"..if we live in the light.." 1 John 1:7-10 (GNT)

Being aware that if Christ resides inside of us, He lives in the light of the Father.  It is from that awareness that we also abide in the light because He is in the light.  That light is the illumination of truth, you may ask “what truth?” truth pertaining to God is His veracity and faithfulness, and His revealed desire and passion for us. 

Then Jesus said, “I am light to the world and those who embrace me will experience life-giving light, and they will never walk in darkness.” John 8:12 (TPT)

The Greek word here for ‘never’ is a double negative, it could be rendered “never, no never walk in darkness” which makes the point emphatic.  In the Aramaic texts it reads a little differently, “they will never be driven (pushed) by the darkness.”.  We do live in a world that is darkened by sin, Jesus makes several points in this small verse which are significant:

• “I am” the name of God is revealed in the very first part.
• “Light to the word” In Genesis 1:3 it says that the Word of God spoke “Let there be light and there was light”, there was the creative word revealed, He spoke and it came into existence, when God speaks it becomes real or becomes tangible (truth).
• “Those who embrace me”, here is the concept of unity, oneness, or likeness in Christ.
• “They will experience life-giving light” The spoken word of God is life-giving.  In John 17:17, Jesus reveals that the spoken word of God is truth.  “Father, sanctify them through your truth: your word is truth.”
• “They will never walk in darkness” is speaking of spiritual or moral darkness, secrecy.  In Genesis 3:8 Adam & Eve hid from God because of their shame of disobeying God.

In today's verse it speaks of being in the light and exposed by Jesus so there is nothing hidden within us that separates us from Him or from one another.  The problem of sin is it tends to hide within us either by pride or by fear to not to become revealed because it would expose our weakness and our vulnerability to these penchants.  This is where the truth of God is revealed, being in the light is being in the exposing nature of the Word of God.  

In Genesis 3:11 God confronts Adam & Eve directly “Who told you that you were naked” the light is directed to the problem and not the symptom.  Being exposed (or naked) was not the perceived problem, hiding and keeping the act of rebellion secret was the problem.  This act caused a wound upon their spirit which damaged their relationship with God.

God sent His Son to become our penalty and remedy for the sin which so easily besets us, His shed blood purifies us and brings us back into right relationship with God.

John is saying “if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves”, sin is always knocking on our door begging to come in, but sin is not our identity anymore and we are washed clean through the blood of Jesus who made an end to sin to those that believe.

 “But now he has appeared at the fulfillment of the ages to abolish sin once and for all by the sacrifice of himself!” Hebrews 9:26b (TPT)

If we choose to live in the light and confess our sin the damage (or wound) is removed and we are healed and restored because sin is exposed and God will keep his promise (His word) with us, and we are forgiven of all of our sins and purified from our wrongdoing. 

Now “If we say that we have not sinned, we make a liar out of God, and his word is not in us.”  The word of God is Truth.

“So it is impossible for God to lie for we know that his promise and his vow will never change!

And now we have run into his heart to hide ourselves in his faithfulness. This is where we find his strength and comfort, for he empowers us to seize what has already been established ahead of time—an unshakeable hope!” Hebrews 6:18 (TPT)

We have this promise that the Lord will never lie to us or speak any untruth, we must always run to the strength of our hope which is Jesus Himself.  If we sin we have an advocate with the Father which will forever cleanse us from our sin and place His righteousness within us. 

“You are my dear children, and I write these things to you so that you won’t sin. But if anyone does sin, we continually have a forgiving Redeemer who is face-to-face with the Father: Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” 
1 John 2:1-2 (TPT)

I have personally found that sin causes deep sorrow within my spirit which can only be removed when I confess it and offer it to the Lord so He can restore and heal me by applying the light of His word upon my spirit, He forgives me and reminds me that He loves me and that part of His nature never changes.

Our identity is not as a sinner, we are called sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett