God Is Light - Conrad Mbewe

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life.

And it will soon be clear it's Jesus being spoken about.

The life was made manifest. And we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us. that which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father,

and then he is now revealed,

and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy,

or it could also mean your joy,

may be complete.

Well, that's the background. John is basically saying we are the custodians, the stewards of the truth that has been conveyed to us. We've passed it on to you. You that have embraced this truth, experienced this truth in your lives, you are the true people of God. What I love about verse five going downwards is that John takes a few steps back and says that the Christian faith responds to the reality of who God is. In terms of his essential being, his essential attributes, and so that in relating to him as he is, we can say of a truth that that which we have embraced is the truth itself. There are certain things that just don't change. You can't legislate them and hope that in that legislation you are bringing about change. Let me give you an obvious example. Gravity. We refer to it as the law of gravity. You can't change it. You can't meet in the Senate and decide that from now onwards, if we say that gravity takes us upwards, that's true. It's our truth, even if it's not your truth. Well, jump off a tall building and say that's what is going to happen. We'll be barring you the following day. Because you can't change that. You must relate to gravity as it is. Otherwise, you get destroyed. Well, that's the way it is with respect to spiritual reality, from which everything else finds meaning. That's what it is with respect to God. We can't just create a god of our own imagination. Whatever it is we are creating is an idol, it's useless, and it is harmful to us. We must begin with who God himself is. And that's what John says here when he says,

this is the message we have heard from him and proclaimed to you.

And what is it?

That God is light and in him is no darkness.

I mentioned to you earlier that that is John's way of writing. In a poetical way, bringing in the whole of nature to illustrate truth. What does he mean when he says God is light? Well thankfully, earlier when Paul was writing to the Ephesians, he uses light and breaks it down in terms of what they would have been understanding as attributes of light. So turn with me to Ephesians and chapter five, verse nine. It's a statement that is in Ephesians chapter five, parenthesis or brackets, but it is one that is very instructive to enable us to understand the way first century individuals would have understood light. I'll begin reading from verse seven. Therefore, Ephesians 5 verse 7,

therefore do not become partakers with them,

that is the disobedient, the sons of disobedience,

for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. walk as children of light.

And then he talks about what light produces. He says,

for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true.

That which is good and right and true. So let me quickly look at each one of these, but I will go backwards. When John says God is light, what does he mean? Clearly to begin with, it is the fact that he has revealed himself with no obscurity whatsoever. And therefore, we can know him as he is. He is truth. If you were in a room that was completely dark, I would have to try and describe to you what is there. Depending on your background, you will begin to somehow formulate what you think I am describing. To a large extent, it would be subjective reality. But the moment I switch on the light, that's it. It doesn't matter what your thinking might be, what your feelings might be, what your background might be, you now have objective reality before you as it is. Well, that's precisely what God has done. He has revealed himself in creation that we might know him as he is. He has revealed himself through the prophets across the scriptures, again, that we might know him as he is. He has revealed himself in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, precisely the same reason, that we may know him as he is. and he has revealed not just his power, but also that he is a moral being, that he is holy, that he is one who has a life that is pure so that we might be able to relate to him in that way. We'll come to that purity in a moment. But it is the truth. And that's the way he is. He is a God of self-revelation. That we might relate to him and revere him as such. He is the truth. So we are not to have one form of religion this side, another form of religion this side, and then all say God is like a mountain, doesn't matter what you believe, but we are all somehow climbing to the top, and hey, as long as we are sincere, he will accept us. No, a thousand times no. Why? Because he has revealed himself. He's not left it to us to somehow find our way to get to him. He is light. But secondly, we are being told about light having the fruit of that which is right. God is morally pure. And in saying there is no darkness in him, we are also saying that he is morally pure without defilement. He is one that is holy. The angels in heaven worship him as

holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

There are many other attributes concerning God. He's a good God. We'll be seeing that in a few minutes. He is infinite in his being. We can speak about many other truths concerning him, but when the angels worship him, it is his holiness that stands out. He is pure. And so the picture that is being brought out there is, with respect to us, we are not 100% pure. Even those of us who've become Christians, we are still being sanctified. It is not so with God. He is absolute righteousness. And then thirdly, It is his goodness, his goodness. He is the source of health. He is the source of growth. He is the source of joy. In him there's no gloom, there is no decay, there is no death in him. And that's the meaning of that phrase, in him there is no darkness at all. Now often when we think in terms of light, We think in terms of truth, yes, because we can see. We think in terms of purity as well because that's the nature of light. But we often fail to see this aspect of goodness, goodness. Many years ago, we experienced the eclipse of the sun. And as a family, we sat outside, put a few chairs, and wore those kind of glasses that obscure something of the light so that it doesn't destroy our eyes, so we're told. And so we sat there, and as in the middle of the afternoon, must have been about three in the afternoon, as it began getting dark, the birds quickly started coming back into their nests. And that was quite a sight to see, because I've never seen it happening in the middle of the day. But then they were coming from wherever it was they went, rushing back into the nests. And they must have been quite confused, because within a few minutes, it began to get bright again. I can imagine them looking at one another thinking, what has happened? But here's what happened. They began to sing the very songs we enjoy from their beaks in the morning. And I remember thinking to myself, wow, they are celebrating sunshine again. There is just something about the morning that makes you wanna sing. God is good. He's given us yet another day out of his goodness. There's something about sunshine that brings health to us. Something that's in the sunshine itself that does all that to us. It says God is good. Let's go back to our text then because that's really what John has in mind when he is saying God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. Let me ask you as you sit in here this morning, is this the God that you've come to know? When you are developing the religion that you go through as an individual, Is this the God you relate to? The God of truth? The God of holiness? The God of goodness. Well, John goes on to speak about the implications of that. And strictly speaking, it's not just verse six in which he's dealing with the implications. I want to suggest to you that all the way going down, you have a number of if clauses. And each of them basically is saying, because this is the way God is, if this is the way you think or this is the way you act, these will be the inevitable consequence. We say in mathematics, 1 plus 1 is equal to 2. And remember what I've been saying. It doesn't matter what you think. It remains 2. You may say, for me, it's 5. It's still 2. And this is the way he puts it. I'll quickly give you all the if clauses up to chapter two, verse one, and then we'll come back to the first one. So

if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie. and do not practice the truth.

Verse seven, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, there it is again,

we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus' son cleanses us from all sin.

That's the second one. Here's the third.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

Because him being light, he sees all things. So don't cheat yourself. in your self-righteousness. That's the third one. The fourth,

if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

He's a righteous God. And therefore, having punished his son in our place, he will not punish us as well. if we come to him that way. Here's the next one.

If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar.

Wow.

And his word is not in us.

His truth is not in us. And here's the last one.

My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

There it is again, this righteousness.

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the world.

All these are but torrents that are being poured upon our souls because of who he is. He is light. Well, let's quickly deal with the first one there. And it is this. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. The first, therefore, is the implication on our profession. We are claiming to be Christians. We are claiming to have fellowship with him, to have been reconciled to God. We speak in terms of birds of a feather flock together. That's the way we speak. And it's meant to illustrate the fact that In life, we are drawn to individuals who are like us, those of us who brought up children, know that every so often when you speak to your son or daughter saying, I don't want you hanging out with that crowd or those guys because I know the way they are. Our kids often say, no, Dad, come on. I'm not like them. I just like to be with them. And you've got a smile on your face saying, come on. You ain't cheating me. Birds of a feather flock together. You can't keep company with the devil and be an angel. Nah. I just don't know what you are doing behind the scenes because you are hiding it from me, but other parents are probably telling those guys to keep away from you. You must be doing the same thing. Well, that's the way we are. Walking means a daily way of life. Now, surely, If you are walking in darkness, the opposite of light, and yet claiming to be in fellowship with God, you are lying. You are cheating. You are not living by the truth. Well, let's quickly put that to the test. I mean, the first is that of truth. In other words, you are living a life of hypocrisy. Within the context of the church, people seem to think you are godly. But behind closed doors in your home, behind the pin on your phone, There is sinful activities there. There's pornography hidden behind that screen, for instance. And when it is dark and you are out there in the city, you are doing that which is sinful and wicked and evil. Well, what he's saying is this. You are not walking with God. you are not being a true Christian. You still need to be served. That's about truth and that's about morality and holiness. But we can say the same thing about goodness, goodness. We have too many individuals who claim to be Christians and The people who are nearest to them are the ones who hate Christianity because they are always pouring out molten lava, if you understand what I mean. They make your life miserable. They have a violent temper. to their spouses, to their children, and yet come Sunday, dressed as I am, you almost think they are angels. Now again, John is saying there that that's not Christianity. Christianity exudes with goodness and love and kindness and mercy. That's the Christian faith. So that's the kind of person you are, causing gloom and misery and so on. John is saying your profession of Christianity is not true. You are but deceiving yourself. And the sooner you go to Christ and say to him, change my heart, make me like you, make me Christ-like, the better it will be. I want to just to you, talking about goodness, that's one of the reasons why often the people of the world get put off with false Christians. It is the fact that we want them to know the truth, but we want to shove it down their throats. These evil people, and so on. We don't relate to them with the love of Christ, we don't. And in the end, we become like self-righteous Pharisees. And the sooner we become Christ-like, remember, those three elements together, truth, moral purity, and goodness, the better it will be. Where I was preaching the other day, I was referring to a story that maybe apocryphal, but helps to make the point of a children's Sunday school lesson where the teacher was describing Jesus. And as he was describing the Lord Jesus Christ, a kid walks in who has missed out the first part and doesn't know who this teacher is describing and as the teacher goes on speaking about how Christ was full of love and helping here and helping there and dealing in that way, feeding the hungry, this kid raises his hand and says, teacher, I know where that man lives. And the teacher thinking the kid will say heaven, goes on to say where? And the kid says, he lives down my street. Now obviously that kid had seen a Christian, a real Christian. And I think we do need to be challenged about that. Whether the kids in our neighborhood would make such a mistake about us. That's the first part, the profession of faith. But the second is an implication with respect to our integrity, our integrity, verse seven.

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 cleanses us from all sin.

Now, if you were thinking that he was going to say, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with him, I'll tell you, you're not the only one. That's what I prepared myself to think he was going to say. But you see, John's concern is with the proof of our fellowship with God. and it is in our fellowship with one another. You see, darkness is intrinsically antisocial. Darkness by its very nature kills true fellowship. You know, it's not long before church leaders realize, you know what? These skeletons that have now fallen out of the wardrobe in this person's life, when we now think about it, we actually haven't known what's really been going on in this person's life. We haven't. The person has been like this to all of us. And when you meet him, hello, everything okay. You just don't know what's happening behind there somewhere. There's no real fellowship with you. The person is not open, they are closed. And finally, when they do open, bam, you say yes. Now understand why those doors were slammed shut. Darkness is antisocial. It's light which enables us to be free in one another's presence. And what a joy it is to be with fellow believers. They'll share with you, not just their victories, but also their struggles. They'll share with you their hopes, their triumphs, and their trials. they are transparent, they are light in the Lord. They will share with you their aspirations, their fight against sin, sin in the mind, sin in the heart, sin that is in their lives as they're struggling to overcome sin in terms of the root of sin in their lives. And you do the same. You share. You pray for one another. It's real. They share with you what they are seeking to do, not because they want to lose rewards in heaven, but it's simply because that's their aspirations. There's this work, mate, I'm speaking to concerning the Lord. I'm actually off to go and visit a neighbor who is unwell, and there's this situation and so on, and as is often the case with Jefferson Park, we're off to Africa to go and share God's work there with people. It's just flowing out of them, God's love, God's goodness, God's mercy, flowing by his spirit into other people's lives. You just want to enjoy that. It's fellowship. Because they are walking with God. He is light. And they too are light in the Lord. The implication of being transparent therefore. They're transparent because they are light. So let me ask. Again, is that you? Which of these two describes you? Is it where the moment you relate to the actual nature of God, it becomes clear that that's not you? or the moment you relate to the actual nature of God, you are able to say, I think that's what he has done in my life. He's changed me. He's transformed me. Well, because for us, we are not perfect. We are light, but not at noon day. Because of that, the blood of Jesus' Son cleanses us from all sin. In other words, we are on this road of sanctification. And we are so conscious of that darkness that still remains that we've got a well-beaten path to Calvary. We are constantly going there, that he might cleanse us by his blood, that he might sanctify us by his spirit, that we might be more and more like Christ. It's amazing how if you followed the hypocrite, the one in verse six, if you followed him into his closet, and began to eavesdrop on his prayers. What he's really saying is, God, I'm glad I'm not like other men. These adulterers, these drug traffickers. Lord, I'm also glad I'm not like that chap sitting over there. They're full of themselves, but in actual fact, they are dead, spiritually dead. That's why. But follow a truly godly person into his closet, into her closet, and eavesdrop. And what you hear there is somebody groaning. Saying, Lord, forgive me for my attitude towards my wife, towards my husband. Lord, forgive me for the words I said to my child. I shouldn't have done that. That was wrong, Lord. Please forgive me. Help me to become a better father, a better mother. And the person is groaning, he's groaning. Have mercy on me, a sinner. And yet, that's the Christian. Why? What is it that makes a difference? And with that, I must quickly close. It's this. We all, when we are in our houses, we all think our clothes are very clean until we come out into bright daylight. We realize, uh-oh, look at this man. And we rush back in to go and change. The light shows us the way we really are. And so the closer we get to the Lord, the more we sense our shortcomings. The more we want his blood to cleanse us, the more precious Jesus becomes to us. We didn't just need him at our conversion, we know we need him more, even now as we make our way to heaven. God is light. May I urge each one of us, myself included, to begin there when we are thinking about our religion, our faith, our Christian profession. Because ultimately, it's him we'll meet on the day of judgment. It's not the figment of our own imagination, it's him, light itself. Let's begin now to relate to him appropriately. Truth. If there is hypocrisy in you, throw it out. Holiness. Seeking a moral transformation in our souls. And finally, a life of goodness. Not so that we might get saved, but because we are saved. He's in us by his spirit, the good God seeking to love others. And in the midst of our shortcoming, let's go to Christ. Let's go to Christ. Let's go to Christ. Let's go to Calvary. Because in Christ alone is all that we need. Let's pray.

Eternal light, eternal light, how pure the soul must be when placed beneath thy searching sight, shrinks not, but in calm delight can live and look only. The spirits that surround thy throne might bear that burning bliss. But that is surely theirs alone, for they have never, never known a fallen world like this. But how shall I, whose native sphere is dark, whose mind is dim, before the indescribable appear, and on my naked spirit bear, that uncreated beam.

Thank you, Lord, that it is possible in Christ alone. And help us to be recipients of your grace through him, to show that to the world, and to share that with those who are perishing. Be glorified in us, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.