Three Main Themes of 1st John

• Light (chapters 1-2)• Love (chapters 3-4)• Life (chapter 5)

Notes Regarding 1st John

• Written between 85-90 AD• Approx. 50 years after Jesus ascended• Christianity is now in it’s second generation• City of Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70• Jewish people and new Christians were scattered• Christians were being heavily persecuted• Written to the church in general• Covering main, core topics of the faith• Audience was scattered, fearful, and not eye-witnesses

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• 283,518 books about Jesus• One written by eye-witnesses

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 and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out 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.

1st 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 and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out 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.

1st John 1:5-7

This teaching actually comes from Jesus.

This is the message wehave heard from Him and declare to you ...

1st John 1:5a

Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not

have room for the books that would be written.

John 21:25

This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is Light; in Him there is no darkness at all.

1st John 1:5

• Good• Pure• True• Holy• Reliable

• Bad• Impure• False• Unholy• Unreliable

LIGHT DARKNESS

Other Religions

• Predicated on speculation.• Who is God?• Where is He?• What would make Him happy?• What should we do?• How do we get to heaven?• What’s our big problem?

Christianity

• Built upon revelation• God reveals Himself, so we don’t have to guess anymore• Who is God?• Is it possible to know God?• Can we have fellowship with Him?• What happens when we die?• What is our main obstacle?

If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.

1st John 1:6

False teachers were claiming that we can have fellowship with God and yet go on living in spiritual darkness.

There is an inseparable connectionbetween the body and the spirit.

God is Light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie

and do not live out the truth.

1st John 1:5b-6

God is Light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie

and do not live out the truth.

1st John 1:5b-6

How do we get over to the light?

If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.

1st John 1:6

How to Move from Darkness to Light

1. Don’t claim Jesus if you don’t back it up

koinonia

Fellowship that is a personal experience of sharing something significant in common with others.

But if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another.

1st John 1:7a

How to Move from Darkness to Light

1. Don’t claim Jesus if you don’t back it up2. Walk in the light

…and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.

1st John 1:7b

How to Move from Darkness to Light

1. Don’t claim Jesus if you don’t back it up2. Walk in the light3. You can only do this through Jesus’ blood