Jesus Is Light and There is No Darkness in Him at All (1 John 1:5)

“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you:

God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all” (1 John 1:5, NLT).

The Scriptures call God many different things to help us understand who God is. One of the most graphic terms used to describe Him is light. “God is light.” Apostle John says that because of who God is, “there is no darkness in him at all”; it is God’s very nature to be a powerful Light piercing the darkness and confusion of this life. God’s light shows us the way. In Psalm 43:3, we read: “Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me.” Just as torchlight, physical light can help us find our way and feel safe, so God’s light can give us direction spiritually and help us know where we are going in life.

Another purpose of light is to point to and take care of imperfections. The whole principle behind the x-ray is that strong light can see through or penetrate our body to show up our inner body. Light (like a laser beam or think of a Star Wars lightsaber) can also be focused sharply enough to cut or repair damage or wipe out a tumor or cancer or other illnesses. When I saw a baby was blindfolded and placed in a special incubator because of a blood problem, a strong light was aimed toward the baby’s body – hot and bright light – and within a day the blood condition returned to normal because of the healing power of that light. Light can heal.

Now, according to Apostle John, the opposite of light is darkness, which is not just darkness in a physical sense but in a spiritual sense. If the light is truth, then darkness is ignorance. If the light is purity, then darkness is sin. If the light is good, then darkness is evil. The Apostle Paul reminds us: “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13). In a physical sense, generally, most plants and animals do not grow well if they are always in darkness. Without the warm, nourishing light of the sun, most plants would die. Light is also nourishing and brings growth; darkness, on the other hand, is weakening and stops growth.

God’s light is like that: to live in God’s light is to grow and change; to live outside of God’s light is to be confused and lost. Living with God gives us the courage not only to cope with our fears and frustrations but also to enjoy life to the fullest. Jesus said about Himself this way: “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12) and he said, “God is light.” Both are the same. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.