John makes clear the very important message that he heard from the mouth of the Lord Jesus, together with the others who were there. It is a message they heard from the Son of God himself. That message is that God is light and that in him there is not even a trace of darkness.

John is not concerned with a mere idea here. This is not only about God who is above creation and about whom we can say very beautiful things. This is not about God who, as the light, is apparently almost detached from ordinary life. That is how the people thought who had left the church and who were also attempting to draw the believers away. They claimed that what you do with your body in that very ordinary life is not all that important. Nor would that make you guilty before God. What matters is the knowledge. It is the knowledge that lifts you with your soul, with the spiritual element that is in you above that plain and ordinary life.

John will clarify in what follows that the message that God is light is so very important precisely for ordinary life on this earth. It is also decisive when it comes to eternal life.

The message that God is light makes it clear what the Lord is like. It also reminds us of what the Lord Jesus said to the rich young man, Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good (Matthew 19:17). For the young man to enter life, Jesus pointed to the commandments. Here too you see the connection between God being good and the life that belongs to people who are connected to him.

We read again and again in the Bible that God is light. Therefore, his Word that comes to us in the Bible is also the light that shows us the way in the dark. Some clear parts of the Bible where we read this include the following:

·         Psalm 36:9–10: For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!

·         1 Timothy 6:15–16: He [Christ] who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honour and eternal dominion. Amen.

It is specifically in Christ that we know the Father. Through the light he spreads we learn what the Triune God is like. In Christ who is the light, we really get to know God as the light. We also see this in the Bible. The Lord comes with the promise of the Redeemer, and we read of him:

·         Isaiah 49:6: He says: It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

We read the fulfillment in the New Testament:

·        John 8:12: Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

·         John 12:44–46: And Jesus cried out and said, Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness (see also John 12:35–36).

We may see and learn that God is light from his very own Word in which he shows us the way with his light in this dark world. Here are a few more clear examples from the Bible:

·         2 Peter 1:19–21: And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

·         2 Corinthians 6:14: Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

·         Ephesians 5:8–14: “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”