1 John 1:5-7

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 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.

If we look at 1 John 1:5-7, the Apostle John makes it clear that GOD is equal to LIGHT. This is not meant as a literal comparison, to all of you who, after reading that, immediately got up and started worshiping your 75 volt light bulb. It's an analogy meant to give us a picture of God in the truest form- a pure infiltrating luminance that banishes the black shadows of evil. The passage goes on to say that in Him, there is no darkness at all. He is the definition of everything light is, and sin cannot be anywhere near Him. He is absolutely pure and holy. He radiates glory.

The second part of the passage hits us at a more personal level. John makes a statement that causes readers to do a double take. “If we claim to have fellowship with him, yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.” Here, he is taking the analogy of light to a whole new level: one that cuts right to the conscience. He doesn't waste time dancing around the subject, or padding it with “but's” or “maybe's”. He is calling out the people who are “playing the part” of a Christian: the ones who go to church every Sunday, pray before meals, and even volunteer to hand out pamphlets. On the outside, these individuals may look like the holiest of people. The problem lies not there, but in the heart. If Christ is not inside of us, influencing our every decision, we cannot claim to be His followers. The Bible clearly says that we we can only serve one master, and if our lives do not rest in God, they lie in the hands of the Evil one. People who claim to be Christians but do not truly know Jesus only deceive themselves. They are lier's who do not live in the light of truth, and are still destined for an eternity apart from God, in damnation.

This is bad news for non-believers, but those of us who do have that relationship with the Lord have nothing to fear. The passage offers us hope when it says that “ if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.” I love the mental picture that this offers. I immediately envision two figures walking along a golden path, hand in hand, outlined by a brilliant yellow light. As Christians, we are all traveling the same journey. Sure, there are different bumps and twists along the way, but we have the same destination. We were made to be in fellowship not only with our Savior, but also with one another: bonded together with the realization that there is a God that loves us and wants us to be with Him forever. A God that was willing to give His very own life and blood to atone for our sins, and to whom we are forever indebted.