That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out 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, purifies us from all[b] sin.
A lot of people believe that we can talk to God and come to him the way we want – almost as if God is there for us and has to fit in with what we want. That’s a mistake – God is in control and we must be very careful when coming to Him. It’s comforting to know that God is light and perfect and holy, but it’s also scary for us because we know there are dark things in our hearts. How can darkness become light? Darkness must change – but Jesus can do that!
Question 1
How does John describe God in these verses and how can these things be a comfort to you?
Question 2
What does it mean to ‘live in darkness’?
Question 3
How can we live in the light? Who cleans us?
Pray:
Thank you, Father, that I can completely trust you. When I look around the world, I still see darkness, but thank you that you are perfect and pure; there’s no need for me to worry because you are good and fair. I know I’m not like you, and I know I deserve to be punished, but I’m grateful that Jesus’ blood can cleanse me and make me light.
