Mensa Otabil - God is Light (10/01/2025)
John chapter 1, verse 5. This is the message which you have heard from Him and declared to you: that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. In the introduction of First John, the Apostle John talked about their encounter with Christ, saying, «That which we have heard, that which we have seen, that which we have examined, and that which we have touched or handled.» He speaks of a first-hand encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now he tells us that Jesus taught them a message, and that message was that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. This was a very important message that John wanted the Christians of his time and today to understand. We also have to understand that God is light. Why was this important? Because at the time John was writing this, Christianity had spread beyond the Jewish community; it was now in the Greek community and in Roman society. The idea of the Roman gods and the Greek gods was very different from what the Bible taught. The Greek gods were imperfect and had all kinds of mischievous activities if you read about them. Thus, John is drawing a distinction between what the Greeks understood God to be and what Jesus presented God to be. So he says, «God is light.»
Three implications arise from this statement. First, God is pure; He has no imperfections. He’s not like the Greek gods, who have imperfections, throw tantrums, and are very tempestuous in their activities. This is a God who does not have imperfections; He is pure in all His ways. His love is pure, His grace is pure, His power is pure—everything about God is perfection. We cannot project our imperfections onto God because He is a perfect God.
Secondly, God being light means He is the source of life because light is life, and God is life; there is no decay in Him. What does that mean? It means God does not deteriorate, lose His energy, or lose His power. He does not become less of who He is. Time does not change the nature of God; He does not deteriorate, and His life is constant. He is perfect at all times, and that is the God we believe in. He’s perfect, He’s pure, He is life.
Thirdly, God being light means He is truth because in the world at that time, light was a symbol of knowledge and darkness symbolized ignorance. God is knowledge, pure truth, and there is no error in God. There is nothing about God that suggests, «Oh, we believe God made a mistake last year,» or «God made a mistake in the Old Testament.» God doesn’t make mistakes. He’s light, He’s pure, He’s life, He doesn’t decay, and He is truth. There is no error in Him, and that is the God we believe in, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you are a Christian and you want to know God in truth, in spirit, and in worship, these are the fundamentals we establish about God: God is light, and there is no darkness, no error, and no deficiency whatsoever in God.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, You are pure without imperfection; You are truth without error. Let me know You in Your fullness. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.» Well, my friends, that’s the God we’ve come to know, and I trust that you’ll get to know Him fuller and fuller. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom—peace and life to you.