The Most Valuable Scripture You’ll Ever Hear
(6 minutes)
We saw him with our very own eyes. We gazed upon him and heard him speak. Our hands actually touched him, the one who was from the beginning, the Living Expression of God. The Life-Giver was made visible and we have seen him. We testify to this truth: the eternal Life-Giver lived face-to-face with the Father and has now dawned upon us. So we proclaim to you what we have seen and heard about this Life-Giver so that we may share and enjoy this life together. For truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus, the Anointed One.
We are writing these things to you because we want to release to you our fullness of joy.
This is the life-giving message we heard him share and it's still ringing in our ears. We now repeat his words to you: God is pure light. You will never find even a trace of darkness in him. (1 John 1:1-5)
"This is the most valuable scripture you will ever hear in your life." This is a huge statement that was made by Pastor Tim at the opening of the message yesterday and if you were at the gathering in person or if you listened via livestream, you know now why he said it.
Most historians believe that John the Beloved penned this letter 50-60 years after the resurrection of Jesus. Why is that important? He's the last of the original twelve apostles left on the planet and the opening lines of this letter reflect what John the Beloved would have deemed the most important news he could share with the church that was already being established on the earth. Of all the things that he could mention and talk about, he chose this. Listen to that statement again. Of ALL the things that he could mention or talk about, he chose this.
This is the life-giving message we heard him share and it's still ringing in our ears. We now repeat his words to you: God is pure light. You will never find even a trace of darkness in him. (1 John 1:5)
Why?
Why is this considered by John the Beloved to be the life-giving message that is of supreme value? Why are these words, of all the things he learned from Yeshua, the ones that are still ringing in his ears? Why?
We're going to descend into this very question this week. We're going to dive deep into these words. Yahweh is pure light. We will never find even a trace of darkness in him.
Pastor Tim gave the short answer to this question at the beginning of the message and it's one we must be convinced of before we go any further.
It's the goodness of Yahweh that leads us to metanoia, the changing of our minds. True repentance begins with an introduction to the goodness of God. (Romans 2:4)
John the Beloved is basically saying that the greatest news he ever heard Jesus share was that Yahweh is totally and completely good, not having any dark side or suspicious shadow in His nature at all. Pure light with not even a trace of darkness. John is inviting us to descend into the goodness of Yahweh because only this will bring transformation to how we think. And according to John at the beginning of his letter, this is what will release us into the fullness of joy.
Do we really believe that Yahweh is pure light, not even possessing a trace of darkness in Him?
Do we really believe that Yahweh is totally and completely good?
Or do we still have some suspicions about His nature?
When the storm rolls in or when we go through difficult things, are we still convinced that He is good and that He calls us "beloved sons and daughters," or do we start believing that maybe it was Him who brought this thing upon us? That it must be His wrath coming to collect on that last bad decision we made?
Abba lures us into the wilderness to purge us of every thought that still paints Him in darkness. He lures us into the wilderness to finally convince us that He is not the angry, retributive Master, but the love-stricken Husband who adores and delights Himself in our presence. He will not have His children walking around unsure about how He feels towards them.
Abba is pure light. You'll never be able to find even a trace of darkness in Him. The only way we discover this for ourselves is through intimacy. We must get close enough to see for ourselves.
I love that John the Beloved starts his letter with these words: We saw him with our very own eyes. We gazed upon him and heard him speak. Our hands actually touched him, the one who was from the beginning, the Living Expression of God.
John's intimacy with Jesus allowed him to see and hear something that the majority of people could not see or hear. Intimacy allowed John to access the most valuable truth that was wrapped up in Jesus. The Father is nothing like you thought He was. He is pure light, perfectly good in every way. You can search Him from every angle, inside and out, over and over again, and still not find even a trace of darkness in Him.
Abba wants to put His goodness on display in your life today. And that goodness will change how you think about everything. Will you get close enough in intimacy to see for yourself?
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