you act a certain way if you truly have fellowship with him.
- That is what our passage is about today – it is the first of many sections in this letter that deals with how a person in fellowship with the Father through faith in Christ the Son and the regeneration of the Holy Spirit lives his or her life. The two key components that this section of verses contains are God's holiness and our sinfulness. So that is what we will attempt to get a grasp on and understand during our time together. Let's see what the Apostle John has to say to us:
[READ 1 JOHN 1:5-10]
- Now I have divided this section into the subtitle Fellowship with God, but in actuality there are aspects of interpersonal relationships here too. So there is overlap between the two aspects of fellowship; and this will be the case throughout the letter. So, just because we have titled one section as Fellowship with God for organizational purposes, doesn't mean the subject matter has nothing to do with Fellowship with Men, and vice versa. But this passage is primarily dealing with how a person relates to God. What does it say?
- Well the first thing we need to take away from this passage is this:
[UNDERSTAND THE MAGNITUDE OF HAVING FELLOWSHIP WITH THE GOD OF LIGHT]
- We began our look at this epistle last time by defining the true Jesus, the God Man of history. We laid him down as the foundation for our fellowship with God the Father and one another. Now, we begin to unpack some of the specifics of fellowship. And it starts with v.5 when John writes: 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.
- There are several things that I want to draw out of that statement. First, let's examine how John describes the God he just wrote about having fellowship with. This is the message he heard from Jesus, the word of life: God is light and in him is no darkness at all. This is one of two declarative statements that John uses in this letter to describe God's essential nature. They are “is” statements; statements that define God's unchangeable characteristics. God is light. Later on the in the letter John will write “God is love”. In his gospel, he writes “God is spirit”. It is similar to you saying “Pastor Matt is half Mexican.” Being half Mexican is an unchangeable part of who I am.
- Now what does it mean to say “God is light”? Do we mean that God is in every light beam we see in some panentheistic sense? No. Light is light. To say that God is light is to describe his purity, his holiness, his perfection, his splendor. In biblical literature, as well as many other different types of literature, light and darkness are pictures of good and evil.
- In Psalm 104:1-2 the psalmist writes: O LORD my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. God is pictured as wrapping himself in light – his splendor and majesty is being described. Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:8-9: for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true). What does he mean? At one time you were dead in your sin and bound by your evil heart – you were darkness. Now you have been saved out of that bondage – you are light; so live like you have come out of darkness into light.
- John is using that same sort of imagery here. God is light. God is good. God is pure. God is holy. God is perfect. God is full of splendor. God is great. And he also uses an emphatic negative to bring the point home: and in him [God] is no darkness at all. God is light and only light. God is pure without even a hint of impurity. He is holy without even a speck of unholiness. Now, think about what that means for the preceding verses (vv.1-4).
- In the prologue John told his readers, and he tells us, that we can have fellowship with the Father because Jesus is who he is and has done what he has done. Here is where understanding the magnitude comes into play. Think about how great a thing it is that sinful human beings, who consist of nothing but darkness apart from God's grace, can enter into fellowship with a God of absolutely no darkness.
- We are easily amazed. For you golf fans out there, we are amazed when we watch Tiger Woods put the ball on the green two feet from the cup from 125 yards out. Aside from wishing we could do that, we are amazed by that. I'm always amazed when I watch Ray Allen catch a basketball and shoot from the 3 point line in one split second fluid motion and make the shot while the ball doesn't even touch the rim.
- Others of us may be amazed by the voice of someone we watch on American Idol. Some of us are very simple folk, and we are amazed at how good our favorite restaurant makes our favorite dish. How many times throughout our lifetime have we uttered the phrase, “That is amazing!”?
- Well, not to completely discount any or all of those things, but let me tell you what is amazing. It is astonishingly amazing that you, I, or any human being living on the face of this earth even has an opportunity, much less a guarantee through faith in Christ, to have a relationship with the God of light.
- It is easy for us to get bored with that truth. As believers we are used to the idea that we have fellowship with God through Jesus Christ. It is incredibly wrong of us to be used to that idea. And the reason I say that is because the amazing fact that men and women once in darkness can know the God of light is foundation (I know we're using that word a lot), but it is the foundation for our next principle, which is:
[UNDERSTAND THE LIFESTYLE THAT CHARACTERIZES THOSE IN FELLOWSHIP]
- If you don't get the first point, you won't understand the full weight of this second one. So let's make sure we've got a good grip on both. What does John go on to say? If we say we have fellowship with him [the God who is light] while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice 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 cleanses us from all sin.
- If we understand the magnitude of having fellowship with the God of light we will walk in his light. If we don't, we have no proper motivation for living holy, pure lives. Our relationship with God should have an impact on how we live. Imagine this for a moment: imagine a young man who has fallen in love with a beautiful young lady. He pursues her and finds that she shares his affection; so they begin to date, and they eventually get married. Now imagine if that young man continued to date other women. Would we say that that is a right or wrong way for a married man to act? Wrong, of course! Why? Because a married man is committed to his wife. Someone who is married should not act like someone who is single.
- In a similar way, someone who has a relationship with the God of light should not act like someone who still lives in darkness. And what's the motivation? For the new husband, his motivation (from a simple earthly perspective) for changing the way he relates to other women is his relationship with his wife. For believers, the motivation for walking in light instead of darkness is our relationship with the Father; a relationship that we are so unworthy to be in that we can't help but overflow with gratitude and follow our Father.
- To walk in darkness is to betray our claim to know the God of light. If we say we have fellowship and live in unbridled sin, we lie. And the idea of “walking” here is to persist in something. So to walk in darkness is to persist in sin; to walk in light is to persistently strive to live a holy life.
- So now we should ask the question, “What does walking in the light mean?” Well, we've already got the definition of light down. We know what John is trying to get across when he uses light as a symbol – holiness, purity. Now to personalize it, all you have to do is examine your life. In what ways am I not living how God's word tells me to live? What attitudes do I have that Scripture says are wrong? What sorts of things do I do that the Bible says are sinful?
- The answers will vary depending upon your life situation, but to walk in the light is to say, “God, I know these things are wrong. I know as your child I should do things differently. Help me, by the power of the Holy Spirit within me, to step out of these areas of darkness into the light.”
- Paul said it this way in Philippians 1:27: Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Let the way you live be worthy of the grace you have been shown. Let your life shine as a reflection of your encounter with the God of light.
- Listen, I don't want to guilt you into living a holy life. That doesn't work. You may change your behavior for a little while, but it won't last. If you live a certain way or act a certain way only because you want church people to be happy, or the pastor to be happy, you are performing an exercise in futility. This is how I strive to live my life, and I encourage you to do the same: if I can't do what I'm doing for the pleasure of God, I don't do it; and if I refrain from doing something, I only do so because I know it causes God displeasure. That's the ideal, of course I don't always hit that mark, but that's what I shoot for.
- That doesn't mean I don't take into account other people's feelings or thoughts or suggestions. I'm not suggesting you live in your own little world with no regard for anything anyone else says or thinks. But if you live for the pleasure of men you will drive yourself crazy and end up nowhere. If you live for the pleasure of God you will find true fulfillment.
- Well, there's one last principle. Before we end, John provides us with a reality check:
[UNDERSTAND THE WAY THAT THOSE IN FELLOWSHIP SHOULD HANDLE SIN]
- All of this talk of walking in the light as a response to our fellowship with the Father should cause us to long to live pure and holy lives; but it should not cause us to think we will be perfect in our pursuit. We need to remind ourselves that walking in the light does not mean that no darkness or sin remains. What does the Apostle write? If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
- Those in fellowship with the God of light confess sin, they don't deny it. Yes, if we say we have fellowship and live in unbridled sin, we lie; but if we say we have such great fellowship that we live with no sin, we lie to the other extreme. Some first century religious sects claimed sinless perfection; a few groups still do today. Talk about self-deception. If you think you have attained perfection you are out of touch with reality!
- Paul wrote in Philippians 3:12: Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Do you see Paul's logic there? It's the same thing we find here in 1 John 1. “I'm not perfect. I don't pretend to have obtained sinlessness yet, but I press on toward the goal of holiness. Because Jesus Christ made me his own.” He was motivated by the fact that Christ called him as his own. So he pursued his relationship with Jesus while recognizing his own inadequacies.
- As you seek to grow in your relationship with Christ, don't beat yourself down because of failures. Don't make excuses for sin, but don't give in to discouragement. If you confess your sins, God is faithful and just to forgive them and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. He is faithful – that means he will always forgive the genuinely repentant sinner. He is just – that means he is perfectly right in forgiving sin because of the sacrifice of Christ. He forgives – that means the moment you trust Christ every sin you've ever committed, are committing, or will commit is washed away. And he cleanses – that means now that you are forgiven he begins the process of ridding you of unrighteous behavior that displeases him.
[CONCLUSION]
- So understanding God's holiness and our sinfulness means that we live like those who are in fellowship with the Father, and are quick to confess when we fail. Now as we end, if we've been taking in all that John has has been saying to us, we have a lot to do. First, we must examine whether or not we appreciate the magnitude of having fellowship with God. Perhaps our love has grown cold in that regard. We need to repent and ask for fresh passion. Then we must examine our thoughts and our behavior, to see whether or not we are walking in the light. All of us will have areas that need to be addressed here. And finally we must remind ourselves of the proper way to handle our sinfulness. Are we confessing our failures to God or living in self-denial?
- Let's take a moment to hear from God as to what he would have us do with the truth of this text.
