1 John 1: Living In The Light Of Christ

1 John 1 starts with a bang. It begins speaking that “we” know the truth. By we he generally means those who he knows, and whom he’s done ministry with.

I don’t know if John knew he was talking 2000 years into the future about us as well. But it certainly seems like he was.

He’s doing this to show us how courts of law worked in ancient Israel. In Hebrew law, 2 witnesses were enough to convict somebody. That is why Jesus kept referring to himself and the Father bearing witness. (John 5)

John is talking about a lot more people than 2 in these verses. It’s estimated that over 3000 people saw Jesus after his death and resurrection. These people could have stood up against the resurrection rumors and refuted them. But instead of that, many of them gave up their lives to spread the truth.

However, nobody did. At the very least there isn’t a credible record of it.

Jesus came to be a light to all of us. He came to die, so he could reconnect us with God. John 3:16 (The Most Famous Bible Verse) says he came because he loved us so much.

Fully knowing that we would hurt him, Jesus still came to save you.

1 John 1 ties in verses Jesus stated in John 1, and other chapters of John as well. I hope you enjoy my breakdown of 1 John 1, let me know what you think in the comments below.

1 John 1: Jesus Proclaims The Truth

1 We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. ² This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 

³ We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.

1 John 1:1-4

1 John 1 How To Share Joy In The Truth:

What is Truth?

Pilate asked Jesus the question above when he was being tried. And Jesus answered in a way that confused and marveled Pilate.

Pilate believed the source of his authority came from Caesar, and he was partially correct in that assumption. However, he never thought about the source above Caesar.

Ultimately all authority comes from God, and when we have any authority bestowed upon us we have a choice.

Will I be a tyrant? Or

Am I going to be benevolent?

I don’t think most people would choose to be a tyrant, however, power does corrupt and their actions will reveal their motives.

When we have fellowship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, there’s an increase in Joy. This is because God is the source of love, Joy, and Peace. All of this emanates from him, without him, we cannot have any of this.

That’s why hell sucks so bad, if God is the source of love, and you reject him. Where do you think you’ll end up? It’ll turn out to be a loveless place.

For some reason, we’ve left out the most important aspect of hell. It isn’t about the burning, the torment, or the heat. While those are bad things, the worst part about hell is the absence of God.

• God is our creator.
• He’s our source of life
• The only source of love
• He gives us peace
• And so much more

The reason Christians need to warn others about hell is that going there is our default. Romans 6:23 states that the wage of sin is death.

And Romans 3:23 states that all men have sinned. This means we all start out going to hell. And it’s why we all need Jesus to come and save us.

1 John 1:3-4 says this is why they proclaim this. The gospel gives them joy and they are unable to contain it. 1 John 1 states that Christians should be joyful about spreading the gospel.

1 John 1: Jesus Brings Deliverance

⁵ This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. ⁶ So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 

⁷ But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

⁸ If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. ⁹ But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

2 Peter 5:10

1 John 1 We Have All Sinned, But God Still Loves Us

In 1 John 1, we see a correlation to John 1 that states Jesus was the life and that life was the light of men.

The message declared to us is that God is the light, and we live in darkness. To be with him we must be brought into the light, and that work was created by Jesus dying and coming back to life 3 days later.

It also states that there is no darkness in him at all. Like I said above, if God is the source of all things good when we remove the source, we wind up in a place many would describe as hell.

It is our choice where we go, but rejecting God is rejecting every gift that comes from him, he’s the source of all things good in life, and he’s giving us these gifts because he loves us.

It’s tragic.

1 John 1 states that when following Christ we live in the light. Then if we reject him, we live in darkness.

We have all sinned, and sin separates us from God, therefore we are rejecting God when we don’t follow the way back to him. Jesus stated that he is the way. Jesus isn’t saying it proudly. Instead, imagine we’re all on a sinking ship. (Think Titanic)

The band is playing, and very few people are panicking, but if you look around you know something bad is happening. Then a ship arrives on the horizon, and Jesus is the Captain of it.

He says I’m the way, come with me if you want to live.

Some people hop over to his ship, while others listen to the naysayers saying there are other options and he doesn’t look like a good captain.

The people who stay perish and fall into the ocean, never to be seen again.

That’s where we are right now that is the choice we all need to make. Choose well my friend, know that God loves and cares for you. All you have to do is reach out to him.

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