The only way sinners like us can have fellowship with a God who is light is to acknowledge our sin, confess it to God and completely trust in Jesus' work on the cross.

God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. Coming to grips with this reality and letting it sink down deeply into our souls will shatter our categories and change our lives.

John's introduction makes it clear that what we believe about Jesus really matters. A proper understanding of who Jesus is and what He has accomplished is the foundation of our fellowship with God and thus the foundation of our knowing that we have eternal life.

Jesus Christ came prepared to be the One True Passover Lamb for His enslaved people, sacrificed as a substitute so that God’s judgment passes over them and prisoners are set free.

God set out to recreate the world after man’s fall into sin, first by raising up Israel as a missionary kingdom, then by raising up his Son Jesus to be the true fulfillment of Israel, and ultimately raising up a restored people to carry out his mission in the world until the whole earth is filled with his glory. God providentially oversees this process until it is perfectly accomplished.

John wrote the book of 1 John so that we might be able to discern whether or not we've truly been born of God. Here we see that assurance of salvation is grounded in the finished work of Christ on the cross and supported by the way we live our lives.

Worship is the proper response of all believers to what God has done for us in Christ. Biblical worship is empowered by the Holy Spirit, where new creatures begin to treasure God above all competing affections. This internal treasuring of God wells up into outward praise and an ongoing transformation of life in line with what the Scriptures teach about God and our worship of Him. While biblical worship encompasses all of life (no need for a special place), believers worship in a very important and biblically mandated way when they come together and worship corporately with other fellow worshippers.

Religious activities do not make sinners right with God, but make them hypocrites. God delights in true faith and obedience, which is only achieved when a sinner is redeemed by Christ and born anew.

God goes to great lengths to show Jonah and us his great love for the nations. All beneficiaries of God's amazing mercy ought to have the same kind of compassion for the nations that God has!

God again sends Jonah to Nineveh and this time he obeys and mass repentance takes place among the Assyrians! Jesus, the greater than Jonah, came on a greater mission and has indeed commissioned all of his followers to finish the mission.