1 John 1:5-7
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 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 1:5-7)
Are you afraid of the dark? Many people are. Children are especially fearful of the darkness. I remember being afraid of the dark as a child myself. In one house where we lived, I had a room that had an access to the attic in the top of my closet. I remember lying in bed in the darkness thinking to myself, as my eyes would focus on the partially opened closet door, that something terrible could be dwelling up in that attic. Of course, it was too late to get out of the bed and go over and shut the door. The lights were already out. Any attempt to climb out of the bed would certainly put me in peril of the monsters that lived under the bed. So there I was, stuck in the darkness, covers up to my chin, wishing it were daytime.
Are you afraid of the dark? I remember reading an interview with Stephen King, best selling author of many tales of horror. In the interview he talked about his daily writing routine. He said that he only writes in the morning. When he was asked whether he ever wrote at night, he replied, "Are you kidding? Not with the stuff I write." Apparently, even Stephen King knows the power of the darkness.
We see losing that fear of the dark as a good thing. We see it as part of becoming a mature adult. But is it? I suppose that loosing an unhealthy fear is a good thing. But, at the same time, we should beware lest we lose sight of the effects of darkness. Those effects are very real indeed. Darkness is nothing to be trifled with.
Darkness, understood biblically, is where the hidden things of evil have freedom to thrive. Darkness is the enemy of the light. Darkness is the strategy of Satan to ensnare the unexpecting.
It is easy to underestimate the power of darkness. It’s easy to make accommodations for darkness. It’s easy to dabble in and stubble into darkness. You see, as the light dims our eyes slowly adjust. As Christians, we need to do periodic evaluations of our own lives to make sure that the level of light stays bright. Let me ask you, have you taken a good look at your life lately? Are you intentionally walking in the light?
John gives us a wake up call. He gives us a challenge to turn on the light and take a good look at ourselves in the clarity of that light. Let’s look at the powerful word this passage has for us today.
John tells us that there is something very important that we need to understand clearly about God. As Christians, we must understand that God is light. In 1 John 1:5 we read, "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all." This is the very message Jesus’ life revealed. But what does it mean?
Perhaps it would help us to look at the nature of light. Just what is light? Well, if you turn to the dictionary, you will find quite a number of definitions. One definition of light is that it is "an electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range including infrared, visible, ultraviolet, and X-rays and traveling in a vacuum with a speed of about 186,281 miles per second." That, of course, is the definition of light stated scientifically. Actually, that was the third definition listed under light. The first was that light is "something that makes vision possible." In other words, light makes it possible for us to see. Light reveals. To "bring something to light" is to make it known. And this is more of what John is getting at here in this passage of Scripture. God reveals. God exposes. God makes it possible for us to see clearly – things as they really are.
Now, how do you compare light with darkness? Again, if you look at the dictionary, you will find this definition: "devoid or partially devoid of light – not receiving, reflecting, transmitting, or radiating light." Simply put, darkness is the absence of light. Light and darkness are opposites.
In the Scriptures, light refers to truth, purity and holiness. Darkness refers to error, ignorance, sin and evil. So when John declares to us that God is light; in him there is no darkness at all, he is simply saying that God is the epitome of truth, purity and holiness and that in Him there is no error, sin and evil. This is the nature of God. This tells us something of who God is.
John goes on to say that many claimed to have fellowship with God, this God of light, but walk in the darkness. And if you look around, you see that this is a common condition. It is everywhere in our society. People who believe that God may exist like to think that they are in good standing with Him. They like to think that there is no correlation between belief and behavior. But John says that to walk in darkness while claiming to have fellowship with God is living a lie. We read in 1 John 1:6, "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth." In other words, we cannot have fellowship with the God of light while we walk in darkness.
Now John is writing, of course, to Christians. And I do not believe that he is simply informing them of how the world lives and views God. I also believe John is warning them of the danger of darkness for Christians as well. You see, even Christians buy into this dangerous philosophy that says that we can avoid the light without any consequences. He is saying that we must beware of the darkness. Darkness will destroy your fellowship with God.
In one of his books, Ray Stedman makes the point that we often only look at darkness as sinning. But if we only look at darkness as sinning, we confuse cause with results. In other words, we sin because we are walking in the darkness. We stumble and fall because we cannot see where we are going. This is the nature of darkness. Remember, darkness is the absence of light. Stedman goes on to say, "To walk in darkness means to walk as though there were no God, for God is light. It is to be a practical atheist – not an actual one, of course. We believe there is a God, we know he is there, but we live as though he did not exist. We do not expose ourselves to him. That is walking in darkness."
He goes on to list some of the ways people avoid the light. One way is that some people stop attending church. Another similar way is to stop reading the Scriptures. When you are in church and when you open the Bible, you are exposed to the Word of God which brings light into your life. God’s Word is itself light.
He goes on to say that another way is to never take a long look at yourself. But we are encouraged in the Scriptures to examine ourselves, to evaluate just how we are doing. If we really want to live in the light, regular self-evaluation is essential. How am I doing? Am I more loving? Am I easier to live with? Am I spending more time with God? Are my priorities in proper order? If we don’t ask these questions, we will never know the truth.
Stedman goes on to point out that another way to walk in darkness is to compare yourself with other Christians. Still another variety is to blame others. And another variant is to never admit that anything is wrong in your life, just keep us appearances. These are some of the ways that Christians can walk in the darkness and avoid the light. And these will kill our fellowship with God and with other Christians. How about you? Are you intentionally walking in the light?
There is a better alternative. Rather than stumble around in the darkness, we should walk in the light. There are many good reasons to do so. There are many benefits of walking in the light. In fact, walking in the light is the key to three essential needs of every person being met.
Walking in the light is the key to fellowship with God. Our text says that we cannot have fellowship with God while walking in the darkness. We may claim to have it, but we do not really have it. Conversely, walking in the light gives us this fellowship. Now it is important to understand the difference between relationship and fellowship. The new birth brings us into relationship with God. We are brought into the family of God by the new birth and we are now His sons and daughters. This is our relationship. But relationship and fellowship are two different things. On the basis of our relationship we can be brought into a close fellowship. On the other hand, it is possible to have a relationship and to fail to have a close fellowship. We see this in our human families. Even among close family members, like brothers and sisters, it is possible to have relationship without fellowship. In some families people are not even on speaking terms. Yet some family members are so close that they are almost inseparable.
Walking in the light brings us into this close fellowship with God. It brings us into a sweet communion with Him. It brings us into the place where we enjoy His abiding presence and where we sense His approving love. It meets our need for living fellowship with God.
Walking in the light is also the key for fellowship with one another. Here John is talking about our fellowship with other Christians. We are brothers and sisters in Christ because of our relationship to Him. Fellowship, however, requires more than relationship. Fellowship requires honesty, openness, approachability, an uncritical spirit, and vulnerability. Walking in the light will produce those characteristics in our lives. Walking in the light will deliver us from the things that block fellowship with one another and make us people others will want to spend time with. Walking in the light will meet the need that every Christian has to have meaningful relationships with other believers.
Finally, walking in the light is the key to constant cleansing from all sin. John tells us that if we walk in the light, as he is in the light … the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. This is a tremendous benefit indeed.
What a wonderful promise this is. And we can easily see how this works. Walking in the light exposes sin. Walking in darkness hides sin. Walking in the light deals with sin by confessing it, repenting of it, and that always brings forgiveness. And there appears to be an added benefit here. We are told that we are cleansed from all sin. Even the unknown sins are cleansed when we walk in the light. By walking in the light, exposing ourselves to the constant presence of the Holy Spirit, we are kept clean by the power of the blood of Jesus. This meets the most basic of all needs. By walking in the light we stay clean and right with God.
So how are you doing? Are you walking in the light? Are you intentionally avoiding darkness? Take a good look at where you really are and what you are really doing. Ask God to shed His light on your situation. Listen for Him to speak to you and then commit yourself right now to do what He says. The challenge for each of us is to get out of the shadows and stay in the light.
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