The Nature Of God And His People

Title: The Nature of God and His People Scripture: I Jn. 1:5-10

Type: Expository Series Where: GNBC 6-9-24

Intro: Thomas Aquinas called theology the “queen of sciences.” But the study of theology—the study of God—was gradually sidelined and now finds no place in the contemporary curriculum. Alexander Pope captured the spirit of our modern age: “Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of Mankind is Man.” I disagree with Mr. Pope. Focusing first on “Man” gets you into trouble. Very fashionable today for people of all ages to have identity crisis. Leaving family or spouse, rejecting friends, changing orientation, jettisoning one’s faith, quitting job, staying in school, or dropping out – all are ok as long as contribute to task of “finding” yourself. My observation is that it’s not what it’s cracked up to be, “looking for yourself” led to a descent down the rabbit hole, into a terrifyingly confused “Wonderland” filled with smiling Cheshire cats, Mad Hatters, and insane queens shouting “off with your head!” I would contend that knowing God is what makes sense of life. Missing God leads to disaster. In his classic book Knowing God, J.I. Packer writes: “The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life in it a disappointing and unpleasant business for those who do not know about God. Disregard the study of God and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded as it were with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul.” (Adapted from Stephen Eyre article 9-2-13, Lewis Institute) One of the most glorious adventures we can embark upon in this life is to learn to know the nature of God and our responsibility in light of His nature.

Prop: In I Jn. 1:5-10 we’ll realize the nature of God and man’s resultant responsibility.

BG: 1. I Jn. written by beloved disciple. Now an old man. Late 1st century.

2. This section today examines the nature of God and the means by which man has fellowship with Him.

Prop: Let’s look at I Jn. 1:5-10 today to notice the nature of God and man’s resultant responsibility.

I. To Have Fellowship With God We Must Understand His Nature. V. 5

A. John Beautifully Describes the Nature of God in one verse.

1. To Have Fellowship with God we Must Start with His Authoritative Self Revelation.

a. As I said last week, God had to reveal His nature and character to us because fallen man is spiritually dead and cannot now God apart from God awakening him/her and revealing Self to man through special revelation. Notice that John is not sharing with us his speculations on what God may be like. He doesn’t throw out an idea and suggest that his readers discuss what they think about it. Rather, John says, “We heard this straight from Jesus and we announce it to you.” This was an authoritative pronouncement from Jesus through the apostles to the readers. To have fellowship with God, we must start with His authoritative revelation in His Word.

b. Illust: In light (Pun intended!) of a lot of modern preaching, John doesn’t address the felt needs of his audience. He doesn’t tell readers that they should follow what he says so as to enjoy a wonderful family life or personal success. In fact, after reading the first 4 verses, you would almost think that John would say: “Do you know that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life!” However, he doesn’t! Rather, he brings us directly to the throne of God and describes His gloriously holy nature: “God is light…!”

2. Examples

a. Illust: “Martyn Lloyd-Jones makes this point (Fellowship With God [Crossway Books], p. 100), that we must always start with God. He argues that our main problem is our self-centeredness, and so we come to the Christian faith looking to have our needs met. I’m not happy; can God make me happy? I’m looking for something that I don’t have; can God give it to me? How can Christianity help me with my problems and needs? But to approach the Christian faith in that manner is to cater to our main problem, which is self! He says (p. 101), “The first answer of the gospel can always, in effect, be put in this way: ‘Forget yourself and contemplate God.’” He adds (p. 102), “The way to be delivered from self-centeredness is to stand in the presence of God.” (Steven Cole, Lesson 4)

b. Let me help us to forget about ourselves and contemplate the Person of God in light of His being “Light”! In Gen. 1:1-3 the earth is formless and void and covered in darkness and God speaks forth light into the beginning of His creation! (v.3) Light emanated from the very WOG and friend it still does today! Are you walking in darkness? Read His Word! In the Psalms light was often a metaphor for life and salvation in God (Ps. 36:9), He is described as light in Ps. 27:1 (The Lord is my light and my salvation…) In Jn. 1:9 the author describes God as the True light which enlightens every man… Jesus said in Jn. 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Christ brings spiritual illumination! There is an ethical use of the idea of light used in connection with God in Jn. 12:35& Eph. 5:8ff.