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Cloudscape over Canberra
First Epistle of John 1: 1 – 2: 2 (NIV)
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 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.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
2: 1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Having shared in the celebration of the victory of the risen Christ less than a week ago, we may still be rejoicing in the beauty and the glory of his resurrection and of what that means for sinful people. But some of us, probably most, will have been dragged quickly down by the reality of this fallen world and of the sin which divides people from people and people from God.
This should not lead us to despair. The Apostle John realised that, despite his urging that people “walk in the light” (verse 7), we will continue to sin. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (verse 8).
We are all imperfect. We carry the legacy of the sinfulness of Adam and Eve. We think we know better than God. To acknowledge that reality is the necessary precursor to genuine repentance and full confession of our sinfulness. The Apostle John presented the antidote: “(God) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (verse 9).
Not only does the blood of Christ, shed in his passion, purify us from all sin. The glorified Christ who was the atoning sacrifice for our sins (verse 2: 2) is also our eternal advocate (verses 2, 2: 1) representing us before the Father as belonging forever to him.