Commentary on 1 John 1:5 Part E

Topic #15 The Basis for Fellowship with God – Part E

1 John 1:5

And this keeps on being the message which we [apostles] have heard from Him [Chirst], and it is still ringing in our ears, and we are announcing [it] again to you [to your advantage]; that God [as to His nature] is light and in Him darkness does not exist, not one bit.

Introduction

Amazing! The God of the Universe, Creator of all things, wants to fellowship with me. Is this at all possible? My response to this is not unbelief, rather incredulity. We have another word in our vernacular that better describes our emotions, "mind-boggling." It is not that this is only profound but wholly foreign to our thinking. The fact is there is nothing in this world that prepares me for this truth, "God wants to share His life with me, and He wants me to share mine with Him." This is Biblical fellowship. God is reaching down to earth through Christ Jesus and beckons me to take hold of His hand and walk with Him.

A New Division 1 John 1:5 – 2:17

This follows the prologue 1 John 1:1-4 and we are going to join these verses together under the theme “Maintaining Our Fellowship with God.” There are two major divisions in this section. The first explains what BREAKS our fellowship with God, 1 John 1:5-2:2. The second section reveals the grace provisions that God has given that BUILDS [spiritually strengthens] our fellowship with Him, 1 John 2:3-17.

Five General Observations about Verse Five

First, The Message Bears Christ's Authority

John adds that this message was "FROM HIM [from the Lord Jesus Christ]," and therefore, it carries the highest authority. Keep in mind the spoken word from John has been inscripturated for us. His congregations heard this message, but now we can read it in 1 John. We now have a permanent record of Jesus' words, and we are assured that this message remains unchanged, uncorrupted by time, and identical with what he heard Jesus say. John reminds us that this message has a divine source, and therefore, it carries divine authority. ¹ We often say, "the Scripture is the deciding factor in all matters pertaining to faith and practice."

There are several of applications:

1. The message bearers will grow old, fade away, but the always existing message of Jesus will endure." Jesus taught that "Heaven and Earth will pass away but My words will not." They will never get old, they will never be forgotten, and the evidence of this fact cannot be contradicted. It is the same message that has gone through seasons of persecution, seasons of perversion by false teachers, and I'm here teaching and studying with you the always existing Word of God.

2. The message-bearers have been notable and many, and they have all gone into eternity. They have been replaced by other message-bearers, and we've heard this message from the Lord Jesus Christ through John. We are now reporting it to others, but soon our God will call us home, and the next generation will give the report. This has been so for two thousand years.

3. It is a powerful message that cannot be stopped. The Gates of Hell cannot defeat the message for, in the end, it will prevail, Matthew 16:18.

Secondly, The Message Bears REPEATING “...announcing again to you...".

John did not hoard the truth for himself but passed it on. He did not tire of it, and through the dramatic perfect, we come to understand how fresh and real it was to him, even after 80 or so years of ministry.

Thirdly, The Message Bears A Wonderful BLESSING.

Through the plenary [every word breathed] inspiration of the Scriptures, the dative of advantage “To You” explains to the readers that this message holds a promise of great blessing in time and eternity. The motivation for learning and obeying this Word is that it will do us good all the days of our lives. This is appealing to the spiritually-minded.

Since the critical idea in these verses is about how to maintain fellowship with God, let me summarize what we have covered so far regarding this Biblical doctrine. ²

Defining Fellowship

The true and basic sense of this word, at its very core, means that fellowship is "the sharing of our lives with the Lord." Our Lord was the example.

The Apostle John will say we are to live our lives in the same manner as the Lord Jesus Christ. To understand this practically, we need to study the revealed life of Jesus as found in the Gospels. There we see His relationship with the Father. It was real, personal, and daily. The Father was constantly and consciously in His thoughts. On twenty-three occasions, the ones recorded in the Gospel of John, He said to the people, "The Father has sent me." He saw His life in intimate partnership with the Father. He repeatedly said, "I have come to accomplish my Father's will (John 4:24)." He lived His life in daily dependence upon the Father (John 5:30, 8:29). Everything He said and did was to please the Father (John 8:29). He spent long periods of the night with the Father in prayer. In fact, in Luke 11:1-4, the disciples ask Him, "teach us to pray." They saw how much He valued that blessed communion with the Father, and they recognized this privilege of fellowship with the Father through prayer was open to them. They aspired to be like Christ in this regard, and that goes to their credit.

His loyalty to following the Father's plan led Him to the cross to become the Savior of the World. Our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled His destiny (John 17:4). His love and devotion to the Father energized Him and enabled Him to reach the pinnacle of achievement, accomplishing the greatest victory in all human history. For He alone, and no other arrived at the cross qualified to bear the sins of the world. Indeed, He satisfied every holy demand of God, as Isaiah says, "He was punished for our transgressions, Isaiah 53:5." He was sinless and perfect. His life of unbroken fellowship with the Father, residing continuously in the light, was only broken by the three hours of darkness He spent on the cross.

At the same time, our Lord Jesus Christ in His First Advent ministry carried a far greater load than any man would ever carry (Hebrews 2:7-9). No higher comment on His life could be given than the Father who said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, listen to HIM!" (Matthew 17:5).

May this godly advice from our Heavenly Father be taken to heart, "Listen to Him!". The Father said this during a time when only the oral message existed, but now we listen to Him by opening the Bible, the Word of Christ, and obeying His Word.

Our Lord set the example for us in His relationship with the Father. He demonstrated what fellowship looks like, and we are to imitate Him. We are to become in our attitudes, in our actions, in our decisions, in word and deed, like Him in all manner of conduct. This is what John means by Fellowship. It is to pursue with your whole heart a lifestyle of Christlikeness. This is much different from the attitude that my duty to the Lord is to worship Him on Sunday in my local church. This kind of Christianity is robbing our Lord of His glory in our lives, the glory due to His name. This is a false worship void of any spiritual value or power (James 1:19-27). It is the same idea found in Paul's passionate plea to the Colossians when he prayed "that they would live their lives in a manner that pleases the Lord in every respect" Colossians 1:10. Not just Sunday, but every day! The Christian Way of life is a way of life lived in fellowship with the Savior, sharing with Him everything, our hopes and aspirations, our problems and frustrations, our fears and worries, and prayerfully praising Him for all His blessings to us.

Fourthly, The First Doctrinal Principle of Fellowship Stated Positively.

"...God as to His nature is light...".

Light and darkness are physical properties that are easy to understand, for we are involved with them every day. When the sun rises, we have light, and when it sets we have darkness. However, they appear frequently in Scripture metaphorically; that is, light ² and darkness ³ are not physical properties but spiritual principles. John will develop the principles of light and darkness throughout the book [light six times; darkness seven times]. This is the first mention of light and John starts with an absolute, "God is light."

This truth is a dogmatic statement of Bible Doctrine. The indicative mood of this verb means, "Don't mess with this truth. Don't for a moment ever think to the contrary." I say this to warn you that this is a point of doctrine under attack by liberalism, humanism, socialism, and every form of deviant thought that Satan can cook up. Satan says, "God is not good or great." John says, "Impossible; God is light." The principle of light that is mentioned here is that fellowship with God takes place in the light. This is why we spent so much time on the doctrine of holiness. If we walk in darkness, we cannot walk in the light for they are mutually exclusive. The foundation principle of fellowship is God is light.

Fifthly, The First Doctrinal Principle of Fellowship Stated Negatively

God is without darkness, another absolute truth. This is a powerful negative assertion in the Greek, "not now, not ever, under no circumstances." Darkness is a technical word which is connected with Satan, the prince of darkness, ruling over a kingdom of darkness. As we will see in this section on what hinders our fellowship with God is personal sin [1 John 1:6-10]. When sin remains unconfessed, it cut's off our fellowship with God, and we are said to be walking in darkness. For now, we are to know and with great certainty that there is no sin or defect, of any kind, in our God. God is perfect and Holy.

Summary

1. God does not possess in His essence or His actions any darkness.

2. Believers can walk in darkness, but they cannot have fellowship with God while walking in darkness, 1 John 1:6.

3. This darkness is not permanent for it is passing away, 1 John 2: 8.

4. The believer who hates his brother, a fellow Christian, is in darkness 1John 2:9. He walks in darkness, and the darkness blinds him to the truth, 1 John 2:11. He causes his brother to stumble, tripping his fellow believer, 1 John 2:10. He can even become antichrist and fight against God while walking in darkness, 1 John 2:22,23.

Application

John experienced fellowship with God in two ways. First, he was constantly by the Lord Jesus' side for three and a half years. This was a personal, intimate, moment by moment, face to face relationship that he enjoyed. This aspect of his fellowship with Christ ended as Jesus, 40 days after His death, ascended into heaven. No longer will John hear His voice as he taught the crowds and shared those wonderful moments with the disciples alone as He led them. John's fellowship did not end, but it did change. Instead of seeing Jesus every day, he must live by faith.

1 Peter 1:8

"and though you have not seen Him [you were not there during his earthly ministry] you love him..." How can you love a person you have not seen? Here is how "and though you do not see Him now but believe in him. "

Faith, believing in Him, is the keyword. It is a system that God has designed for the believer. Faith is not a wild leap into the darkness, hoping your landing will be soft and easy. We have been given a surer word of prophecy "Scripture” that lights up the darkness so that we may find our way, Psalm 119:105, 130.

The Word of God teaches us how to live by faith and live each day with the Savior, who we have not seen. He is known to us only through Scripture. In Jesus' absence, John had to live by faith, just as we do. He has written down His message so that we might share in this great adventure called the Christian way of life. It is a way of life that is characterized as a daily, personal, intimate, moment by moment, devotion to Him. It is not showing up on Sunday to worship. John paints a much different picture of the Christian way of life than the current Christians norms and standards and false concepts of worship that we are walking with God by walking into a church. This is not fellowship. It is merely attending church. That is all it is. And when it is just that, it has no spiritual value.

Our God has favored us with new life, and this life is designed so that we might live for Him. Fellowship is about sharing your life with your heavenly Father, and if we don't understand this, how can we proceed?

One of the greatest privileges we have as believers is to access a way of life that enables us to walk with God daily, personally, intimately, moment by moment and John calls this Fellowship. Don't abuse this word. Don't take this word and twist it and contort it or manufacture it into something it is not. I WANT THIS WORD BACK! It means to share our life with Christ, and we must dedicate ourselves to that goal. I hope, in this study of 1 John, we can restore fellowship to its true Biblical meaning.

ENDNOTES

¹ 1 John 1:5, the message is "From Him."

Although John does not elaborate on the process involved in presenting to us the truth of the New Testament, it would be helpful to be reminded of that here. There is an unbroken chain of progression in the giving of the Word of God which authenticates and assures us of its infallibility and inerrancy. This work of revelation and inspiration is the product of all three Members of the Trinity. First, the Father gave the Word to Christ.

From The Father To The Son

John 8:28

So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.

From The Son To The Disciples

John 17:7

Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You;

John 17:8

for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.

From the Apostles to us

When the disciples became Apostles to the church, through the recall ministry of the Holy Spirit, God's Word was inscripturated [written down].

John 14:26

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

² See Lexical Study Of Light in Reference Section.

³ See Lexical Study of Darkness in Reference Section.