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1 John 1:5
“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.”
The clock hit 3:30 a.m., and the noise of what seemed to be shattered glass downstairs startled Charlie awake. Fearing that a burglar had broken a window, Charlie grabbed a baseball bat and headed downstairs into the darkness of the kitchen, where all was suddenly silent. A flip of the light switch revealed to Charlie what had really happened. His dog had knocked a porcelain vase to the floor, where it had broken into many pieces.
Light has a way of showing us the truth. No wonder, then, that one of the most frequent metaphors used for God in Scripture is that of light. We see it in 1 John 1:5, for example, where we read that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” The context has moral truth in particular view here, as seen in how John within a few verses stresses the importance of confessing sin (vv. 8–10). As the truth, God is the supreme, infallible ethical standard, the light that shows the truth regarding whether one has kept or broken the law of the Lord. In God there is no darkness, which means that there is no sin or wickedness mixed in with His goodness and truth. God is the light who shows us the way of true goodness and beauty, the illuminating brightness by which we can see the true way. John Calvin comments that when God “is called the Father of light, and also light, we first understand that there is nothing in him but what is bright, pure, and unalloyed; and, secondly, that he makes all things so manifest by his brightness, that he suffers nothing vicious or perverted, no spots or filth, no hypocrisy or fraud, to lie hid.”
Not only is God Himself called the light, but His Word is the lamp to our feet, the guide that keeps us from straying from the path of righteousness (Ps. 119:105). How could it be otherwise? Anything that the true light says must illuminate the way to truth in all its glory, and we know that God has inspired the Scriptures and speaks to us in and by them (2 Tim. 3:16–17). To know the light—the truth and nothing but the truth—we must know God’s Word.
Earthly lights may flicker and fail, but God as the light never fails to show us what is true, good, and beautiful. In His light do we see light (Ps. 36:9). His light reveals to us the truth of our sin, which can be painful, but then the purifying light of His Holy Spirit continually renews us, making us grow in holiness and bringing us to a stronger and deeper trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, who as God is also the Light of the World (John 8:12). May we ever walk in His light.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
People outside the church stumble around in spiritual darkness, far away from God’s blessing, turned against the Lord in their thoughts, words, and deeds. Through our regeneration and in the ministry of faithful churches, we have access to the light of God’s truth, but so often we choose to live as if we are in the darkness. Let us seek the light of God in His Word and ask Him to renew in our hearts daily a love for His light.
For further study
- Psalm 18:28
- John 3:21
The bible in a year
- 1 Kings 9–21
- John 2
- 1 Kings 22–2 Kings 3
- John 3