John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
John draws upon a metaphor common in the ancient world and still today. One question is how God compares to light and what this metaphor means. John talks about God being light and love in this letter. Light and love are of different entities. Light is energy produced by atoms. Love is a relationship. It is different to say that God is light and God is love. Light is often viewed as the source of life. Most life on earth depends on light from the sun or some other source. Light illuminates things in the dark and shows a safe direction for a journey. God also provides life and gives direction in the dark. Light is often used to describe God’s holiness in the Bible (see Isaiah 6 or other visions of God’s throne). God reveals to us as his people the life of holiness. He gives us energy to walk a holy life in the midst of a dark world.
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