Thoughts from The Bible

Thoughts from the Bible

Tuesday, 05 December 2023 12:12

God is Light

by Joey Carroll Corinth Missionary Baptist Church

As we continue in the letter of 1 John, we need to realize the type of preacher that John is in this letter. He would not last long in most pulpits today because John never paints in the color of gray. For John, everything is black or white. There is no middle ground with him, and the reason for that is because it is the way of God. And so, John uses great contrasts for us to better understand the character and person of God.
As I said last week, the first thing that John wants us to know about God is this: God is light. What immediately follows is a contrast, “and in Him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5, NASB) So what does John mean by this unusual description of God? Unfortunately, I think it would be easier for us to begin by understanding darkness. Darkness describes the condition in which we all begin, and even continue in, if we reject the person and work of Jesus.

Darkness is a metaphor for evil. No matter who you are or what you believe, this is how we all understand darkness. Is not every scary moment in a horror film shown in darkness as the villain commits horrible and frightening acts? Darkness describes everything sinful and wicked. It describes an area or place that is beyond visibility, where everything shameful and immoral hides in shadows.

Now thankfully, John tells us that in God there is absolutely “no darkness at all!” The word in the original language that is translated “at all” is actually the word for “nothing” or “not one.” We can understand that John is saying in an emphatic way that in the character of God, there is not one single solitary molecule of any darkness.
But that is certainly not the case with us! The Apostle Paul describes mankind in Ephesians 5:8 as those who were “formerly in darkness.” Paul too uses the metaphor of darkness to describe our condition before coming to faith in Christ. This is one way in which the Lord Himself diagnoses our sinful condition apart from salvation in Jesus. Since we all are sinners, we all dwell in spiritual darkness.

But God is described in a totally different way than mankind. God is light. Therefore, we understand very clearly what John is saying. “God is light” is another way of saying God is altogether without sin or wrongdoing. In other words, God is holy, and that is the first thing John wants you to know about God. God has revealed Himself. He has no need for hiding in shadows. And when we see Him, this is what we see – holiness! He is altogether without sin or evil of any kind. He is Holy. He is righteous. He is altogether good in every way. But again, we are not! We are sinners, and to that thought, John is about to turn in his letter, and we will too next week.

But the great question is this, how can sinful human beings have a relationship with a holy and perfect God? How can darkness have a relationship with light? How can the two dwell together? Seems utterly impossible that darkness might dwell together with light. But God has made a way through the Gospel. It is fascinating to me when the Lord called the Apostle Paul into salvation and service, this is what the Lord Jesus said to him: “I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me,” (Acts 26:17-18, NASB, emphasis added). The Gospel call is a call for us to leave the darkness behind and to come to the light of Christ. And in this light, we receive forgiveness of sins and the joys of heaven forever.

The Gospel is the good news that God has overcome the darkness of sin with the sacrificial death of our Savior. And through faith in the person and work of Jesus, we too can come into the light of everlasting light.