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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday June 30, 2019
LIVING IN THE LIGHT
1 John 1-2:5
Jewish tradition tells us
that, after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70, the Apostle
John and a core group of followers moved to Asia Minor. They settled in Ephesus
and went on to influence many churches in several major cities there. It was
sometime around A.D. 75 to 80, that John wrote down his, now famous, Gospel
account. It was first circulated around Asia Minor as both, a missionary tract,
and, as a report on JESUS’ life and teachings.
As the Christian Church
began to become firmly established in the hearts and minds of the people who
believed, many destructive heresies began to take shape and manifest themselves
in and around it, due to the work of false teachers and prophets. Paul and
Peter, who had both been killed by then, had also written letters to the churches
about twenty years earlier, warning the people of such teachings and false
prophets. Also, Jude, JESUS’
half-brother, had gone on record, defending the Gospel with a similar letter.
It was around this same
time period that John wrote the first of his three known letters to the Church.
In this first letter, he stresses the basic truths of the Christian Faith, in
an effort to comfort and encourage the believers, and, to keep them from
falling prey to those false teachers who had already infiltrated the Church at
that time.
In 1 John 1, verses 1-4,
(which constitutes the prologue of this famous epistle), the longest living
original disciple, the Apostle John, affirms the tangible reality of the
incarnation of JESUS CHRIST, our LORD and SAVIOR. Here he lays the foundation
of faith for his readers, as he personally testifies of his own eyewitness
account, as well as those of the other apostles who were a part of JESUS’ inner
circle of disciples. He tells of the personal experience of actually seeing and
hearing CHRIST speak during their times of fellowship together with HIM. He
also attempts to show how GOD’s plan of salvation is also rooted in eternity,
and is attainable to all men, through JESUS, WHO is the WORD of life.
John’s first letter is perhaps the most difficult book to outline
in all of scripture. In fact, many scholars argue that there is no outline,
and, that John really doesn’t have any logical plan in mind at all when he
writes this letter. He is simply writing a very personal letter that shifts
themes as one thought leads to another. This is evidenced quite clearly, as,
starting in verse 5, John shifts his train of thought to the message that he
and the other disciples received from JESUS, the SON of GOD.
In this letter, at first
we see the message that “GOD is light” and that, in HIM, there is no darkness
at all. Such a statement ideates the impossibility of one being near to GOD,
and yet, continuing to live in spiritual darkness. When we walk in the light of
CHRIST, which is the light of GOD HIMSELF, we begin to see our lives clearly
for the very first time. There are no more illusions or imagined fears, and we
can see every obstacle in life for what it really is, an obstacle, and a
stumbling block from satan. It is only when we walk in the light emitted by
GOD, through CHRIST JESUS the WORD, can we see how to respond to life’s
problems appropriately.
In the New Testament
Greek, the word used for “truth” is “aletheia” (al-ay-thi-a), and it is, “in
full harmony with reality”. In verse 6 of this passage, John suggests that we
are lying to ourselves when we say we have fellowship with GOD, but go on
living in spiritual darkness. When we live by “double standards” we are not
living in the truth, and, are not “in full harmony with the reality of GOD”.
If we are to have
fellowship with GOD, we must not only see things as they are presented to us by
GOD, but, we must also live by the reality that the LIGHT and TRUTH of our
fellowship with GOD reveals to us, for our own greater good. Such a lifestyle
change consists of accepting the reality of our sins, so that GOD will be
faithful and just to forgive us, and cleanse us from every wrong.
JESUS is the only “human
being” WHO ever pleased GOD completely, and no other person in the history of
the world has ever been able to do the same. When HE overcame the world to defeat
death and sin, HE became the only man qualified to be a perfect sacrifice for
the sins of this world.
Because CHRIST died for
us, we inherit an obligation to live for HIM. We can be sure that we belong to
HIM, by making right choices, and by making an earnest effort to obey HIS
FATHER GOD’s commands. Then, when we say we are a “child of GOD”, and are “living
in the light”, we will indeed be “in full harmony with reality, and really are,
“living in the TRUTH, that is CHRIST JESUS.
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
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