I was recently having a conversation with someone, as it relates to the intent of God in making mankind, but thought it best if I backed up and explained first, “God as The Light”.
God desires relationship to and with mankind. Whether or not people choose to enter into a relationship is up to them because God has given them free will.
“God as The Light”
Genesis 1:3-4
3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. This is the first mention of light in the scriptures, but is it referring to God as the Light?
John 1:1-9
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
So from the verse above, it’s clear that John is referring to Jesus, but the verse is also giving us a little more insight as it relates to the light. We know that the light is the life, and that the life is the light of all men. What’s the purpose of this light? Some may say the light died on the cross for the sins of mankind. Jesus came as the light, and died on the cross as the light, but this doesn’t tell us the purpose for the light. In 1John, he touches on the purpose of the light. Let’s see what John has to say concerning the light and the purpose of it.
1John 1:1-4
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.
John defines for us what the life, aka the light, aka Jesus’ purpose was; and that is, 1) to give eternal life and, 2) to allow us to have fellowship with the Father through the Son.
In the two verses above, we were referring to the Son as the light, but in the verse below, it is speaking about the Father as the light and fellowship with the Father.
1John 1:5-7
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. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Now that we have laid the groundwork and have better understanding of the light and its purpose, we can start by saying that from all the verses above we know that God is a life giving Spirit. Once we enter into a relationship with God, which by the way is an eternal relationship with God, (meaning God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit), we then by the power and fellowship of God also become life giving spirits as well. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name… (John 1:12) Why should we even know God as the light? Or why does that even matter? Some may ask, or some may say, “I already know God as the light”. I find it amazing that throughout the history of man, people have failed to see and understand God as light, as He intended. People prefer to view knowledge, money and people as the light rather than God himself. Whenever the mention of God is brought up in conversation, people always refer back to Adam and Eve, and rightly so. Often times what’s misunderstood or overlooked is the fact that they chose the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil over God. Yes make no mistake about it, they were fully aware of their actions, because, what God had said to them they understood to the highest degree. But like them, many of us choose knowledge over God, making that our own light.
See what the light of God does is gives us insight on who we are as God intended (Psalms 119:30). From the beginning, man has always rejected the light (John 3:19) given from God to mankind. People speak about the Law of Moses given to him by God for the people as if it’s a great thing. But what’s missed is that this was never the heart or intent of God. The law was given as the result of the people rejecting fellowship with God on Mount Sinai (Exodus 20: 18-21). God's heart was that His people come up to the mountain to fellowship with Him, the light and the life of men. (Read Exodus chapters 19 and 20)
People apart from God have no real concept of light as it refers to life. (Side note; See in the Old Testament, mankind is engaging God the Father as the light; the New Testament introduces God the Son after His death and return to heaven. God the Holy Spirit is then introduced. Each person of the Godhead plays a role in helping us to understand God as the light, and the whole concept of light for that matter.)
From scriptures it’s clear that men hate the light because their deeds are dark.
John 3:19-20
19"This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20"For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
Written by: Dale. S Skinner Jr.
