LOVE LETTERS FROM JOHN - (Week 1) - "You Light Up My Life" [1 John 1:1-2:2] #FathomChurch

LOVE LETTERS FROM JOHN - (Week 1)
"You Light Up My Life"
[1 John 1: 1-2: 2]

I John 1: 1-10

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, SO THAT you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things SO THAT (y)our joy may be complete.

1. JOHN IS VERY CLEAR – He is an eye witness to something REAL!!!

o Gnostics were teaching (or eventually would teach) that Jesus didn’t have a body or was divine spirit dwelling in a body! (Talladega Nights)

John is stating that He (and the Apostles before him – some of whom also write scripture – are uniquely and supremely qualified to speak/write with authority about this Jesus - The God-man – “The way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), the “Light of the World” because I was there!

2. Proclaim - SO THAT – Fellowshipo If you don’t hear (and accept by faith) the truth, then you are not with us!
---And you therefore are not with God either …

--- Fellowship with God (the Father and the Son) and Fellowship with the body of believers is a huge theme in the Epistles of John.

3. Write - SO THAT – Joy Complete
o Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit, as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the word and in the world. – John Piper

o A good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit, when we pursue Jesus, encounter Jesus, & serve Jesus.
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John 5-10 “Walking in the Light”

5 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. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 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. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

2. GOD IS LIGHT - [God is love 1 John 4: 8 – God is Spirit John 4: 24]

o John 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.”
o John 12: 35-36
“35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

o Ephesians 5: 8 “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light”
• Light (even from the Old Testament) is symbolic of Knowledge (Jesus the Word) and Purity (Spotless lamb – Sinless sacrifice)!
• FELLOWSHIP

o Remember 1 John 1:3b
– Fellowship with GOD is initiated at salvation by grace through faith but it is maintained (kept healthy) by “walking in the light”!

• Walking in Darkness vs. Walking in Lighto What do these things mean?
– (More will be revealed in the coming weeks)
o “Walking in Darkness” does not merely mean sin!
o “Walking in Light” does not mean sinless-ness !

• Walking in Light is a continual transformation toward Christ-likeness (Love – Truth – Holiness)
• Walking in Light is a life aware and sensitive to our own sinso Repentant and Confessing of those sins regularly (1 John 1: 9)
• Walking in darkness is to be unaware of sin (OR to hide known sin)!

1 John 2: 1-21
My little children, I am writing these things to you SO THAT you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

• Propitiation: A sacrifice which bears the weight of God’s wrath and turns it to favor for those whom the sacrifice was made on their behalf”

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