1 John 1

1 John 1 English Standard Version (ESV)
The Word of Life
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

Walking in the Light
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice 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 cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Again, the apostle John starts of his epistle with the important truth that he is an eyewitness both to the fulfilled prophecies and the person and works of Jesus Christ.  His reason for writing the epistle is different though..."so that our joy may be made complete."  We'll figure out what he means by this as we go along through the epistle.

Often, God is portrayed as light because light and darkness cannot coexist.  Light is always victorious and always drives out the darkness.  It is impossible for the darkness to be strong enough to be victorious of the light.  In the same way, Satan and his forces are no match for God.  If we say we are children of God and that He lives in and through us and we continue to live in sin and be identified by it, we are lying to ourselves and everyone else because God and sin cannot both reign in our lives.  It is only through God and the work of Jesus on the cross that we can have fellowship with God and each other, as the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

While God gives us the ability to escape temptation, all of us have failed God and will continue to do so until God ultimately saves us from the very presence of sin in His final judgement.  We all have sinned and are in need of a Savior.  We must accept His sacrifice for us by faith.  We must be honest both about our sin and sin nature, but also our identity in and through Christ that we are no longer slaves to sin, but servants of the living God.