December 1, 1999

EXPLORE THE BIBLE:
Stay in touch with Jesus
to reach final destination
___ 1 John 1:1-10; 2:1-2
___By Ellis Orozco
___Calvary Baptist Church, McAllen
___During the Apollo missions to the moon, the spaceships were off course more than 90 percent of the time. Yet through continual communication with the Mission Control Center they were able to make necessary corrections and reach the moon.
___John is known for the loving way he encourages believers to follow Christ.
___Yet in his first letter to the church, he is advocating a ruthless, daily self-evaluation for every Christian to stay on course.
___ The pathway to life (John 1:1-4). John begins his letter, as he does his Gospel, by proclaiming the central thrust of the Christian message: God has come to earth to save his creation, and Jesus is the pathway to that salvation. Notice three important characteristics of the pathway:
___1) It is personal. "We have seen with our eyes" (1 John 1:1a). It is not third-hand information from the town gossip line. It is the personal witness of the one who stood at the foot of the cross. It comes from thelips of the one who rushed to the empty tomb and who held the empty grave clothes in his trembling hands.
___2) It is practical. "... our hands have touched" (1 John 1:1b). It is not some purely esoteric pathway for only the most astute members of the intelligentsia. It is a faith that is for fishermen, carpenters and prostitutes as well as doctors, lawyers and rocket scientists.
___3) It is purposeful. "... so that you may also have fellowship with us" (1 John 1:3). There is a wonderful and glorious reason for his coming. He has come to restore our relationships so that we might live together forever.
___ The power source for light (1 John 1:5-7). John also gives us the compass we need to stay on course. He uses the images of light and darkness to draw a sharp contrast between the things of God and the things of this world. John is uncharacteristically blunt as he warns us that if we cling to the things of this world and call ourselves Christians, we are liars. In contrast, if we cling to Jesus, then we walk in the light.
___ The problem of sin (1 John 1:8-10). The letter turns even more somber as John begins to talk about sin. Notice that the real problem is not just sin, but the failure to recognize and confess the sin in our lives. Unconfessed sin will destroy our lives in four ways:
___1) It will deceive us (1 John 1:8a).
___2) It will cause us to live a lie (1 John 1:8b).
___3) It will alienate us from God (1 John 1:10a).
___4) It will alienate us from God's word (1 John 1:10b).
___ The portrait of a Savior (1 John 2:1-2). Finally, John shines a light at the end of the tunnel. John paints a portrait of our Savior. John reminds us that even though we live lives of slipping and stumbling, duplicity and deception, we have One who has fought and won the battle for us on Calvary (1 John 2:2) and continues to fight for us every day from his throne in heaven (1 John 2:1).
___As long as we stay in constant contact with Jesus, we will not miss our destination.

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