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.(I John 1:5)
As we noted earlier, John’s ministry is a ministry of restoration. The faith has been frayed, tangled and torn to the point where the believers whom John addressed were confused as to who knew God genuinely and who didn’t. What does it mean to “know him who is from the beginning”? To “be strong and have the Word of God abiding in you”?
Most importantly, who is the God and Father of Jesus Christ? What is His nature? Who is Jesus? How should we understand His person? What is eternal life and who truly possesses it?
The effect of the heresies , pretensions, boasting, false words, spiritual elitism and mysticism of the gnostics always demoralizes and confuses the saints on the basic level of the questions above.
The restoration to the wholesome, sincere christian faith once delivered to us by the Apostles, must of necessity begin with the presentation of the “only true God”. The revelation of God comes to us in three theological propositions. God is Light…God is Love…and Jesus Christ has come and remains in the flesh.
What is the meaning of the statement, God is Light, and in him is no darkness at all? Light is an oft used metaphor to describe certain attributes and perfections of God.
For example, we are told God dwells in light which is unapproachable. Light here being the very emblem of purity and splendor.
…the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.(I Timothy 6;15-16)
The property of Light is that it reveals… all things are naked and open before Him with whom we have to do… . God is light, in Him all things are revealed in their true nature. Hypocrisy is shortsighted because “there is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed…“.
Coming to the “only true God” is coming into the Light, where all is seen for what it truly is. Isaiah had an encounter with the true God, which caused him to pronounce prophetic woes upon himself! In God’s light we see ourselves as we are, not as we imagine ourselves to be, and it can be terrible.
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple…Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.(Isaiah 6:1-5)
Peter had a similar experience. As a professional Fisherman, he thought Jesus was just another preacher until Jesus performed a miracle, filling his nets to overflowing with fish.
So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:7-8)
Because God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, anyone who has truly met God, has had this kind of experience. Like Peter and Isaiah, they have seen God, and abhorred themselves as sinners to the core ! They are transformed from self lovers, to self abhorrence, in the light of the Holy God!
On the contrary, the gnostics are not concerned at all with sin, or sinfulness. Their light doesn’t expose sin, in fact they deny that sin is a hindrance to a relationship with God. To them, light refers to revelation knowledge, without moral content.
That is why deceivers such as Todd Bentley can continue in ‘prophetic ministry’ after leaving his wife and marrying another. Other seducers, such as Rick Joyner endorse and encourage Bentley and his ilk, because to them Bentley’s “revelations” and “miracles” are all that matters, not his morality.
This is also why John had to speak what seems like the obvious,
…God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:(I John 1:5-6)
and sadly this needs to be repeated,
…Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.(I John 3:7-8)
Shouldn’t this be obvious? Not anymore, after so many years of Joyner, Hinn, C0peland, Hagin, and Steve Hill , there are many for whom this is not so obvious. Their Nets have been tangled, snarled and torn, and their faith is shattered.
They have been presented with a God who is not Light, not in the sense of moral splendor, Righteousness, exposure and repudiation of evil. The God of the Bentley’s and Rodney Howard Brownes of this world is a false god of false light.
To them the Apostle speaks anew, The only true God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all…. .
Pastor Bill Randles Blog 
Pas. Bill, you are so right. Those men you mentioned are not our brothers, they are deceivers. If they loved God’s Word they would know that.
Keep on keeping on you are special to us. 🙂
Thank-you for a beautifully constructed, logically coherent commentary. Upon thought, it appears that your concluding assessment can be applied to evolutionary theists as well.
Agreed. Evolutionary theorists must disregard Romans 5:12 for their theory to work.
“Most importantly, who is the God and Father of Jesus Christ?”
Paul introduces each of his epistles by bringing to remembrance God “our Father,” with the singular exception of his final letter. However, in the Ephesian epistle, Paul reveals “our Father” in ways He has never been revealed before:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph 1:3).
Our Father “hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (cf. Eph 1:4).*
Our Father “predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will” (cf. Eph 1:5).
Our Father “To the praise of the glory of his grace… hath made us accepted in the beloved.”In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (cf. Eph 1:6-7).
Our Father “hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence” (cf. Eph 1:8).
Our Father “made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself” (cf. Eph 1:9).
Our Father “in the dispensation of the fulness of times” gathered “together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him” (cf. Eph 1:10).
Our Lord Jesus Christ “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of” Our Father “who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (cf. Eph 1:11).
“We should be to the praise of” Our Father’s “glory, who first trusted in Christ” (cf. Eph 1:12).
Our Lord Jesus Christ “In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of [our Father’s glory]” (cf. Eph 1:13-14).
Not an exact quote — cf. (Latin: confer/conferatur, i.e “compare”) – please compare with referenced text.
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