And this is the message which we have heard from him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
John opens his letter with something he did not see but heard. It is a message from Christ Himself about God's own nature. What does it mean that God is light, and why does John put this message first?
A Message, Not a Sight
The opening verses describe what the apostles saw in Christ. Verse 5 turns to something they heard and passed on. One writer weighs the wording, and asks who "him" is:
Along with the manifestation of perfect grace comes the inseparable message of holiness. This is due to God, and necessary for the saints. They had heard it from Christ Himself. The message is not "about Him" but "from Him" — not a manifestation of love, but a message against sin. It is also the first place where the apostle mixes God with Christ, because He is God. The message comes from "Him": this might mean God, but he had just been speaking of Christ. Such a transition perplexes the commentators; but it is a beauty, not a blemish.
The same writer marks what this message is not:
It is not the law but a message. Grace does not put us under law. But it does tell us God's own judgment on everything contrary to His nature.
What "Light" Says About God
John does not define the word. Another writer reads it from the nature of light itself:
Light is transparent, perfectly transparent. It is the symbol of intrinsic purity, of God's moral character. To say "God is light" is to say He is holy; not only relatively, but absolutely so. Light does not change, and God cannot be corrupted or tarnished. No moral poison can enter His moral nature. No evil, no sin can ever originate or be in Him... "God is light" tells us that His moral discernment is absolutely perfect. It is a moral impossibility for God to look on sin with pleasure.
No Mixture, No Trade-Off
The second half of the verse rules out any shade in Him. Light and love must be held together:
We all know how common it is for people to talk about God as love. Some push it to an extreme: not just that God is love, but that love is God. Much less do we hear the message that He is light... But if it is a truth that God is love, He is a great deal more than love. "Light" is a burning word. It expresses the intrinsic and absolute purity of His nature. "Love" expresses that same nature in sovereign action towards others, and in Himself as well. He never sacrifices His light to His love. If anyone thought of Him that way, it would bring the greatest loss on His children.
Another writer ties the two statements to the cross: light is His character, "which made the death of His Son a necessity," while love is His nature, "which led Him to give His Son."
What Light Does
Light does not only shine. It shows what is really there:
Light makes things visible. In the dark nothing is seen as it is. In a dark room there is no difference between a chair and a table. The difference exists, but it is not seen. So it is in the spiritual darkness of our nature. Good and evil, the things of God and the things of the world, are all blended and confused. The evil is there, but apart from God's grace it is not judged. Bring the light of God's truth into the soul, and everything is spiritually discerned, for God is light.
From Thick Darkness Into Open Day
Under the law God hid Himself. One writer sets the two eras side by side:
God had said to Israel that He would dwell in thick darkness. At Sinai He told them to keep away: if even an animal touched the mountain, they were to stone it. There was much good there, but He stayed hidden behind His covering of darkness. God acted towards Israel, but did not show Himself. Now the veil is torn from top to bottom, and all is light. The truth we are in has this very nature: God now stands openly revealed. Whoever comes in through the torn veil stands in the light of God's holiness. That light is perfect purity in itself, and it shows up everything that is not.
The Standard for Every Claim
Placed where it is, the verse becomes a measuring line for what people say about themselves:
The apostles received the manifestation of life through what they saw in Christ. They received the message of light through what they heard from Him. It stands here as the standard by which the claims of men may be measured... It tests the claims of all who say they have this fellowship.
Summary
- Heard — The apostles saw the life. This truth they heard from Christ, and they pass it on as a message, not a law.
- Light — Light is pure through and through. Nothing can stain God, nothing can fool Him, and He takes no pleasure in sin.
- Unmixed — "No darkness at all" means no shading and no trade-off; He never gives up His light for the sake of His love.
- Exposing — Light makes manifest. What sin really is stays blurred until God's light enters the room of the soul.
- Open — The God who once dwelt in thick darkness now stands revealed. The torn veil sets us in that light, not shut out from it.