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1 John 1:1-4 NASB
We Proclaim Him
What was from the beginning, Jesus Christ, our righteous one. He was with God in the beginning, and He is God, and through him all things were made which were made, i.e. he is our creator God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit (See: The Gospel of John, chapter 1).
The disciples of Jesus Christ, during Jesus’ life and ministry on the earth, knew Jesus in the flesh. They walked with him literally day by day, ate with him, fellowshipped with him, worked alongside him, and physically sat at his feet each day listening to him speak his words to their hearts. And, so they were able to bear testimony to Him, because they walked daily with Him.
We, who are Christ’s disciples today, have not yet had the pleasure of being with him face-to-face, but we have him living within us, in the person of his Holy Spirit. So, we can also walk with him day by day in sweet fellowship, sit at his feet, and listen to him speak his words to our hearts. And, we can work alongside him, too, in service to him, under his guidance and direction, and in his power and strength within us. So we, as well, can bear testimony to Him, because we, too, walk with Him day by day.
Jesus Christ is the “Word of Life,” for he is the giver of life, both of our physical lives and of our spiritual lives, for those of us who have trusted in him to be Lord and Savior of our lives. And, he is the “Word” because he is the living Word of God, and his every word is the Word of God. This includes the words he spoke on the earth and the words he breathed into the writers of scripture, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.
We proclaim Jesus Christ so that others might have fellowship with Him and have eternal life with him. We have fellowship with him by God’s grace, through faith in him and in what he did for us when he died on that cross for our sins. That faith is God-given and God-persuaded as to God’s righteousness and holiness, and as to our need to die with him to sin and to live to him and to his righteousness, empowered by God’s Spirit within us. Thus, through faith in him we forsake our former lives of living to sin and self and we now walk with him in his holiness by his power and strength.
1 John 1:5-7 NASB
God is Light
Jesus Christ is God, and he is Light. He is truth and righteousness. In him is no darkness, no sin, no wickedness, and no lies or deceit or immorality, etc. We can always count on him to be exactly who he said he is and to do everything he said he would do. He will never forsake his followers, nor will he betray us. He will not trick us or try to trip us up, though he will allow us to be tested for our good, that we might mature in our walks of faith.
So, if we are truly in Christ, by God-given faith in him, and we are walking in fellowship with him, then we should be emulating him. Lies, wickedness, immorality, impurity, hatred, deceit, and disobedience to his instructions should not be what we daily practice. For, if sin is what we practice, i.e. if it is how we conduct our lives on a daily basis, while we claim to be in fellowship with Christ, then we are liars who do not live by the truth.
Instead, as followers of Jesus Christ, we should be walking (living) in his Light and truth. Daily we should take up our cross and follow (obey) him. Daily, by the Spirit, we should be putting to death the deeds of the flesh.
Daily, too, we should be walking in His Light, living godly and holy lives pleasing to him, by his Spirit, as day by day we yield to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives. And, we should be making no compromises with the world of sin. For Jesus set us free from our slavery to sin so that sin should no longer have mastery over our lives. Amen!
Therefore, we should put aside all which hinders our walks of faith in him so that we can live holy and godly lives, pleasing to Him.
1 John 1:8-10 NASB
He is Faithful and Righteous
When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we must repent of our sins. We must willingly turn from living to sin and self to living to Christ and to his righteousness. We can’t do this in our own flesh, though. For, this is not about performance. It is not about earning our own salvation. Our salvation is a free gift from God, but the gift of God is deliverance from slavery to sin. It is the power to now walk according to the Spirit of God and to no longer walk according to the ways of our sinful flesh.
Some people think that faith in Jesus Christ is merely forgiveness of our sins and the hope of heaven when we die, regardless of how we live our lives on this earth. But, they have the wrong idea about God’s grace. Yes, it includes forgiveness and hope, but his grace to us delivers us out of darkness, and it brings us into his wonderful light. It does not leave us in our darkness, still bound in slavery to sin, for that is no grace at all if we are not delivered from the control of sin and Satan over our lives.
So, if we want forgiveness of sins and the promise of heaven when we die, then we need to own up to our sins, leave them behind us, yield to the Lordship of Christ in our lives, and now walk according to the Spirit of God, and daily, by the Spirit, be putting to death the deeds of our flesh. For, if we continue living sinful lifestyles, thinking our sin no longer matters to God, then we are not in fellowship with God, we don’t know him, His Word is not within us, and we don’t have the hope of eternal life with him.
So, today, if you have never put your faith and trust wholly in the Lord Jesus, you have not owned up to your own sins, and you have not allowed him to turn you from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, then I pray you will say “Yes!” to Jesus Christ today.
Let him be your Lord and master, and yield the control of your life over to him. Walk in his love, in his power and in His Spirit, and do what he commands you to do. There is no better way to live than to live in his love and to walk in his truth. Amen!
Shine Jesus Shine
By Graham Kendrick
Lord the light of Your love is shining
In the midst of the darkness, shining
Jesus, Light of the world, shine upon us
Set us free by the truth You now bring us…
Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this land with the Father's glory
Blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire…
Friday, July 20, 2018 – Thank You, Jesus, for your love, your grace, your light, your truth, and your salvation from our slavery to sin. Amen!
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
We Proclaim Him
What was from the beginning, Jesus Christ, our righteous one. He was with God in the beginning, and He is God, and through him all things were made which were made, i.e. he is our creator God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit (See: The Gospel of John, chapter 1).
The disciples of Jesus Christ, during Jesus’ life and ministry on the earth, knew Jesus in the flesh. They walked with him literally day by day, ate with him, fellowshipped with him, worked alongside him, and physically sat at his feet each day listening to him speak his words to their hearts. And, so they were able to bear testimony to Him, because they walked daily with Him.
We, who are Christ’s disciples today, have not yet had the pleasure of being with him face-to-face, but we have him living within us, in the person of his Holy Spirit. So, we can also walk with him day by day in sweet fellowship, sit at his feet, and listen to him speak his words to our hearts. And, we can work alongside him, too, in service to him, under his guidance and direction, and in his power and strength within us. So we, as well, can bear testimony to Him, because we, too, walk with Him day by day.
Jesus Christ is the “Word of Life,” for he is the giver of life, both of our physical lives and of our spiritual lives, for those of us who have trusted in him to be Lord and Savior of our lives. And, he is the “Word” because he is the living Word of God, and his every word is the Word of God. This includes the words he spoke on the earth and the words he breathed into the writers of scripture, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.
We proclaim Jesus Christ so that others might have fellowship with Him and have eternal life with him. We have fellowship with him by God’s grace, through faith in him and in what he did for us when he died on that cross for our sins. That faith is God-given and God-persuaded as to God’s righteousness and holiness, and as to our need to die with him to sin and to live to him and to his righteousness, empowered by God’s Spirit within us. Thus, through faith in him we forsake our former lives of living to sin and self and we now walk with him in his holiness by his power and strength.
1 John 1:5-7 NASB
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
God is Light
Jesus Christ is God, and he is Light. He is truth and righteousness. In him is no darkness, no sin, no wickedness, and no lies or deceit or immorality, etc. We can always count on him to be exactly who he said he is and to do everything he said he would do. He will never forsake his followers, nor will he betray us. He will not trick us or try to trip us up, though he will allow us to be tested for our good, that we might mature in our walks of faith.
So, if we are truly in Christ, by God-given faith in him, and we are walking in fellowship with him, then we should be emulating him. Lies, wickedness, immorality, impurity, hatred, deceit, and disobedience to his instructions should not be what we daily practice. For, if sin is what we practice, i.e. if it is how we conduct our lives on a daily basis, while we claim to be in fellowship with Christ, then we are liars who do not live by the truth.
Instead, as followers of Jesus Christ, we should be walking (living) in his Light and truth. Daily we should take up our cross and follow (obey) him. Daily, by the Spirit, we should be putting to death the deeds of the flesh.
Daily, too, we should be walking in His Light, living godly and holy lives pleasing to him, by his Spirit, as day by day we yield to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives. And, we should be making no compromises with the world of sin. For Jesus set us free from our slavery to sin so that sin should no longer have mastery over our lives. Amen!
Therefore, we should put aside all which hinders our walks of faith in him so that we can live holy and godly lives, pleasing to Him.
1 John 1:8-10 NASB
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
He is Faithful and Righteous
When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we must repent of our sins. We must willingly turn from living to sin and self to living to Christ and to his righteousness. We can’t do this in our own flesh, though. For, this is not about performance. It is not about earning our own salvation. Our salvation is a free gift from God, but the gift of God is deliverance from slavery to sin. It is the power to now walk according to the Spirit of God and to no longer walk according to the ways of our sinful flesh.
Some people think that faith in Jesus Christ is merely forgiveness of our sins and the hope of heaven when we die, regardless of how we live our lives on this earth. But, they have the wrong idea about God’s grace. Yes, it includes forgiveness and hope, but his grace to us delivers us out of darkness, and it brings us into his wonderful light. It does not leave us in our darkness, still bound in slavery to sin, for that is no grace at all if we are not delivered from the control of sin and Satan over our lives.
So, if we want forgiveness of sins and the promise of heaven when we die, then we need to own up to our sins, leave them behind us, yield to the Lordship of Christ in our lives, and now walk according to the Spirit of God, and daily, by the Spirit, be putting to death the deeds of our flesh. For, if we continue living sinful lifestyles, thinking our sin no longer matters to God, then we are not in fellowship with God, we don’t know him, His Word is not within us, and we don’t have the hope of eternal life with him.
So, today, if you have never put your faith and trust wholly in the Lord Jesus, you have not owned up to your own sins, and you have not allowed him to turn you from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, then I pray you will say “Yes!” to Jesus Christ today.
Let him be your Lord and master, and yield the control of your life over to him. Walk in his love, in his power and in His Spirit, and do what he commands you to do. There is no better way to live than to live in his love and to walk in his truth. Amen!
Shine Jesus Shine
By Graham Kendrick
Lord the light of Your love is shining
In the midst of the darkness, shining
Jesus, Light of the world, shine upon us
Set us free by the truth You now bring us…
Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this land with the Father's glory
Blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire…
Friday, July 20, 2018 – Thank You, Jesus, for your love, your grace, your light, your truth, and your salvation from our slavery to sin. Amen!
