As an eyewitness to Jesus’ ministry, John was qualified to teach the truth about him. The readers of this letter had not seen and heard Jesus themselves, but they could trust that what John wrote was accurate. Believers today are like those second- and third-generation Christians. Though they have not personally seen, heard, or touched Jesus, they have the New Testament record of his eyewitnesses, and they can trust that these eyewitnesses spoke the truth about him.Just as the proclamation of the Good News was for others to join the fellowship, so John was writing these things to encourage the readers’ participation in both the fellowship and the joy that he (John) and the other believers were experiencing.
John’s message emphasized that God is light. Light enables people to do their work. It produces growth in crops; it reveals beauty and provides safety. Light represents what is good, pure, true, holy, and reliable. Light reveals; light shines. God is so completely “light” that there is no darkness in him at all. “Darkness” represents what is sinful and evil. God is untainted by any evil or sin. Thus, “God is light” means that God is perfectly holy and true and that he alone can guide people out of the darkness of sin.
As followers of Christ, we are to live in the light, walk in the light. Our actions and attitudes, thoughts and words should reflect the light of Christ that is within us. While “light” has many connotations, this reference points specifically to God’s purity. Therefore, those who claim to have fellowship with God are living in God’s light, trying to live holy and pure lives for him. To claim to belong to God but then to go on living in spiritual darkness is hypocritical. In fact, John says that people are lying. Christ will expose and judge such deceit.
The truth is, people can know that they belong to Jesus Christ if they are obeying his commandments (living in the light). This letter lists several proofs for how people can know Christ and belong to him. Obedience provides one clear indication. This does not mean that believers must follow a list of rules without one slip, nor does it mean that people must demonstrate obedience before they can come to know God. Instead, obedience comes as the natural outworking of a person’s faith and love for the Lord. True believers wholeheartedly accept and submit to God’s will as he has revealed it in his Word.
If a person claims to belong to God, but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, he or she is a liar. Since anyone can claim to know Christ, you can check his or her authenticity by seeing whether or not he or she obeys God’s word. Obedience is linked not merely with knowing God but with loving him. Those who obey God’s word really do love him. By this obedience and love, believers can know that they live in him. Jesus portrayed in human terms absolute obedience to the Father.
Those who truly desire to live in God should live their lives as Christ did. To “live as Christ did” doesn’t mean choosing twelve disciples, performing great miracles, and being crucified. People cannot merely copy Christ’s life. Much of what Jesus did had to do with his identity as God’s Son and his special role in dying for sin. Anyone’s claim to live in Christ must be backed up by following his example of complete obedience to God and loving service to people.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
This is such a key passage. Over the years I've had many people ask me about this passage - saying things like, "How can I live like Jesus? He was perfect after all." Let me share with you today some things about Jesus that I pray will encourage you. What does the Bible teach about who Jesus is? There’s a lot of confusion out there about who He is and who He said He was. We’re going to take a look at that today.
#1. Jesus was 100% human.
Some of you I know that where you get your theology from or what you know about Jesus is what you’ve watched on television. So sometimes what you watch on television Jesus is like translucent. He’s pale and stoic and His eyes bug out. He’s a little emaciated and He talks Shakespearean – “How doth theeth goeth Petereth?” That kind of thing. So you wonder is He really real? Is He real?
Lets move away from the Hollywood image to what the Bible says. In John 1:14 it says, “So the Word [referring to Jesus] became human and lived here on earth among us.” He was 100% human.
What Jesus experienced on earth was what all of us experience – he was human. That means He got hungry, He got tired, He went to bed, He had to go to the bathroom, He got angry, He had to deal with pain and conflict. And He died a very real human death. He was human in every way yet He did not sin.
That is a huge difference between Jesus and you. Perfection. More of a subtle difference between me and Jesus but a huge one with you! :)
Here is a commonly asked question: Why is Jesus’ humanity so important? Before Jesus we could only know God partially but when Jesus came we could know God fully. He was tangible, He was visible, He was touchable. The Bible says that Jesus was the visible expression of the invisible God. So in doing so He could fully identify. We could touch Him.
He could also fully identify with what you and I go through every day. Hebrew 4:15 says, “This high priest of ours [Jesus] understands our weaknesses for He faced all the same temptations we do.” What does that mean? He understands all. Every temptation you and I go through Jesus understands because He went through those temptations as 100% human. But then look at the “yet” – “yet He did not sin.”
There’s nothing you’re going through that Jesus can’t identify with.
Another thing is He had to be fully human so He could pay the price for our sins. 1 John 3 says, “And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins for there is no sin in Him.” Because He was human, His payment could be transferred to us as humans. Jesus was the perfect representative to pay for our sins. I tried to explain to my children when they were little. It had to be human. If an armadillo was sacrificed for my sins that doesn’t transfer. But a human does. Jesus was 100% human.
#2. Jesus was 100% God.
Let’s look at what Jesus was before He invaded earth. John chapter 1 - “In the beginning the word [referring to Jesus] already existed. He was with God and He was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that He didn’t make.” Jesus was 100% human and 100% God, 100% of the time. Jesus wasn’t a man who became a god. Nor was He God appearing to be a man. He combined in one personality the two natures. He was fully human and fully God.
I realize for some, that’s tough to get your arms around that. But think about that – when He walked on earth He was fully human and He was fully God.
How many of you who have brothers or sisters and when you were growing up your brother or sister didn’t get in trouble but you always did? Think about Jesus’ brother James. How painful it must have been if your brother was God! Mom and Dad come into the house, the vase is broken, what do they yell? “James! Get down here!” Why me? How come you… oh… because He’s perfect! He was always the one getting in trouble.
Imagine being James in school. The teacher’s going, “James you got a C on this test. Your brother would have aced it.”
Fully human. Fully God. That’s very important for us to understand. Because it brings up another frequently asked question.
How did Jesus prove He was God? Five ways:
1. Miracles. In the New Testament there are dozens of miracles that Jesus performed. These miracles were done in broad daylight. Many in front of skeptics. That was one of the ways He proved He was God.
2. Eyewitnesses to His perfect life. Eyewitnesses are very important when trying to prove something. There were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ perfect life and His claim to be the Messiah. At Jesus’ trial Pilate says this “I find no guilt in this man.” The soldier at the cross, “Certainly this man was innocent.” The thief that hung on a cross next to Jesus: “This man has done nothing wrong.”
Those are people from a distance. But where it becomes very credible is from those closest to Jesus. Those who were around Him all the time. In the Bible John called Him, Jesus Christ the Righteous. Martha said, “I have always believed You were the Messiah, the Son of God.” At one point Jesus even asked, “Who do people say that I am?” Matthew 16 says, “Jesus asked His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of man is?’ ‘Well,’ they replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.’ Then He asked them, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘You are blessed, Simon, son of John, because My Father in heaven revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being ‘”
When Peter said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of God,” Jesus didn’t say, “Whoa! Wait a second! You’re taking this Messiah thing a little too far. I'm just a good teacher.” No. He didn’t say that. He didn’t stop them and say, “No, don’t call Me the Son of God. I'm just a moral man.” No. Why is it that most of the disciples died a martyr’s death? Because they believed He was the Messiah. They died a martyr’s death because they believed. Eyewitnesses. They were there with Him all the time. You can fool people from a distance but you can’t fool them up close.
3. Fulfillment of prophecy. If you look in the Old Testament, there are several prophecies prophesying the Messiah, the Savior of the world. It was like in the Old Testament painting this fingerprint of what the Messiah is going to be like and who it’s going to be. And Jesus came along and He fit that fingerprint. If you look at the life of Jesus, His life is a checklist to the prophecies: born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem, rejected by His own people, the Messiah to be betrayed by one of His own followers, the Messiah to die by crucifixion – the list goes on.
I have some skeptic friends who’d say, “The prophecies? Couldn’t He have faked a couple? Couldn’t He have manipulated His lifestyle a little bit to fit in? An example might be the prophecy said the Messiah will enter Jerusalem on a donkey.” Jesus could have faked that one. He could have come up to Jerusalem and said, “Ok, guys, ditch the skateboard. Grab Me a donkey and let’s go. I'm going to fool everybody into thinking I'm the Messiah and I'm going to be tortured to death and it’ll be wonderful!”
The argument falls apart when you realize how many prophecies could never have been arranged. The place of birth, the virgin mother, unbroken bones at the crucifixion – the list goes on. That’s one of the ways He proved He was God – fulfillment of prophecy.
4. Jesus’ own identification, His own claim. Not only is He described in the Bible as the God-man but He makes the claim Himself in John 10:30. He says, "I and the Father are one." He didn’t claim just to be God. He made a very specific claim – Messiah. You’ve got to deal with that. Is He whacked out or was He who He said He was? Because it was that claim that got Him killed.
5. The other one was the resurrection. In my opinion this is the deal-breaker! This is the biggie that separates Jesus from all the other religious leaders. He predicted it and He did it.
So, how do you live like Jesus? You and I can't on our own. He (Jesus) has to do it through you. You let His power work in you. His love. His grace. His mercy. His forgiveness. His compassion. His service. His perseverance. Go for it today - I dare you. Let Jesus live through like never before.
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