Title: God Is Light
(Lecture 8) 1 John 1:5-7 God is light
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This is the news we have heard from him and bring you this: God is light, and there is no darkness in him. If we say that we have fellowship with God and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth, as he is in the light. If we also walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:5-7).
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In fact, it is not easy to know the meaning of joy just from this word itself. The important thing is to know what this verse contains. This verse is about infinite joy. Therefore, when you know it, you will see why these words are a joy.
First of all, the meaning of the saying that God is light and there is no darkness at all is that God is holy. If there is no darkness, God never tolerates darkness. It is God who has no tolerance for evil.
Our mistake today is to forget this. We are forgetting that God never tolerated sin. And speaking of the cross, God considers only the One who has forgiven all our sins. That's why they think only of their own salvation in front of the cross. I believe that he died on the cross to save me.
But what cannot be overlooked in Jesus' death is God's judgment on sin. We must first bear in mind that He is the one who judges sin so thoroughly that He had His only begotten Son, Jesus, crucified to death. This is the appearance of a holy God.
However, most of the time, the cross speaks only of God's love. Since we are only talking about the love that killed his son to save us, in some situations, it raises the question, 'Why does the God of love allow this to happen?' But the crucifixion must start with a holy God. When we start from God who does not tolerate evil, we will no longer be able to ask ‘why’ about anything in the world. This is because, in the light of God's holiness, there is no creature that has any value to exist in the world. All are subject to judgment. No matter what kind of pain I have, I have no choice but to say nothing in front of holiness. Because there is no reason why I shouldn't suffer. Rather, they have only reason to die.
But it is the cross that does not end with this. What is revealed in the case of the cross is that the person who deserves to die does not die, but the person who has no reason to die instead dies, so that the person who deserves to die gains life. This is called love. Therefore, love is not unconditionally doing us well, but it is talking about God's work of letting people who have no reason to die die in order to save those who deserve to die. Through this, the believer has already fully received God's infinite love. However, by ignoring this love and looking at the things of the world in a big way, we are living our lives longing for love every day.
It is good to understand the relationship with God from the saying that God is light. What will happen to us if we walk with God when He is light and have fellowship with Him? When the light comes, those who know the light will naturally discover their own darkness. And you will repent. This is true fellowship. How can you say that you are dating the Holy One if you say you are not aware of your faults at all?
As beings of darkness, we cannot approach the holy God and are only children of perdition, but we gained life through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. It is a new life, a great blessing and grace. This is the content contained in the saying that God is light. This cannot but be a joy for believers.
If we see Himself from the point of view of God being holy, He is just a being of darkness that must be destroyed. For beings who are destined to die, being alive is a blessing and joy. There can be no complaints, "Why is this happening?" However, if we only think from the perspective of God's love, God should love us, so even small things will only reveal doubts, such as, 'Why does God make this happen?'
The believer's joy is due to the fact that I have been loved, who does not deserve to be loved. If you do not enjoy this joy and live with a loss, it can be seen that it is because there is something in you that is considered greater and more important than the joy of God's love. Isn't it because the present world will soon be?
Although we speak of God, our eyes and attention are often far from God. The lips are with God, but God is far from the heart. Therefore, in order to enjoy the joy God has given us, we must get rid of the useless things we have. If we meditate on whether what we want and hope for is really worthwhile in the face of God's holiness, and realize that such things are nothing more than excrement, like Paul's confession, then we will know how great God's love is and how great a gift it is. And we must not forget that the value of love shines brighter in the presence of God's holiness.
We are beings who can never come before God who is light. Jesus was sent to give us this way. What can we say in the face of such hard work and sacrifice of God? What else could you be greedy for? You've already given me the biggest, but what can you ask for? Living a life of gratitude and joy for what you have already given is probably the most important thing to be a believer.
Realize my worthlessness. And think of the sacrifice of Jesus, who came into the world and died to save the worthless me. And praise and give thanks to God's love. And pray that you can live with that heart. There is joy in this heart.