GOD IS LIGHT! -- Monday:
"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." (1 John 1:5)
By saying "God IS light," the Spirit shows this is His nature. He is not merely a Dispenser of light, but is Light itself. This is a profound consideration, revealed only through John. Others wrote of God being the "Father of lights" (James 1:17), One who possesses "marvelous light" (1 Pet 2:9), and Who dwells in the light (1 Tim 6:16). We are taught to relate light with Him, not with nature. "Light" is like a garment with which God covers Himself: "Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment" (Psa 104:2). Light dwells in Him, and is never to be considered apart from Him (Dan 2:22).
But our text states "GOD IS LIGHT." Not only does it state this, it affirms "This is the message we have heard from Him." It is the kernel, or heart, of the message. It is the truth from which other insights spring, and with which all valid knowledge is connected. Yet, this is the only place in all of Scripture where this affirmation is made.
We conclude, therefore, that this is the point clarified by the incarnate Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. When you take everything Jesus said and did, and boil it down to its essence, it is this: "GOD IS LIGHT!" Salvation rescues men from the snare of sin, but that rescue is not the heart of the message: God is the heart of the message. Men may come to possess what they conceive to be a good understanding of human duties. But until they comprehend God to a measurable degree, they have missed the message! The message is "GOD IS LIGHT!"
Corporeally, or as it appears, light has SPLENDOR. It draws attention to itself, and diffuses a glory that draws attention away from all that surrounds it. Intellectually, and I speak as a man, light is KNOWLEDGE. It speaks of enlightenment, illumination, clarification, and explanation. When God is perceived, everything else is made clearer. As it is written, "in Thy light shall we see light" (Psa 36:9). Conversely, nothing is seen correctly apart from the Lord. A failure to comprehend Him brings distortion to everything else.
Morally, light is PURITY. There is no taint in light, no defilement, no contamination. Our text states it this way, "and in Him is no darkness at all." What He says and does is always right. His purposes are perfect and uncorrupted, and not to be questioned. By nature, light GIVES LIFE. Little wonder the Spirit said of Jesus, "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). He is the Source of all life. Again, Jesus said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12).
And when it comes to the Lord Jesus, in whom "the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily" (Col 2:9), we have the ultimate revelation of God. There, in the Son of God, the Person of God is more clearly made known that ever before. In fact, Jesus is the appointed Expositor of God. He alone knows the Father, and thus He alone can show Him to us (Matt 11:27). Coming from "the bosom of the Father," the Savior declared "HIM" (John 1:18). He operated within the strict confines of the Father's agenda, doing "nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise" (John 5:19).
The Scriptures, strictly speaking, are an unfolding of the Person of God. It is His purpose that is delineated, and His will that is expounded. In Christ, bountiful provisions of His grace are made known, together with the glorious things He has prepared for those who love Him. Those who look for patterns and secrets in the Bible that enable them to be separate from all others are stumbling over the stumbling stone (Rom 9:32).
If, in their hearts, men are not turned to God, they will come into condemnation. He is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all. There can be no substitutes for Him, no diversions from His Person, and no ignoring of His promises. Jesus was sent by God to offer Himself without spot to Him, and bring us to God. Jesus has no significance whatsoever apart from God! He is "the Son OF GOD," the "Lamb OF GOD," and the "Word OF GOD" (John 1:29,34; Rev 19:13). He is called "the Power OF GOD" and the "Wisdom OF GOD" (1 Cor 1:24).
The message, then, is not what man is, but who God is! It is not what the church is, but what God is! It does not center in duty, but in Deity. "God is light," pure and unalloyed – unmixed with anything. He is not a composite of a number of things, as we are. This means there is no diminishment or decline with God, only ever increasing glory.
Everything about God illuminates, dispelling darkness, clarifying, and contributing to the understanding. When we are in Christ Jesus, this brings life and wholeness to us. Walking in the light of the glory of God, we taste the highest and most noble of all experiences. What a marvelous message has been sent from heaven. "GOD IS LIGHT!"
PRAYER POINT: Father, I confess that all light, all illumination, is found in You alone. I know that apart from You and Your Son, everything is darkness. In the name of Your Son, I ask that You shine in me and through me.