Let the Light In, 1 John 1:5-2:11

There are certain hours during summer evenings when the sun streams through our patio doors at just the right angle, highlighting every crumb and speck of dust on the kitchen floor. Ugh! What I once perceived to be a clean place is exposed as not clean, and I’m left with two ways I could react because of what this light reveals. Option #1: I could pull the blinds and claim my light bulbs are good enough, or Option #2: I could admit that I need to grab a broom.  

Sunlight reveals reality wherever it penetrates, and these verses shine on the kitchen floor of our lives, if we’ll let them. Before we can pull the blinds, we’re pointed to the source of light:

“God is…”

The popular message we might expect John to proclaim isn’t the one he gives for now. Eventually, he’ll declare that God is love, and super-charge that topic like no other author, but first things first. God is light. 

Calling God light is nothing new.

Moses said our secret sins are exposed in the light of God’s presence.

David declared that He is our light and our salvation.

Isaiah wrote that nations who once lived in darkness have seen a great light, the One who heals blindness.

Jesus said He is the light of the world, and John himself wrote that Jesus’ light overcomes darkness.

James referred to God as the Father of lights.

Paul said God shines the knowledge of Christ in the same way that He said “Let there be light” at the very beginning of creation.

God is complete knowledge that dispels ignorance, and He is perfect wholeness for the divided and deceived. He harbors no dark secrets; he doesn’t operate on hidden motives, because he has no shadow side. We’d rather keep some parts of ourselves in the dark, denying duplicity and suppressing doubts. Or we keep the lights on dim, claiming that everything is fine, according to me. But the light of self-discovery, self-help, or enlightened philosophy proves inadequate compared to His light.

If His light is in us, we’ll welcome the exposure of every crumb and speck of dust inside. Shockingly, rather than exposing in order to condemn, God’s light reveals the path to resolution and assurance, where we can confidently walk with Him in His shared light.