Tuesday, August 20, 2024

PT-6 "The Nature of God" (1 John 1:5)

 

EVENING SERMON FOR 8/20/2024 8:20 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-6 “The Nature of God”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  1 John 1:5

 

            Message of the verse:  5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”

 

            What I have decided to do as I look at this verse is to quote from a sermon that John MacArthur gave in this section in 2002.  The important thing that I am trying to talk about is that God is Light.  I know that in the past that I looked at this subject, perhaps when I was studying the Gospel of John and remember that this is a very important truth for us to understand and that is why I chose to quote from this sermon mentioned above.  It will take us a  number of days to look at it as I do not want to put so much on these SD’s that will take a long time to read and may discourage people from reading it. 

 

“Verse 5: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he can’t enter the Kingdom of God.” And then down in verse 14, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes may in Him have eternal” what?“life.”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” It’s all about life. But notice this, there’s a change as you come down to verse 19. “And this is the judgment” - not that the life has come into the world but - “that the light is come into the world.”

“That is the source of spiritual life, just as He is the source of all natural life. “The light has come into the world, and man loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and doesn’t come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” Light is life. Light, as John presents it, is the eternal life of God.

“And the passage that we see there in John chapter 3, light, life, and even the term salvation is used, all relating to the same great reality, eternal life. God, then, is the source of all life, including eternal life. He dispenses that eternal life to us so that we become the light, through the light incarnate who is Jesus Christ. And for that, turn to chapter 8 and verse 12. Jesus, speaking again to the people on the Mount of Olives, said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in the darkness” - listen to this - “but shall have the light of” - what? - the light of what? - “life.” The light that is life.

“He is the source of life. He is life because He is God. He not only is life, He gives life. Whoever receives Him receives that life, and so we become the possessors of life eternal. God is the light who gives to us the light through His Son who is that light. Same idea appears again in John chapter 12, verse 46, “I have come” - Jesus says in verse 46 - “as light into the world.” What He means by that is He didn’t come to bring information, He came to bring life. “I’ve come as light into the world, that everyone who believes in me may not remain in darkness.”

“What happens when you believe in Christ? What is He talking about? You don’t just receive information, you don’t just receive illumination, you receive life. That’s the point. And down in verse 50, He even mentions eternal life. Back in verse 47, He came, He says, to save the world. Saving the world, giving eternal life. Bringing light is the same thing. Light equals eternal life.

“Well, with that in mind, turn back to 1 John. And when you come to 1 John, at this point, and you read again verse 5, “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” Does that take on some new meaning for you? I hope, if you were listening. What does that mean “God is light”? He doesn’t mean that just that God is information; it means that God is life, He is the source of all life, especially as far as the gospel is concerned and the New Testament is concerned, especially eternal life for all who believe.

“And in God’s life, there is no darkness at all. What does that mean? There is no death, there is no dying. There is nothing contrary to life. And since God is life and light and no darkness and no death, and Christ is life and light and no darkness and no death, and we have been given that life, there is, then, for us no death. We, like Christ and like God, live forever in that eternal life.”

 

8/20/2024 8:55 PM

 

 

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