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.

 

 

 

This then is the message which we have heard of him                   Revelation

 

And declare unto you,                                                                Proclamation

 

That God is light,                                                                       Constitution

 

And in him is no darkness at all.                                                 Omission

 

 

Other Versions:

 

NKJV:  This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

 

ESV:  This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

 

Definitions:

 

A.   Message

1.    Strong (1860):  an announcement, especially a divine assurance of good

2.    Thayer:  announcement

3.    Vine:  a summons, to proclaim, announce

 

B.   Heard

1.    Strong (191):  to hear

2.    Thayer:  to hear, to attend to, to consider what is said, to understand, to perceive the sense of what is said

3.    Vine:  to hear

 

C.   Declare (NOTE:  This is a different Greek work that the one found  in 1 John 1:3).

1.    Strong (312):  to announce in detail

2.    Thayer:  to announce, make known, report, bring back tidings, rehearse

3.    Vine:  to announce, report, bring back tidings, “ana,” the prefix of the Greek word, “carries the significance of upward, i.e., heavenly, as characteristic of the nature of the tidings”

 

D.   God

1.    Strong (2316):  a deity, the supreme Divinity

2.    Thayer:  the Godhead, trinity

3.    Vine:  the one true God

 

E.   Light

1.    Strong (5457):  to shine or make manifest, especially by rays, luminiousness

2.    Thayer:  light, the light, any thing emitting light, God is light because light has the extremely delicate, subtle, pure, brilliant quality

3.    Vine:  to light

 

F.    Darkness

1.    Strong (4653):  dimness, obscurity

2.    Thayer:  darkness, it is associated with ignorance, wickedness, and hell

3.    Vine:  dark

 

G.   At all

1.    Strong (3762):  not even one… that is, none, nobody, nothing

2.    Thayer:  no one, nothing

3.    Vine (see “nothing”):  no one

 

Personal Observations:

 

A.   The message of this book, and all books of the Bible, begins with God (See Gen. 1:1)

B.   God choose to communicate His message through men to men.

C.   The message the apostles proclaimed they heard first from God.  The words they penned were not their own.

D.   The only thing the apostles proclaimed was the message they heard from God.

E.   The apostles did not keep the message to themselves.  They declared it to others.

F.    Part of their message was the God is light.

G.   The very essence or nature of God is light.

H.   There is no darkness in God. 

1.    There is no darkness in the being and heart of God:  no evil thoughts, no lies, no sin, no evil lusts.

2.    God is not associated with ignorance, wickedness, or the darkness of hell.

3.    This is emphasized by the words “at all.” 

 

 

Barnes

 

This then is the message which we have heard of him   

 

A.   “This is the substance of the announcement…which we have received of him, or which he made to us” (Barnes, e-sword).

 

B.   “The phrase ‘of him’…does not mean respecting him, or about him, but from him; that is, this is what we receive from his preaching; from all he said” (Barnes e-sword).

 

And declare unto you,

                                                                  

That God is light,

 

A.   “The peculiarity, the substance of all that he said, may be summed up in the declaration that God is light, and in the consequences which follow from this doctrine” (Barnes, e-sword).

 

B.   “Light in the Scriptures, is the emblem of purity, truth, knowledge, prosperity, and happiness – as darkness is of the opposite” (Barnes, e-sword).

 

C.   “John here says that ‘God is light’…not the light, or a light, but light itself; that is, he is himself all light, and is the source and fountain of light in the world” (Barnes, e-sword).

1.    “He is perfectly pure, without any admixture of sin” (Barnes, e-sword).

2.    “He has all knowledge, with no admixture of ignorance on any subject” (Barnes, e-sword).

3.    “He is infinitely happy, with nothing to make him miserable” (Barnes, e-sword).

4.    “He is infinitely true, never stating or countenancing error…” (Barnes, e-sword).

5.    “…he is bless in all his ways, never knowing darkness or disappointment and adversity” (Barnes, e-sword).

 

D.   James 1:17; John 1:4-5; 1 Tim. 6;16

                                                                  

And in him is no darkness at all.                

                            

A.   “This language is much in the manner of John, not only affirming that a thing is so, but guarding it so that no mistake could possibly be made as to what is meant” (Barnes, e-sword).

 

B.   “The expression here is designed to affirm that God is absolutely perfect; that there is nothing in him which is in any way imperfect, or which would dim or mar the pure splendor of his character, not even as much as the smallest spot would on the sun” (Barnes, e-sword).

 

 

Woods

 

This then is the message which we have heard of him   

 

A.   “This message John and the other apostles had ‘heard’ from ‘him,’ i.e., Christ” (Woods 215).

             

And declare unto you,

                                                                  

That God is light,

 

A.   “The affirmation, ‘God is light,’ is not the same as ‘God is the light’ or ‘God is a light,’ but simply God is light, such is his essence; he is of the character of light” (Woods 215).

 

B.   “The word ‘light’ sums up the divine character on the intellectual side, as ‘God is love,’ similarly describes the fulness of his moral nature” (Woods 215).

 

C.   “He is…

1.    …the ‘author’ of light (James 1:17),

2.    …its creator (Gen. 1:3);

3.    …he is bathed in perpetual light (1 Tim. 6:16);

4.    …and the marvelous light in which Christians are to walk is his (1 Pet. 2:9)” (Woods 215).

                                                                            

And in him is no darkness at all.                

 

A.   “’Darkness’ is a figure of ignorance, superstition, and sin, as ‘light’ representstruth purity and goodness” (Woods 215).

 

B.   “The devil and his agents are styled ‘the world rulers of this darkness’ (Eph. 6:12), and their domain is called ‘the power of darkness’ (Col. 1:13)” (Woods 215)

 

C.   “Though there is much darkness in the world, ‘darkness in him there is none whatsoever” (Woods 215).

 

D.   “The statement in the Greek text, is an exceedingly emphatic one, the two negatives…signifying ‘no, not even a tiny particle!’” (Woods 215).

 

E.   “There is no discoloration, no admixture of darkness in the pure light which streams from the character of God” (Woods 215).

 

 

Bruce

 

This then is the message which we have heard of him   

                  

And declare unto you,

                                                                  

That God is light,

 

A.   “Light in Gen. 1.3 is the beginning of God’s creation.  In Ps. 104.2 it is God’s garment-like covering” (Bruce 40)

 

B.   “The light of God is frequently found as a metaphor for the life or salvation that he imparts…While life is the central thought in this use of ‘light,’ there is in this Gospel the further thought of spiritual illumination which comes when God reveals Himself in His Word, and this carries an ethical emphasis with it” (Bruce 40-41).

 

C.   There is a contrast of the sons of light and the children of darkness found in Scripture (See John 12:35; Eph. 5:8-14).

 

D.   “It is in the ethical sense that John here affirms that ‘God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.’  God, that is to say, is the source and essence of holiness and righteousness, goodness and truth; in Him there is nothing that is unholy or unrighteous, evil or false” (Bruce 41).

 

E.   LESSON:  “This being so, those whose ‘fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ’ will in their lives reflect the character of God; the will ‘walk as children of light’.  Here, then, the first of a series of ‘tests of life’ is laid down” (Bruce 41)                                                              

And in him is no darkness at all.                 

 

 

Lenski

 

Introduction

 

A.   “John advance to the fellowship as his first expansion.  The sum and substance of true religion is fellowship with God” (Lenski 382).

 

B.   “John ranges the facts that are pertinent to fellowship with God together so that the readers may at once see that they are truly in this essential fellowship and may also note who is and who is not in it” (Lenski 382).

 

C.   “The feature of this revelation that is pertinent to John’s present purpose is the truth that God is light without even a trace of darkness” (Lenski 387-388).    

 

D.   “The most terrible delusion results when this facts regarding God is in any way ignored when we consider our fellowship…with God.  To think that we can remain in darkness and yet be in fellowship with him, in whom there is no darkness whatever, is the height of delusion, the saddest contradiction” (Lenski 388).

 

E.   “What fellowship hath light with darkenss?” (2 Cor. 6:14).

 

This then is the message which we have heard of him   

 

A.   “G.K. would also add euanggelion, which is however, a specific term for ‘good report or message’” (Lenski 388).

 

B.   “’From him’ must mean from his son Jesus Christ (v. 3)…’From him’ presents the final and the absolute source of all information” (Lenski 388).

 

And declare unto you,

 

A.   “This indicates “that the reporting comes ‘from’ the reporters (who are witnesses, v. 2, 3)…they report ‘back’ to others what they have received” (Lenski 383).                                  

That God is light,

 

A.   “The very being of God is absolute light. 

 

B.   “This is one of God’s transitive attributes…which ever reach out from God and do more merely rest quiescently in him” (Lenski 384).

 

C.   “Light in God, we thus venture to add, is righteousness, holiness in the absolute sense.  The whole revelation of God in the Word, in particular all that his Son has revealed of him, show him as light in the sense of truth, righteousness (holiness)” (Lenski 385).

                                                                  

And in him is no darkness at all.

 

A.   “i.e., not a single bit; the double negative is very strong in the Greek” (Lenski 384).

 

B.   “The placing of the negative statement beside the positive always emphasizes.  It does so here in the strongest way…there is absolutely no darkness in God, not even one small shadow that might dim his truth, righteousness, and holiness” (Lenski 384).