“Walking in the Light” (1:5-2:2)

Biblical Diagnosis

“What will May bring? Or June? When will things go back to normal?” we ask. Many experts agree that this isn’t about the next couple of weeks. This is about the two years until a vaccine can be produced.

If we ask the same question (“When will things go back to normal?”) to the Apostle John, he would answer differently. According to John, all our abnormal situations today – all our ills and all our unhappiness – are not just from coronavirus. They are ultimately from our broken relationship with God. That’s why we feel restless, hopeless, lifeless, meaningless. In this letter John, knowing that his end is at hand, is now saying his last words to Christian people, “I am going out of the world. I shall not be with you much longer, and the one thing that matters for you is that you should always be walking with God, that you should always be maintaining that fellowship. If that is right, it doesn’t matter very much what will happen to you. A terrible illness, loss of money, the illness of a loved one, or even death.”

God’s Holiness, Our Sinfulness

Having fellowship with God is the one thing that matters. According to John, fellowship is a position in which two people are walking together along the same road – side by side. It’s a journey, a companionship. If we want to enjoy true fellowship, first we must know something about the character of the two persons – our companion and ourselves. For example, a backslidden husband who is walking in spiritual darkness, out of fellowship with God, can never enjoy full fellowship with his Christian wife, who is walking in the light. In a superficial way, the couple can have companionship; but true spiritual fellowship is impossible. The same principle applies to our relationship with God. So here in today’s passage John tells us, “If you want to have fellowship with God, first you should know something about the character of God and something about yourselves.”

So in order to have true fellowship with God, the very first question to ask is: who is God? What is God? What does the Bible tell us about God? We often hear people say, “If God is a God of love, I cannot understand why He should allow this and that. Why does God allow wars, why does God allow coronavirus, why does God…?” We hear people telling us what they think of God. But the truth is that we cannot know God until He reveals Himself through the Bible and through Jesus Christ. By the Holy Spirit the Apostle John declares who God is in verse 5: “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.” There are many attributes of God, but the greatest attribute of God is the holiness of God. Our God is holy. But what does it mean God is holy? The Hebrew word for “holy” literally means “separate,” “set apart,” or “different.” To be holy is to be different in a special way. God is far above any other, and no one can compare to Him. Another way to say it is absolute perfection. In Him there is no sin, no evil, no darkness at all. John Piper says, “When we say that God is holy we mean that… his character is unimpeachable.” God’s holiness shapes all his attributes. His love is a holy love, his mercy is holy mercy, his justice is holy justice, his knowledge is holy knowledge, his spirit is holy spirit, and even his anger is holy anger. That’s who God is. That’s who our Companion is.

Then, John tells us something about ourselves, who we are – our sinfulness. The word “sin” occurs nine times in today’s passage. What is sin? Sin means that we disobey God and His holy law. In fact, sin is anything that separates us from God. At the beginning Adam and Eve enjoyed true fellowship with God. But then, they chose to disobey God and follow after their own ways and their own desires. By this, sin entered. The fellowship with God was broken. In today’s scripture John says three times, “If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie to others (v. 6),” “If we say that we have no sin, we lie to ourselves” (v. 8), “If we say that we have not sinned, we lie to God” (v. 10). In a word, our nature is evil and sinful. The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jr 17:9) The human heart is desperately wicked. What’s who we are.

Woe to Me!

How can we then have fellowship with God? God is holy; we are sinful. God is light; we are darkness. It’s impossible for us as we are to have true spiritual fellowship with God. The presence of God at once convicts of sin. Everything that is wrong and sinful in us at once brought to the surface before Him. That’s the character of light to reveal the hidden things of darkness. The Bible says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Heb 4:12-13). One time the Prophet Isaiah saw the living God sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. Above Him stood the seraphim, calling to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.” When he saw this, he cried out at once, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Isa 6:5). When Simon Peter saw Jesus and what He did, he fell down at once at Jesus’ knees and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8). That’s what happens when we are truly in the presence of God.

The Remedy for Sin: Our Part

So back to our previous question: “How can we, sinful people, have fellowship with holy God?” The answer is twofold – our part and God’s part. From our part, all God asks is that when we have failed, we confess our sins. In verse 9 John says, “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” When there is so much pretending and hypocrisy in our life, fellowship with God is impossible. We are a phony. So the first step to have fellowship with God is to be honest with ourselves, honest with others, and honest with God. Confessing our sins means naming our specific sins – envy, hatred, lust, deceit, pride, selfishness, anger, or whatever it may be, and being honest with ourselves and with God. Perhaps many of you remember the story of the prodigal son. In the story the younger son asked the father his share of the estate, went to his own way, and wasted everything he had. The fellowship with his father was broken. Now this young man was broken, hungry, naked. But no one gave him anything. No one cared for him. But that brought him to his senses. So he got up and went home to his father, saying, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:21). That’s what means to confess our sins. If we say that we have not sinned, if we try to cover our sins, we become a slave of sin. But if we confess our sins, God will forgive us and set us free from sin.

The Remedy for Sin: God’s Part

How about God’s part? What does God do to restore our fellowship with Him? The answer is 1 John 2:1-2. “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” Our fellowship with God is broken because of sin – both original sin and our own sins. But God sent his Son Jesus to be our Advocate. The word for “advocate” literally means, “one called alongside.” Here God is the Judge, Satan is the accuser, and Jesus is our Advocate. The Bible says that Satan accuses us before our God day and night (cf. Rev 12:10). But we have Jesus Christ our Advocate, who stands at our side and pleads our case. C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia describes this truth in a very powerful way. In the story Edmund became a traitor to Aslan by allying himself with the Witch. But Aslan offered Edmund forgiveness while the Witch accused him. The following is part of the conversation between Aslan and the Witch:

“You have a traitor there, Aslan,” said the Witch.

“Well,” said Aslan, “His offense was not against you.”

“Have you forgotten the Deep Magic?” asked the Witch.

“Let us say I have forgotten it,” answered Aslan gravely. “Tell us of this Deep Magic.”

“Tell you?” said the Witch, her voice growing suddenly shriller. “Tell you what is written on that very Table of Stone which stands beside us? Tell you what is written in letters deep as a spear is long on the fire-stones on the Secret Hill? Tell you what is engraved on the scepter of the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea? You at least know the Magic which the Emperor put into Narnia at the very beginning. You know that every traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and that for every treachery I have a right to a kill.”

 “And so,” continued the Witch, “that human creature is mine. His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my property.”

“It is very true,” said Aslan, “I do not deny it.”

Next day Aslan gave his life in exchange for Edmund’s. Like Edmund, we were all traitors. We have turned to our own way and followed the course of this world. But while we were still against God, Christ died for us, so that we could turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Christ died for us, so that we could receive forgiveness of sins and have fellowship with God!

Back to God’s New Normal

We hear people say when this pandemic is over, let us not return to the past. Instead, let us return to new normal. But as for Christian people, we don’t need to wait until this pandemic is over. We can return now to God’s new normal, that is, restoring true fellowship with God. “To have fellowship with God,” John plainly says, “negatively, do not sin. And positively, walk in the light.” To walk in the light means to be honest with God, with ourselves, and with others. To walk in the light means to confess our sins. To walk in the light means to look to Jesus, trust in Jesus, and follow Jesus. So let us come to the light. Let us walk in the light. Let us have fellowship with God and with one another. Amen.