Children of the Light

1 John 1:5-10:  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 sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.


     In this passage John is talking about living in the light versus living in the darkness.  All men are born into darkness (Romans 3:10 and Romans 3:23, for example) and need the light that comes from Christ in order to inherit eternal life.  So, the next question is how do I get from darkness to light?  The key is found in verse nine.

     So, how does this happen?  How does one go from darkness to light? We have established that we ourselves are lost in darkness, and that they natural, physical life we inhabit is but a short one.  The only answer is to accept God’s “light” – His life – that life which belongs to Him alone. Jesus Christ provides the solution to this “life” problem.  He provides the transference of life from God to man, so that we too may have and inhabit His eternal life.  The solution to his problem lies for us in verse nine.

     “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  Notice the properties of light and dark here assigned to God and man.  What is the condition of man here in this verse without God?  Man is:

-          Full of sin
-          In need of purification
-          Full of unrighteousness

Compare this to God.  God is:

-          Faithful
-          Just
-          Forgiving of sin
-          Able to purify

     This is the process by which this transference of light and life takes place from God to man.  The condition of man is darkness and the condition of God is light.  However, all is not as hopeless as it seems.  God offers man His light through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ.  So, then, how does man trade his darkness and temporal life for the light and eternal life of God?  It is amazingly and profoundly simple: confession of sin before God.  All that God asks of us is that we come before Him and simply confess who we are!  The only other option here is to “hate the light”, as John says.  In this case, rather than confess our evil deeds and thoughts before God and come to Him for purification, we run from the light and continue to live in darkness.  If we do this long enough, we find ourselves in utter darkness apart from the presence of God – misery in hell.

     I would plead with you to do just as John encourages – live as children of the light.  If you are now in darkness, please respond to the Lord and His Spirit and come forward and confess your sins before Him.  He is eager and willing to forgive and purify you from your own unrighteousness.