1 John 1

The Explanation

John picks up his pen. He wants to tell a story, but not a made-up one. "This really happened," he writes. "I heard him. I saw him with my own eyes. I touched him with my own hands." Who is he talking about? Someone John calls "the Word of life." That is Jesus.

Think about that for a moment. John did not just hear about Jesus from someone else. He walked next to him. He probably felt the rough wood of a fishing boat under his feet while Jesus sat beside him. He touched his hand, maybe even his scars later. This Jesus, John says, was with God from the very beginning, and yet John could reach out and touch him.

Why does John write this down? "So that you also may have fellowship with us," he says. Fellowship means being close friends, sharing life together. John wants his friends who read the letter to belong too, not just to him, but to the Father and to Jesus Christ. And he says one more thing: "that our joy may be fulfilled." John is not writing because he has to. He is bursting with joy, like a boy who caught the biggest fish in the lake and has to tell everyone.

Then John says something surprising. "God is light," he writes, "and in him is no darkness at all." Not a little bit of darkness hidden in a corner. None. But then John looks at us and says, if we say we have no sin, we are lying to ourselves, and it is not even true. Everybody carries some darkness inside.

What Does This Mean?

Imagine a room with the lights off. You cannot see the dust, the mess, the spider in the corner. But turn the light on, and suddenly you see everything. That is what walking in the light means. It means not hiding from God, not pretending you did nothing wrong.

John says if we walk in the light, as God is in the light, something good happens. We have fellowship with each other, real friendship, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Not most sin. All of it.

The Common Thread

This whole letter points straight at Jesus. He is the light John writes about. He is the one whose blood makes us clean, like water washing dirt off your hands after a day of playing outside. God had promised long ago that he would deal with the darkness in people's hearts, and Jesus is how he keeps that promise. He came close enough to touch, so he could clean us from the inside.

For You

Have you ever broken something and hidden it under your bed, hoping nobody would find out? That is walking in darkness. It feels heavy, doesn't it? John says there is a better way. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Confess just means telling the truth to God about what you did.

Tonight, try it. Tell God one thing you did wrong today. Do not hide it under the bed. Bring it into the light. He is not waiting to be angry. He is faithful, which means you can count on him to forgive you, every single time.

Talk About It

If John touched Jesus with his own hands, what do you think that felt like?

Can you think of something you have been hiding, that you could bring into the light today?

Praying Together

Dear God, thank you that Jesus was real, that people could touch him and hear him laugh and talk. Thank you that you are light, with no darkness at all. Help us not to hide our sins, but to bring them to you. Thank you that you always forgive. Amen.