In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” Genesis 1:1-3 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5, NIV

“Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper
Light in the darkness
My God, that is who You are…”

John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, left everything behind to follow Him wherever He took them.  John traveled on dusty roads from town to town with Jesus.  John listened and learned intently while observing miracles of healing and restoration.  He witnessed a compassion and love he had never seen in this Son of Man/Son of God that embodied Jesus.  He studied Jesus in wonder over a three-year span of his life as he walked and talked with Him.  John’s gospel telling oozes with the love of Jesus, reflecting the love of God.  Jesus was the Light to a dark world. 

Now John writes a few more letters to remind people of the Light in the darkness, the Perfect Love of God, with the true witness of the walking around Word who gave Life to all who believe. 

1 John 1, The Message

^1-2 From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us.

^3-4 We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!

Walk in the Light

⁵ This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.

^6-7 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.

^8-10 If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—simply come clean about them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus was the Word who became flesh, born of a virgin, raised by devout, believing Jews in obedience to the Law and to his parents.  Jesus was sent from heaven to earth to move into the neighborhood of humanity to seek and save the lost who had all but forgotten their Creator, God the Father.  Everything changed when Jesus came to earth to love, serve, heal and forgive with willingness to do His Father’s will and fulfill God’s plan of sacrifice—to lay down His life to pay for our sins and set us free.  Redemption is  gift to us at the cost of God’s One and Only Son.

How will we respond to the Gift of Salvation?

Our response is personal and requires careful, prayerful thought: 

Do I really believe God and what He says about Jesus, His Son, to be really real?  Even for me now?

Do I want an intimate personal relationship with the God who created me in my mother’s womb, knows my heart and my thoughts even before I do—along with how many hairs are on my head at any given moment?

Do I seek peace that only Jesus can give? 

Is inner, inexhaustible joy from knowing and believing Jesus, that John speaks of, really possible—in all circumstances?

Do I need and want a love that never fails, never gives up on me, and never runs out? 

Do I want this love to permeate my being so I can take joy in loving others like Jesus loves me?

Do I want the responsibility to tell others of Jesus so they can know Him, too?

After careful, prayerful thought and the answer is yes to all the above, it’s time to tell Jesus that you believe, repent of sins to him, be forgiven of those sins and be saved for life. It’s time to accept the compassion gift of God who “so loved the world” that He sent His Son into the world as light in the darkness to shine the Way back to God. It’s time to say yes to Jesus who removes all sins and the guilt from carrying those heavy sins around as bulky baggage upon our being and be set free!  It is time to say yes to God’s Holy Spirit daily as He transforms us into all He created us to be and do.

John is just getting started.  He takes time as a pastor of churches who are confused about the love of God to explain Love and God—you can’t have one without the other! 

Stay tuned!

Lord,

Thank you for the Word that fills our hearts, changes our minds, and fills our souls with your peace and joy.  Thank you for not giving up on me. Thank you for guiding me to Truth daily by our Teacher, Your Holy Spirit, who lives in us.  Thank you for loving us the way you do while demonstrating that love in real life that leads us to eternal Life.  Thank for being that Light in the darkness that illuminates Truth.

In Jesus Name, Amen

“Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper
Light in the darkness
My God, that is who You are…”