1 John 1:5-10
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice 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 cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Imagine all the sins that you have committed against God in 2024. Now imagine that all of them were forgiven whenever we confessed before the Lord. Amazing, right? The apostle John sets the stage for our need for and God’s provision of forgiveness by doing two things. First, he reveals God’s perfect nature – He is light. On account of God’s holiness, then none can have fellowship with Him if they have sin in their lives. But, secondly, John asserts that none of us can claim to be without sin. To do so would be to deceive ourselves and to paint God as a liar. With this conundrum, one wonders then how humans can ever have fellowship with God.
This is where God’s faithfulness to forgive checks in. Verse 9 declares that whenever we confess our sins, God is faithful, and He is just to forgive us of ALL our sins. Not only does He forgive, but He also cleanses us from ALL unrighteousness. This is such good news. That God will definitely forgive us when we confess (faithful) and by doing so He will have committed no injustice (just). To merely let go of an offender is a great offence to justice, but God doesn’t merely let us go because our sins were fully paid for in Christ. Brothers and sisters, our greatest need in 2024 has not been provision, or health, or protection, or whatever else we have been crying to the Lord for. Our greatest need has been for our sins to be forgiven, and God has faithfully forgiven us ALL our sins whenever we confessed in 2024. That is to the best give we have recieved in 2024 even as the Psalmist proclaims in Psalm 32:1-2:
_Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit._
You are blessed!
Reflections
1. What is the most sinful thing that you did in 2024? If you confessed it, God faithfully forgave you.
2. In view of today’s devotion, how should we end 2024 and enter 2025?
