I John 1: 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
John writes with a plea to all who would listen. He begins with the acknowledgement that He has seen, looked upon and touched the very Word of God as he walked with Christ. He reminds us that Christ was there during creation and continues there through eternity to come. He had seen Him, touched Him, and had the urgency to share it so that your joy may be full. He pleads with mankind regarding their relationship to the family of God. He does not refer to a joy founded on earthly possessions for he had none. He had been tortured and exiled. By the time he wrote this letter, he was an old man living in Ephesus. The other apostles had already been killed for their faith; still, he writes "and these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full". This is a joy that triumphs over our worldly trials and tribulations. It is a joy that would give strength to stand even if it cost us everything. God is light and by thus reaches into the darkness which fills our heart so that we might see our sin nature and to see our own individual sins. When that light shines into our hearts we realize our utter unworthiness and cling to the only hope of salvation, the only means by which we can become the children of God and share in His great treasures of Joy, Hope, Peace, and His Love. How can we ever choose to remain in darkness, having seen His light? Why would we desire to hold onto our own dark sins and grieve the Holy Spirit once the light has shown them so clearly to us? Wouldn’t we (having tasted His Joy) fight against our very sin nature so as to hold tight to that relationship with our Father and not feel the sorrow of dishonoring His name by our actions and deeds? Yet, even then, when the light shows us of our sin, we have only to confess with repentant heart and "he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFVpgIFIGJU
Here I am to Worship
by Tim Hughes
Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes, let me see
Beauty that made this heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You
Here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that You’re my God
You’re altogether lovely
Altogether worthy
Altogether wonderful to me
King of all days, oh so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly You came to the earth You created
All for love’s sake became poor
And I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross