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"This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." 1 John 1:5 NASB, bolls.life/NASB/62/1/5

Sorry for my English. And my question is the next: Can I understand the sentence literally? These are the next reasons why:

  • For light does not exist time at all. It does not have a beginning, it is endless, eternal, everlasting just like God!
  • Light does not have mass! it is weightless just like God!
  • It is anywhere, just like God`s Spirit!
  • It is corpuscular, photon and at the same time, it is a wave, just like God and Spirit.

Judge me not, just share your thoughts concerning Jesus`s saying.

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    Physical light does have a beginning. It is not eternal. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. Genesis 1:3. Only God himself is eternal.
    – Nigel J
    Nov 23, 2019 at 22:52
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    Can you read it literally? In context the light is not God but God is light, so it’s a metaphor. You can’t attribute to a metaphor the attributes of the eternal God. The subject is God and you’ve made the subject the light. Or so it seems. Nov 24, 2019 at 1:59
  • @nigel-j, in relativistic mechanic, the physical light does not have a beginning. The time does not exist for light at all. The word was said by Jesus, who has become literally a sacrifice for our sins, that nobody had expected! Nov 24, 2019 at 7:50
  • @nigel-j I see that you do not know or understand the science Nov 24, 2019 at 12:41
  • @БогуславПавлишинець Without him did nothing come into being, that came into being. In the beginning was the Word. And God was the Word. [John 1:1-3.]
    – Nigel J
    Nov 24, 2019 at 14:01

2 Answers 2

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"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." - Genesis 1:1

It is nearly universally accepted (in Biblical Theology at least) that God is the uncaused cause of everything other than Himself; that He is self-existent and eternal and that, prior to this verse, God existed without space, time, or matter and that He brought those, any other dimensions, and indeed everything material and immaterial into being.

If Light in 1 John 1:5 is allowed no metaphorical interpretation then we are left with the proposition that light is the creator of time, space, and matter rather than part of it. While there are plenty of scientific theories positing the existence of light in space without time (Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, etc.) I know of none which posit Light as the uncaused cause of the material and immaterial universe.

Metaphor, analogy, simile ... these all add a richness that attracts us and draws us in but also puzzles us and holds us at arms length. It is part of the infinite Godhead condescending to reveal itself to finite minds.

"If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" - John 3:12

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God is Light 1 John 1:5

"This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." 1 John 1:5 NASB

The Gospel of John and his two epistles have two main themes , 1/ God is Light, and 2/ God is Love. My answer will be based on "God is Light" 1 John 1:5

In Him there is no darkness at all, so

"What is Darkness?"

"Darkness" refers to spiritual darkness that has to do with ignorance, senseless, futility, immorality, and wickedness that exist in the realm of Satan, Paul wrote that as the god of this world, Satan ,disguises himself as an angel of light and so has blinded the minds of the unbelieving , so they cannot understand the gospel- the good news.( 2 Cor. 4:4 , 11:14 , Eph.6:12 and John 3:19-21 NASB)

Paul under inspiration by the spirit of God writes that it is the intention of Satan and his demons to keep mankind in spiritual darkness and alienated from the light of God,thus he wrote:

2 Corinthians 4:4 (NASB)

4 " In whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

2 Corinthians 11:14 (NASB)

14 "No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."

Paul helps us by the contrast in the following verse we have a serious fight, the fight is not against mere man but against Satan and his spiritual demons.

Ephesians 6:12 (NASB)

12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."

John 3:19-21 (NASB)

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. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

What is Light

Light in the sense of Spiritual Light, has to do with the knowledge, and spiritual enlightenment that comes from studying the Bible, God's Word

2 Corinthians 4:6 (NASB)

6 "For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

Revelation 22:5 (NASB)

5" And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever."

God Is Light.

God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all - God is holy , is pure and no evil is to be found in him , hates wickedness and immorality and is the God of Truth ( Titus 1:2 ,Rev. 4:8, Habakkuk 1:14)

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  • "The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters." Genesis 1:2 NASB, bolls.life/NASB/1/1/2 In the beginning, was the darkness?. Darkness does not exist, it is the absence of light. Love is abstract, but in our physical world it is our physical deeds, our real works, it arises in our physical life through our physical works. Every abstract thing created to represent some group of physical things or deeds. And my question is: what are the physical things God represent. Nov 27, 2019 at 9:38
  • God is light-holy-pure- clean and enlightening,but because he also created the physical light or luminaries-the stars,sun and the moon-he is also referred to as the "Father of the celestial lights" . " Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. "James 1:17 NASB Also Jeremiah 31:35 Nov 27, 2019 at 15:01
  • Father of light. Children are similar to their Father. Nov 28, 2019 at 9:28
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    Yes ,Although the world of humanity live in spiritual darkness, ( Isaiah 60:2) but despite this fact , God and his Son are Light, and Light is reaching some among mankind and thus freeing them from the darkness , (John 8:12.) We are assured of this from the parable of Jesus "the wheat and the weeds" (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43) that through out the time, there would be those that are walking in the light of God. Those doing so are referred to in the scriptures as "Brothers of Christ" and "Children of God. " It is those that will inherit the Kingdom of God. Nov 28, 2019 at 19:16

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