First Epistle of John: Lesson Six

"These things I have spoken to you

that My joy may remain in you

and that your joy may be full."

John 15:11

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As with all studies, let's begin with prayer.....

"Holy Father Go din heaven, I come before you this day to give You all blessings. I will bless You at all time. Your praise shall continually be in my mouth. Teach us this day, Lord, to love Your precepts and Your word. Teach us to treasure it into our hearts that we may not sin against You.

I do seek forgiveness of my sins this morning, Lord, because I know I have sinned against You. Forgive me for not being in Your word yesterday and for not trusting in You. I know this is a sin against You and I pray that You will wash me clean and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

I pray for each lady reading this study today. I pray that she will learn new and wonderful things from Your word. I pray for her day that You will come alongside her and encourage her. I pray for her marriage and her home that You are welcome into both.

in Jesus' name......amen.

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That Your Joy May Be Full

1 John was written for a clear and precise reason: that we may know!

Know what? Well, in chapter one we read that John is declaring all that he had witnesses while living with Christ so that we may have fellowship with him and with God through Christ. Why? well, here in this next verse, he tells us:

1 John 1:4

"And these things we write to you that your joy may be full."

Notice how closely his verse mirrors the words of Jesus in John 15:11. It was obvious that because John heard the words of Jesus, he was now eager to tell them to us (believers) so that our joy would be full just as his was in Jesus.

Please read:

John 16:24

John 17: 13

Ps 16: 11-

So what is this "fullness of joy" that we are reading about here in the scriptures?

• In the Greek, the word for "joy" is chara and it means: calm, delight, gladness, greatly, exceedingly joyfull.

• Doesn't that sound wonderful?? I like the word calm in there. Having that peace and calmness really reverberates with me.

• In Psalm 16:11 the word for "joy" is simchah and it means: blithesomeness or glee, exceeding gladness, mirth, pleasure, rejoicing. The psalmist was trying to tell us that we can find all this in the presence of God.

So, this is the reason John is writing his letter to believers: that our joy may be full.

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Now we will look at the second part of chapter one:

Fellowship With One Another Through Christ

Remember that the word fellowship is written in chapter one 4 times because John is telling us something important about the word: its true meaning to Christians.

But the word sin is mentioned 5 times in this short chapter. Why? Perhaps John was trying to tell us something important about this word as well......let's find out:

1 John 1:5

"This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all."

So, here we have the message that John is declaring to believers: God is light and in Him is no darkness....at all!

Please read:

1 Tim 6:15-16

Dan 2:22

John 12:35-36

John 1:4

John 1:9

John 7:33

John 8:12

1 Thess 5:5

We read here how God and Jesus are called "The Light" and even the "unapproachable light' (1 Tim 6:16).

We learn that if we believe in Jesus then we are "children of light".

Please read:

1 Pet 2:9

Rev 21:23

John is also telling us that in God there is "no darkness at all." Here we are introduced to the contrast between light and dark: sinlessness and sin.

God is light and in Him is no darkness....at all. He has no sin. This fact leads us into the next (and last) verse for today's lesson:

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."

Now we know what John is trying to tell us in this second half of the first chapter: we can have fellowship with other believers in Christ and we can have fellowship with God through Christ if we are in the Light- and God is Light. BUT if we say we have fellowship with Him (if we say we are Christians) but walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

• We have here the clear contrast between God and man: God is light, man is in darkness.

• The emphasis on God's purity and omniscience reveals how John is leading the reader to the confession of sin.

• We cannot have fellowship in Him and be in darkness because in God there is no darkness at all. This is the first part of the Gospel message. As we leave here today, it seems pretty hopeless. But remember why this book was written: that our joy may be full.

So we know that there is a hopeful message coming.....and in our next lesson we will read about the hope.

I pray you are enjoying this lesson so far. I also pray that you are seeing new things in this chapter that you haven't seen before. I read it many times through the years and only recently saw the Gospel message in it and rejoiced. This would be a great chapter to read with someone who isn't a believer and who seems eager to learn more about Jesus because of how simply John lays out the Gospel:

• It is written by a man who knew Jesus intimately
• It is written for a clear purpose: fellowship with God leads to joy
• It clearly explains how we can have that fellowship: stay in the Light by confessing sin and do not walk in darkness
• And it shows us who Jesus is: The Light

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Life Application

We read here in First John that his purpose for writing this letter is that our joy may be full.

Please read:

Ps 43:1-4

James 1:2

Heb 12:2

1 Pet 1:6-8

1 Pet 4:12-13

John wants our joy in Christ to be full, but he also knew about suffering for Christ...and how that leads to exceedingly great joy as well. Remember, John suffered for believing in Christ. He was exiled to the island of Patmos because of the Gospel message. Peter knew about suffering for Christ and so did James.

Sisters in Christ, we may have that joy in Jesus but as Christians we are called to suffer for Christ as well.

Please read:

Matt 5:10-12

Jesus' words should bring comfort to our souls because He knows. He knows that we will suffer. Do we know?? Do we fully understand that as believers we should receive some form of persecution in our lifetime because we claim to be followers of Jesus Christ?

Jesus, John, Peter, and James all want us to know that there is joy in suffering as well as joy in fellowship with God because in Him there is no darkness......and that Light is waiting for us in heaven after this dark world passes away.

• "Rejoice and be exeedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven...."

Praise God!!

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Until next time.....

"True worship flows from a grateful heart. But again, the heart cannot be properly grateful unless or until the mind understands the reason for gratitude. Before our hearts can be duly moved to gratitude, we must be aware that the benefits of life flow to us from God's providence. To grow in gratitude requires that we first grow in our understanding of grace. As long as we entertain delusions of our own merit or compliment ourlseves on our own contributions to salvation, we block our hearts from pure worship."

-Dr. R.C. Sproul (The Soul's Quest for God, 1992, p.187)

Blessings,

Ruth