Topic: God is Light 1 John 1:5 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. (King James Version) Introduction When John was writing this verse and the whole of the three epistles by his name, it looks like it was a time when Gnostics were destabilizing the church with some of the most dangerous heresies of the first two centuries of the church. Gnostics were known for their central teaching that salvation is a product of knowledge. The John of these epistles is the same John of Revelation and that of gospel of John. These few similarities of phraseology can testify to this fact that the author of the three epistles, the gospel of John and the apocalyptic book of Revelation: Similarity of phraseology between this Epistle and the gospel of John. The First Letter John The Gospel of John 1. That your joy may be full (1 John 1:4) That your joy may be full (John 16:24) 2. The true light now shineth (1 John 2:3) The true light which lighteth (John 1:9) 3. We have an advocate (1 John 2:1) We know him, if we keep (John 2:3) The first letter of John is anonymous but has been attributed to John the apostle and author of the first gospel. This identification was made by Irenaeus who lived between 140 and 203 AD, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian between 150 to and Origen from 185 to 253. The write presents himself as an eyewitness of Jesus (1:1-4 and 4:14). In addition he addresses his readers in such a warm and loving tones as little children (2:1, 18 and 3:7) which may well have been fatherly expressions coming from an old man. II. The Context Historical Context John labours in Palestine probably until the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 (Acts 4:19; 8:14 Gal 2:9) after which he probably supervises the church in Asia (Rev 1:4). He is summoned to Rome to stand trial before Domitian is cast into a cauldron of boiling oil, and received by this tormentors (AA 569-570). He is banished by Domitian to the penal island of Patmos AD 95 (Rev 1:9-11). He is set free upon the accession of Nerva: probably returns to Ephesus of Nerva and there writes his Gospel and the three letters. He knew this area well; his message was directed and was meant to counter the Gnostic false teachings. Gnosticism was one of the most dangerous heresies of the first two centuries of the church. This was the time part of which John lived. Gnostics central teaching was that salvation is a product of knowledge. The Gnostic theory held that good and evil were necessary counterparts of each other and that both strung from the same divine source-God. This letter was probably addressed to the church in Ephesus because John in his later years resided there. John was reflecting in his old age that God is light (1 John 1:5), God is love (1 John 4: 16), the son of God came in flesh and was the Messiah (1 John 4:2). Literary Context One of the most notable qualities of light is its power to dispel darkness. On the highest moral, the spiritual, God exhibits this quality in a superlative degree-the darkness of sin cannot exist in His sight. At the slightest hint that God could have the slightest of darkness, John comes out blazing truth that in Him is no darkness at all. Literary darkness in Him is not, not (one darkness). Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthews 11:28) seems to say bring all your dirty laundry, or bring your lives so cast in darkness and Jesus, who has the ultimate of light will bloat all into purified light unimaginable. Nothing can flourish in darkness except certain low forms of life that tend to make the darkness more repulsive. Decay progresses rapidly in the absence of life giving light. Eyes that have grown