The Remedy!

"The Remedy!"

Sermon Series: Walk in Faith (2 of 10)

1 John 1:5 -- 2:2

Pastor Jerry Ingalls

First Baptist Church-New Castle, Indiana

January 24, 2010

Are you ready to continue to dive into 1 John? Last week we covered the first 4 verses and today we will walk through the next 8 verses.

Please open your Bible to 1 John 1:5 -- 2:2.

⁵This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. ⁷But 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. ⁸If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. ^2:1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ²He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

The Word of God; let us pray.

I am going to teach you these 8 verses by breaking the sermon into 3 points and unpacking each section. Then using my primary exegetical guideline of 'Scripture interpreting Scripture' I will utilize other Scriptures to teach the lesson. Essentially, we will be allowing God's Word to teach us God's Word.

Let's look at our first point so go ahead and pull out your sermon notes. You see the primary text is on the front cover with the verse numbers and on the inside (spilling over to the back page) are the 3 points with supporting Scriptures. Keep your Bible open, grab a pen, lean forward, and let's jump in...

JESUS CHRIST IS THE REMEDY FOR...DARKNESS! [Reference verses 5-7]

1 John 1:5 starts, "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you [We see in the first 4 verses that the Apostle John is a personal witness to the ministry of Jesus Christ. He's now an old man by who is writing to 2nd and 3rd generation Christians. John is actively proclaiming this Gospel message that he heard in the past. He is making it clear that he is not making up the message, but that this is the message given to Him by Jesus Christ, Who is the Logos, the Word of Life. This mesage is the life-giving Gospel of Jesus Christ.] : God is light; in him there is no darkness at all."

John is drawing from his earlier work, the Gospel of John. He is doing that because this letter was written in the years after he sent the Gospel to these churches to clarify confusion and to teach the people a right view of who Jesus Christ is and how we should live in light of our faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Savior of the World.

The Gospel of John 1:4-5 majestically proclaims, "In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood [or a more literal translation of the Greek word -- the darkness has not overcome] it." [The it being the message passed on to the Apostle John.]

Let's dive into this phrase: "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all" Let's look at the Words of Jesus Christ and see if we can start to understand what John is teaching us when he declares that God is light:

Jesus proclaims in John 8:12, "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"

The Light is self-revealing! Jesus proclaimed, "I am the light of the world"...There is nothing secretive about the light. God wants to be seen and He desires to be known by all of His people. That is why God sent His son into the world to be the light exclaiming, "I am the light of the world."

We read in Paul's letter to the Colossians that Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. In the same way that Jesus Christ is the light of the world, we--His people, the Church--are to be a light on a hill for all to see. That is why God's vision for the Church is for us to be His Lamp stand...because Jesus Christ is Light and where there is Light there can be no darkness!

Jesus stated, 'Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'

The Light points the way to go!

When I was an Infantry Officer we learned, practiced, and conducted a lot of land navigation...at night it is easy to get disoriented, lost, and in a heap of trouble quick! I learned quick to trust my map and my compass. [Share a story]

Jesus calls us to follow Him and His promise is that when we follow Him we will never walk in darkness...He is the light of life. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one goes to the Father except through Him (John 14). In a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you have the gift of the Holy Spirit who lights your way by giving you guidance on this road...we know how to orient our maps and set our compass because we have the Light of Life--Jesus Christ who is our True North. When we study the map (the Bible) and allow the Light to be our compass then we don't have to find ourselves stuck in the thorns or bogged down in the swamps.

Jesus exclaimed in John 12:46, "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness."

Jesus is making it clear that the Light is the Great Revealer...where there is light there can be no darkness.

Flaws, imperfections, sin that is easily hidden in the dark is completely revealed in the Light. Let me explain a little deeper: The God who is Light is Perfect in all His ways; He is pure and all-holy; God is splendor; He is glory! To proclaim that God is light is to proclaim to the world of the sheer splendor and radiant glory of God!

That leads us into 1 John 1:6 very directly states, "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth."

This is a good time to teach about darkness...we have unpacked the Light, now let's look at this darkness we are not supposed to be walking in.

Darkness represents the chaos of a Christless life; a life without God which is characterized by insecurity, selfishness, isolation, immorality, pettiness, greed, hatred and anger, unforgiveness and bitterness.

We saw earlier in the Gospel of John 1:5...the darkness may be opposed to the Light, but it cannot overcome it! The Darkness is an aggressor, but the Light will always pierce the Dark! Light prevails!

I don't want to take for granted that you know this, but in the Bible when you hear phrases like "walk in light, walk in the darkness, walk in love, walk in faith" they are each pointing "a habitual lifestyle of..."

This verse can be read: "If you claim to be in a right relationship with the God who is splendor and glory, who is holy and true and in whom there is no impurity or imperfection, but we choose to live a habitual lifestyle of immorality, selfishness, greed, bitterness and rage, and ignorance of the ways of God, then you are a liar and you are not living by the teaching of Jesus Christ which is life and the light is not in you."

The Beloved John is throwing our covers and calling us out. He is stating, 'You proclaim Christ as Lord and Savior, I will tell you if you are by the way you live your life....because if you really believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Savior of the World, then you will be obedient to His teachings.

Let's continue in our study, the first half of 1 John 1:7 promises, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another...

When we are in God's perfect fellowship then our lives should be characterized by the character and quality and deeds of the light. The old has gone and the new has come...

And one of the primary ways that we can see the truth of conversion is in our fellowship with one another; I can't emphasize enough to you that our fellowship as a church is critical to our lives and to our mission as a church of God...listen to this verse from the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2:9, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

It is the purpose of our existence as the set apart people of God to be God's chosen people, our identity is in the Light, not in our nationality or ethnicity. We belong to God now and our ethics, our values, our morals, our lifestyle choices...everything should be called into the wonderful light!

Let's finish verse 8..., and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

The phrase "blood of Jesus, his Son" is pointing us to the victory of the crucifixion of the Christ and the background to understanding this salvific event is located in Israel's history (especially the Exodus and the Passover Lamb) and then the Jewish sacrificial system detailed out in the books of Exodus and Leviticus.

The verb "purifies" is a continuous present verb meaning that the blood of Jesus shed on the Cross of Calvary continues today to cleanse you; to purify you from the sin in your life.

The shed blood of Jesus Christ is the final atoning sacrifice that once and for all eliminated the need to sacrifice animals twice a day (morning and twilight) because God provided the perfect sacrifice, His Son--God Himself, the 2nd person of the dynamic love affair we call the Triune God--to tear down the barrier between God and man caused by sin, once and for all.

The blood of Jesus--the unblemished lamb of God, our Passover--covers a multitude of sins and because He was the perfect sacrifice we are continuously cleansed of our imperfection in the sight of God. God did this for us because we could not do it ourselves...

Listen to this teaching from the Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:13-14, "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Jesus is the remedy for the Darkness and we have to make a choice on what that will mean for our lives in how we will live each day.

ACTION ITEM: I will intentionally walk in the Light. [I believe right now that the Light is illuminating your heart and minds. Do you need to step out of the darkness in a specific area of your life today?

Let's look at the next 3 verses of our passage and in this section we will learn that JESUS CHRIST IS THE REMEDY FOR...DECEPTION!

1 John 1:8 teaches, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."

More accurately, this text is talking about Self-Deception and self-deception is a deliberate refusal to face the facts!

The Greek word for sin is harmartia which literally means "to miss the target" as in Archery. So whenever the Bible talks about sin it is talking about anything that misses the target on who we are supposed to be in the eyes of God. God created us to be His image bearers for the purpose of bringing glory and worship to His name and to draw other people towards Him; to bless the nations! That means that anything we do that falls short of that purpose is sin.

This is not isolated to Newspaper worthy incidents...in that case many might be able to say that they are without sin. But this is when we fall short of being the husband, father, wife, mother, daughter, son, friend, worker or employer, or when we simply struggle with our own selfishness and insecurity and don't make good choices that end up hurting ourselves and others.

This is deception that states either 1) I have no sin at all; or 2) I have no responsibility for my sin. This is the classic blame shifting tendency that started with Adam and Eve and will continue until Jesus comes back. This is the tendency to blame our family of origin and upbringing, our genetics, our temperament (well, I can't help it that I was made this way!), or how we love to blame our circumstances for our bad choices! The list is long and well used. It is a rut that many of us have fallen into from time to time.

How does the Truth of Jesus Christ serve as a Remedy for this level of deception? Jesus is the remedy for deception because He is the Light and the Light is to be the Great Revealer. Let me illuminate this with something Paul says.

In his pastoral letter to Timothy 1:15-16 Paul humbly proclaims for our benefit, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life."

Come on Paul, how are you, the great missionary and author of 13 letters in the New Testament, the Chief of sinners?

Here it is brothers and sisters: The closer you get to the Light, the more you see yourself as you really are. The closer in proximity you get to perfection, glory, splendor, radiance [the marvelous light!] the more you see your own blemishes.

I do not believe that Paul is wrapped up in a lifestyle of sin or is overstating his sinful nature, but rather this statement reflects his proximity to the Light! Friends, the closer we grow in personal relationship with Jesus Christ--the Light of Life--the more we will know that we are sinners saved by God's scandalous grace and extravagant love! We become enraptured in His light! We are humbled by His mercy! Spiritual pride has no place in the life of a Christian!

That leads us into 1 John 1:9-10, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just [the focus is on God's faithfulness to act upon His covenant promises, one of which includes forgiveness of sin when a sacrifice of atonement is made for the sinner!] and will forgive us our sins [something only God can do!] and purify us from all unrighteousness [this is possible through the blood of Jesus as we saw in verse 7 and the words "all unrighteousness" parallel "walk in the darkness"--a Godless immoral life!]. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word [This again is the Greek word Logos which implies the Word of Life who is Jesus Christ] has no place in our lives.

Friends, we know from personal experience that we make God out to be a liar if we say we do not sin or we do not take personal responsibility for our sin and its consequences. But, if you still deny this truth from your personal experience,The Word declares that we all have sinned (including you and me!) in Romans 3:3, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." That means all need forgiveness!

The remedy to self deception is to have a sober assessment of ourselves and to know that we are sinners and then with a humble heart, do what King David did in Psalm 51...come to God in confession, just as John is commanding us to do in verse 9!

David prayed in Psalm 51:1-2,"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin."

Once again, the emphasis is on God's unfailing love and His great compassion! Not your perfection; you don't have to be perfect! That is a key point John is making--sin is real and we are not perfect (we all sin and will continue to struggle with our sin nature!). Do not live in denial; rather confess your sin and receive forgiveness and life!

ACTION ITEM: I will daily approach God with a humble and sober heart. [I will confess my sins and receive His forgiveness...confession is necessary!]

Let's close with our final teaching point that is found from the first 2 verses of 1 John 2. JESUS CHRIST IS THE REMEDY FOR...DEATH!

In 1 John 1:1, the elderly Apostle John, compassionately writes, "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. [That is the goal of the Christian life, to become more and more like Jesus Christ who was without sin! John is stating one of his chief purposes for writing...He is telling these confused followers of Jesus Christ that sin does matter! They not only have to have a right view of God in Jesus Christ, but also of their lifestyles.] But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

The word that is translated "one who speaks to the Father in our defense" is the word Parakletos which is a rich word in John's writings. This is a word that means "Advocate, Mediator, Helper, Intercessor" and the emphasis is on "Jesus Christ, the Righteous One" because the Intercessor has to be able to advocate or intercede on our behalf...as God is righteous, Jesus Christ is Righteous. He has the right! He is able! He is qualified! He has the ear of His Father for your benefit!

In Hebrews 7:25 we read about Jesus Christ, "Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them."

Thank you Jesus, my Advocate, My Defender, My Interceder, My Wonderful Counselor! Jesus did not come to earth 2000 years ago ONLY to die as the perfect atoning sacrifice for our sins. He did that, but the good news friend is that Jesus Christ is ALIVE! He rose from the dead 3 days later and 40 days later ascended to the right hand of the Father to be our Interceder and then 10 days after that sent His Spirit, also called the Parakletos to be our Sustainer. This is amazing...we have a Paraklete both at the right hand of the Father interceding for us and in our hearts sustaining and empowering us! God has your back and mine, if you will come to Him!

Let's finish our last verse, 1 John 2:2, "He is [once again the grammar of the Greek teaches this is a continuing quality...now and always!] the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."

Jesus is not only our Paraklete, He is our Propitiation!

God is the One who provides the offering that was acceptable to Himself. We see this in 2 Corinthians 5:21 where Paul teaches, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.") This was necessary to turn away His wrath and fulfill the requirements of His Covenant for all of humanity to be restored into a right relationship with Himself.

Paul teaches in Romans 5:8-10,

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!"

Life defeats death just as the Light defeats Darkness!

In His great love for you and me, for the entire world, God has provided the means for everyone to be restored into fellowship with God. There are no limits to the efficacy of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ--the final atoning sacrifice; our Passover Lamb!

Let me tell you some great news! Jesus came to free us from works-based religions and sacrificial systems to teach us about a personal relationship with God! This is the gift of God!

Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

You do not have to ever experience the sting of death in your life! When a Christian dies, they do not stop living, they pass on to their Father's House where they receive their rich inheritance of eternal life! From life to Life!

This earthly tent is folded up and we receive an imperishable glorified body! Jesus is the remedy for death because He has removed the stain of sin that kept you from being in God's perfect fellowship!

God is offering this gift to you today; what are you going to do?

ACTION ITEM: Today, I wholeheartedly accept the free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

RESPONSE TIME: Ken and his team are now going to lead us in a time of response. Today is the day of Salvation and Transformation! This is a call for each of us to answer: are you ready to walk fully in the light? Are you ready to humble confess your sins to God? Are you ready to receive the free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ with your whole heart?