“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
When John the Apostle wrote his first letter, he was a very old man. He had seen a lot in his day, so that his knowledge of God, and His ways, was remarkable. In his letters, he communicates that which God leads him to write, as one that is passing on to the next generation and beyond, that which is essential to understand about God. John had learned ever so well that God is no respecter of persons, and that His ways apply to all men. It is only according to the truth, and the knowledge of His ways, that Christ can be truly known. For John, he has been brought to the point of seeing the most important issues that God revealed to him, to be passed on to generations afterwards. So how does he begin his letter, and where does he go with it, so that by the message in it, believers in his day, and those coming afterwards, can be sure to know and walk with God?
John begins with his own testimony, especially in regard to his contact with the Lord Jesus. He writes: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life.” (1 Jn. 1:1) John is very descriptive about the physical and spiritual reality of who Christ is, and his personal experience of being in His presence. He combines the very physical manifestation of the Son of God, and the fact that before him and the other disciples, was also the eternal Word of Life.
John goes on to speak of that which is the central issue in the revelation of God in Christ. He writes, “For the LIFE was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us.” (v.2) The great revealtion of God in Christ was not only by what Christ said, but by the very Life he lived, an eternal Life, as it was not only OF God, but He WAS God.
The purpose of the revelation of this LIFE eternal was not only that man might have a vision of the truth, and the very nature and person of God, but that he should know Him, commune with Him. This is why John tells us that the purpose of the revelation, then and now, is given so that all who would read his letter, “…may have fellowship (or communion) with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (1:3) In addition to these tremendous truths comes another, and it concerns JOY. Why? In knowing Christ, there is not only joy in the knowledge of the truth, and the accompanying peace, but the experience of Christ’s joy communicated to the believer by the Spirit.
There is another aspect to this message which John communicates to all believers, and it has to do with Light. First, John makes the declaration: “God IS light, and in in Him is NO darkness AT ALL.” (1:5) Why does he say this in conjunction with the revelation of God, and the objective of communion with Him? The purpose is to give to the believer an understanding of what is true communion with God, and what is not. John seeks to make this ever so clear in regard to fellowship by saying, “…If we say (profession) that we have fellowship with HIm, and walk in darkness, we lie, and DO not the truth.” (1:6) What is darkness, but the absence of light, or that which is not of truth. The believer who does not walk in the full measure of the truth that he has, and knows, in Christ, or gives ground to some lie concerning Christ and His life, is not walking in the light.
Dear Father, Fill us with Thy light. In Jesus’ name, Amen.