Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20051016.htm

RELISHING THE ESSENCE AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
Part I: The Essence Of God
B. Treasuring The Simplicity Of God In His Essence
(1 John 1:5-7)
  1. Introduction
    1. Due to the inconsistencies created by sin, we mortals often bear a heady mix of contradictory motives, habits and aspirations that harm relationships! For example, we may want to be seen but not seen at the same time as we wish to be admired and yet keep our privacy, a contradiction that harms relationships!
    2. In contrast to sinful man, God is not complicated: He is simple in His essence, or "the stuff of which God consists" for lack of a better expression; if applied in our lives, this truth yields great blessing (as follows):
  2. Treasuring The Simplicity Of God In His Essence, 1 John 1:5-7.
    1. In one of the best statements on the simplicity of God's essence in Scripture, John wrote the message that Jesus expounded in His earthly life was that God was light, and in Him was no darkness at all, 1 Jn. 1:1-5.
    2. To begin to understand what John meant by this assertion, and thus to understand the simplicity of God's essence, we view the context out of which John wrote this statement to discern his definition of "light":
      1. In his Gospel, John 1:4, the Apostle John indicated the life that was in Christ was the "light" of men.
      2. Against the geographical and historical setting of John's interaction with Jesus, we know the earthly LIFE of Christ was thus GOD'S REVELATION to man who was in spiritual darkness in Galilee:
        1. John was called by Jesus to follow Christ in the setting of the land of Galilee, Matthew 4:18-22.
        2. Well, the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah had predicted Messiah would arise in Galilee as God's "Great Light" for the people there who were in deep spiritual darkness, Isaiah 9:1-2.
        3. This "darkness" had come as the people of Galilee had turned from the written Word of God in the Old Testament to seek insight from spirit mediums, cf. Isaiah 8:19.
        4. Indeed, Isaiah had complained that since these people no longer had the saying, "To the word (of God) and to the testimony (of God in Scripture)" in them, they did not have the light of dawn, or the hope of any insight into spiritual truth, Isaiah 8:20 NIV, ESV!
        5. Thus, the earthly life of Christ was God's Great Light of revealed truth graciously sent from the Father to fill the void of darkness left when men had refused God's insight found in the Old Testament Scripture. Jesus is God's Word personified, a fact that becomes clear in Revelation 19:11-16 where, in His Second Coming, He bears the title, "The Word of God," cf. Rev. 19:13b.
      3. The definition for "light" in 1 John 1:5 then is this: "light" is God's revelation of Himself in written Scripture and in the earthly life of His Son, Jesus Christ; what these entities reveal about God is EXACTLY what He IS, and NOTHING that is CONTRARY to these in any way rightly reflects God!
    3. Accordingly, to RELATE effectively to this God of utter SIMPLICITY as is suggested by 1 John 1:5, John meant we must order our lives in FULL ALIGNMENT with SCRIPTURE and with Christ's example in His earthly life; otherwise, we lie if we claim we walk with Him but do not heed these, 1:6.
    4. John related that when we do order our lives in total accord with Scripture revelation and with the example of Christ's earthly life as God has ADEQUATELY and PRECISELY revealed Himself in these sources of His special revelation, we are assured we have full rapport with God and all other believers who do the same as we do; also, in this blessed rapport with God, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son graciously, continually cleanses us all from all sin, cf. 1 John 1:7 (present tense of katharidzei)!
Lesson: Since God is SIMPLE in ESSENCE, we can be SURE we relate well with Him ONLY if we FULLY HEED His WRITTEN WORD and the EXAMPLE of His Son in His earthly life. FAILURE to do this then SURELY means we LOSE rapport with God due to this same SIMPLICITY of His essence!

Application: (1) May we not presume that God deals with us in a capricious way as pagans think their gods do with them. No -- God is UNCOMPLICATED: we KNOW for SURE where we stand with Him by way of written Scripture and the example of His Son's earthly life that is revealed in Scripture! (2) May we IMMERSE our minds in SCRIPTURE to know how to relate well with God for blessing, (3) and may we rely upon the Holy Spirit's power to DO what Scripture thus dictates, cf. Gal. 5:16-23!