1 John 1:5-8, (New International Version)

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 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, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

We have received good news! What is the good news? When Jesus began His earthly ministry He said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." We have been given an invitation to the Kingdom of God for eternity. To accept this invitation requires something on our part. We cannot live according to our own desires and will, but by the commands of God. 1 John 1:5-8 (NIV) says, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 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, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

I love that this scripture talks about God being light. The scriptures say, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” (Psalm 119:105, NIV) This means that God is light. His Word, Jesus, is light. He will direct our steps if we surrender to His authority.  The scriptures also say in John 1:1-4 (NIV), “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”

We cannot continue to live our lives in sin and expect God to show favor to us or have mercy on us. He will allow us to choose who, or what, we will serve. The consequences of how we choose to live will follow us. These choices will follow us into eternity–either into the Kingdom of God, or amongst the weeping and gnashing of teeth in the lake of fire. So, how do we decide what to do with our life? First, we must hear the gospel, understand the gospel, and decide if we will choose to serve God or not. Do we truly understand why Jesus came? Do we truly understand that we are a people who are totally dependent upon God? Do we truly understand that there is no salvation unless we accept Christ and what He did for us? When Jesus came to the earth, He came as fully man and fully God. He came to show us the Father and to destroy the works of Satan. From the very beginning Satan has been a deceiver and has been responsible for bringing death into this world. Not just a physical death, but a spiritual death–an eternal separation from God. But God, who is rich in mercy, sent His one and only Son to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Jesus, the light of the world, showed us the Father and taught us how to truly live for God.

Throughout the gospels, we can see the righteousness of God: love, forgiveness, repentance, unity in the body of Christ, not taking it upon ourselves to be vengeful, but leaving vengeance to God. It means praying for those who persecute you and loving our enemies—not returning evil with evil, but overcoming evil with good. Our Father, who is in heaven, has given us this command, "Be holy as I am holy." (Leviticus 19:2) When we surrender to God and live our lives for God and according to His word, we are accepting this invitation to the Good News! Our hearts must be positioned in such a place that we do everything from love. The greatest two commandments, which I know we have heard often, are to love God and love people. When we serve God, it should not come from a place of fear–being afraid of God and eternal damnation, it should come from a place of love. We want to serve God because we love Him, we honor Him, we revere Him.

Sometimes, I believe this is hard for people to understand. But, if we would take time in God's Word to know who God is and His feelings towards us, we would have a better understanding of what it means to love God, to fear God—meaning awe and reverence, not fear. We understand that God wants to save us from darkness, from destruction. He wants us to walk in the light and have fellowship with Him and His Son, Jesus Christ. When we do this, the blood of Christ, God's Son, will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We will no longer be slaves to sin but walk in righteousness.

God is the God who is rich in mercy. He gives us every opportunity to come to Him, to choose Him. He doesn't wish for this world to perish, but that through His Son, Jesus Christ, all may come to repentance and have salvation. Many of us want Christ to return to gather His people, but it is His mercy that He hasn't come yet—because the harvest is ripe and the workers are few. He wants to gather as many as will come to Him as possible. Why? Because of love. Will you accept the mercy of God and accept the invitation to the Good News? Will you spend eternity reigning with Him in the new heaven and the new earth?