Brand New Day: A Brand New Day of Living

2018-04-08
Pastor Jonathan Falwell

 

Memory Verse:  1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

 

1 John 1:1 (NLT) We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. 5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

 

1. A Brand New Day of Salvation
– recognition
– belief – Romans 10

 

2. A Brand New Day of Action
– baptism  (Matthew 3:13-17) “it should be done”
– seeking him daily

 

3. A Brand New Day of Living
Vss 5-6 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.
  • this epistle of John addresses a heretical view at that time that Jesus and the Christ were not the same
  • John was addressing the absolute holiness of God to counter the viewpoint that one can “know” God and still be living in darkness
  • Knowing God, as declared by Jesus Himself, is through Jesus alone – John 14
4. A Brand New Day of Walking
Vss 7-8 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.
  • John, again, dealing with the heretical view that one can know God apart from Christ
  • Yes, we are all sinners, but through Christ we obtain forgiveness of our sins
  • But, living in the light, requires a new way of walking through life
  • This new way is not found in believing that we can do whatever we want and still be fine in our relationship with Him
  • God is a holy God and cannot tolerate sin; the OT dealing with Israel is a clear picture of this
  • Paul addressed the problem of sin in the heart of the believer in Romans 7:14-25
5. A Brand New Day of Forgiveness
vs 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
  • And so while we must live our lives dedicated to moving away from our sinful desires and moving towards holiness, there will be times we fail
  • Our failure does not equal losing our salvation or our hope in Him, in fact, it is another reminder of the great hope we have because of Him because of the forgiveness He quickly offers
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