winston

This verse simply defines the sinfulness in us. A beautiful three point sermon in Dealing with Temptation. As long we feed The Great 'I' with desire and pride and the fatter our 'I' bloats it is harder for us to discern for it blocks our vision and darkness engulfs. We live more like the snail within its shell never to mistake it to be a shelter but a disaster in itself. It is self destructible. When that happens we have nothing to cover us and we are burnt in the heat of judgement. But when we pretty often realise this and seek the forgiveness of God and remove that pseudo protection then we enjoy the pleasant feeling of the Great Light which enlightens us.

The World is however not the people with all their weaknesses and strengths but is the rejection of God and the non-recognition of His works amidst us. We were there and were redeemed to live in the Light therefore we should never retreat to that world. The temporal but exciting offers of the world are ever pleasing to the senses of man and is capable of engulfing within it. This kind of love towards the world keeps us away from the Love of the Father.

One of the greatest task of a Christian is to remain in fellowship. Here John is struggling with light and darkness concept to establish the realization of Fellowship. When somebody is hurt it requires a lot of love to, first, stop retaliating, bear the pain, be patient till the wound heals and always neglect the idea of storing vengeance. We somehow need to play the game of life with minimum injuries but it is not the same for everybody. Therefore every individual Christian has to discover himself and struggle to understand and accept others. This then I believe would help us from being blind and also would help us to move from darkness to light or experience the illumination in our Life.

Since sin is not just the sinful deeds we do but the nature of our being confession would mean acknowledging our sinful condition. When we acknowledge our sinful nature we begin to bring the dark areas of our life into the light. When we acknowledge we experience the forgiveness i.e., the acceptance of us by God and the comfort and guidance in the overcoming of the guilt we carry. We are enabled to look at the world not from the previous sinful perspective but as unworthy vessels made worthy to be used as His tool of Love.

In I John 1:5-7ff walking in darkness is to disassociate with one another on the terms of principles or philosophies. one group of people were so concerned about the sinfulness that they disassociated just to be righteous. This is were John comes in three times to assure them that they can never do anything about their sinfulness but in Christ they become righteous therefore the Lord who is light or righteous to forgive them deals with their sin. Putting the question of sin behind them, they in fact have to move forwards in fellowship. The question is whether we accept or deny our sinfulness. The one who denies lives in darkness, self deceptive and has no place for God. But the one who accepts his sinfulness not just in his deeds ands thoughts but in his being then he is able to make a meaningful fellowship with one another and our sins are dealt with by Jesus who in forgiveness removes the guilt and purifies ie., to enlighten us, to throw light on us of the ill effects of sin and intercedes so that we might be strong even amidst our falling down/weaknesses.

Q1. (1 John 1:3-4, 6-7) Why is our fellowship with fellow Christians so often just on a surface level? Christians in general have lost the meaning of love. They live in relationship with one another but not in fellowship. Probably its because Christians are unable to face the cost of love. How can we have fellowship at a deeper level in Christ? Fellowship at a deeper level can come through only when we are detached not physically but in our attitudes from the worries of the world. Just as Jesus affirmed that I take care of the details of my creation wouldn't I take care of you. Leaving these worries to God will be a relief for the Christians to proceed further in fellowshipping. This does not mean to leave our jobs and earnings but use all that is ours towards fellowship. What would it take in your Christian group or your relationships with other believers to deepen your level of fellowship so it is authentically Christian? Basically fellowship is living a common life as we see in the early church. But to live such a life we need to prove to others that we are trustworthy. Instead of waiting for others to accept us we need make efforts to make others trust your good intention so that our fellowship with others can be meaningful, fruitful and a living witness to Christ and his love.