Event: Call to Prayer 2021
God is light
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. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1John 1:5-7
The difference between darkness and light is the most fundamental difference of all. The two cannot be mixed. Darkness is the total absence of light, and light has no darkness in it. The apostle John tells us that “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5.
Light in Scripture is a picture of truth (Ps. 43:3), holiness (Is. 10:17) and blessedness (Ps. 97:11). All these things are perfectly true of God. He is the “God of truth”, the “Holy One”, the “blessed God”.
We must always view God in this way, as pure, unadulterated truth, holiness and blessedness, and never fall into the trap of thinking that God is somehow less than this. There are no lies or falsehood in God, no impurity or callousness or injustice, no lack of joy or delight.
Now, all of this should cause us to realise just how much greater God is than anything we see in our finite, fallen world, and it should stir up a desire to know him and to be like him.
God is the source of light. All truth, holiness and blessedness derives from him. But how far we have fallen from the state of perfection Adam and Eve knew when they came from the hand of God.
The darkness of the world around us is evident to all, its lies, its sin, and its sorrow. But praise God that
“The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.”
Is. 9:2
The Lord Jesus Christ, “the light of the world”, has come, and through him Christians are no longer darkness but “light in the Lord” who are to “walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8). Light is where God lives and what God is, and the same is to be true of us also. We are children of light (truth, holiness and blessedness) and that should be seen in the way we live. To walk in sinful darkness is a denial of who we are.
So, day by day, are our lives filled with light? Do we hold on to the truth, seek to be like Christ in heart and life, and so know the blessing of fellowship with God?
The apostle John tells us that if we walk in darkness, we cannot really have fellowship with God, nor with other Christians. He will not walk with us in sinful darkness, and when we refuse to repent of our sins, we grieve his Holy Spirit, and he withdraws from us, leaving us cold and dark and distant.
BUT, God’s purpose for us is different. He calls us to “walk in the light as he is in the light”: to believe his promises and to trust in Christ who is the Truth, to strive to be holy as he is holy, and so to know his blessing. True fellowship with God and with one another does not require perfection – that is beyond us in this life. But it does require sincerity – to walk in the light, trusting the Saviour and his words, repenting of our sins, and knowing the cleansing of his precious blood.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
‘I am this dark world’s Light;
Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise,
And all thy day be bright.’
I looked to Jesus, and I found
In Him my star, my sun;
And in that light of life I’ll walk
Till travelling days are done.
We can hope in God because He is light
Questions
- In what way is Jesus the light of the world?
- How can we reflect the light of God in this world?
Further Reading
- John 1,
- Matthew 5:1-16
Pray
- Worship God for His purity, goodness, and love.
- Pray that God might give you a clearer vision of Christ.
- Pray that the Church in our country might be a city on a hill.
- Pray that the Spirit would work in people so that they move from darkness to light.