God is Light
I found another set of fascinating
parallel passages I want to compare. They are both written by John
whom I believe was the disciple who most thoroughly grasped the big
picture of what Jesus came to this earth to do. One passage is from
his gospel and the other from the beginning of his first letter.
That
which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we
have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched,
concerning the Word of life (and the life was revealed, and we have
seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life,
which was with the Father, and was revealed to us); that which we
have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have
fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the
Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And we write these
things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled.
This is the message which we have
heard from him and announce to you, that God is light,
and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that
we have fellowship with him and walk
in the darkness, we lie, and don’t
tell the truth. But if we walk in the light,
as he is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and righteous to
forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(1 John 1:1-9)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his
one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but
have eternal life. For God didn’t send his Son into the
world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved
through him. He who believes in him is not judged.
He who doesn’t believe has been judged already,
because he has not believed in the name of the one and only
Son of God.
This is the judgment, that the light
has come into the world, and men loved the darkness
rather than the light; for their works were evil.
For everyone who does evil hates the light, and
doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed.
But he who does the truth comes to the light,
that his works may be revealed, that they have
been done in God. (John 3:16-21)
Here are some compelling parallels I
find in comparing these two passages.
God – Father and Son – Light with
no darkness at all – Faithful and Righteous
We with you may fellowship together and
with God – Joy
Fellowship involves cleansing of all
sin/darkness/evil/unrighteousness
Walking in Light means working in God,
doing the truth
Hating light/loving darkness is
anti-fellowship – evil, unrighteousness, unlike God/Light
God is love. Loving darkness means
loving the absence of God/Light.
Claiming to have fellowship with
God/Light while hating Light is an oxymoron/lie/untruth
Fellowship requires synchronization,
congruency, sharing the same values, loving truth, light, honesty
Judgment is simply what happens when
light exposes the incongruity of the lies of darkness, unbelief in
Light/Love/God which results in dissonance, resentment, hatred
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