In the first epistle of John, the apostle of love declares on three occasions what “God is.” Notice these with me for reflection and study.
First, John declares, “God is light” (1 John 1:5). In his gospel record, he also opened that book of the Bible with the same declaration compared with John the Immerser:
The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe…That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world (John 1:7, 9)
The apostle John may well remember hearing the words of the Lord with his own ears: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5). In fact, his discussion of Jesus being the light of the world was one of the profound discourses John uses in his gospel in conjunction with the miracle of healing a blind man (giving a man light who was living in the blindness of darkness) for creating belief (cf. John 20:30-31). It was in the darkness of void that the first recorded words from God are, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3) in the creation of our universe. The word of God often uses light and darkness to teach important tangible lessons of contrast. Jesus would even teach,
Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. (John 12:35-36)
Second, John declares, “God is greater” (1 John 3:20; 5:9). In a discussion of the activity of love in the lives of brethren, John declares, “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things” (1 John 3:20). In other words, if the conscious of our heart condemns us because we know that our love is fake, then God is even greater and knows all things. Later in the book when John is mentioning the witnesses of the deity of Jesus, he states, “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son” (1 John 5:9). God certainly testified to the deity of Jesus at His baptism (Matt. 3:16-17) and at His transfiguration (Matt. 17:5). Jesus would comment, “I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me” (John 8:18). The entire New Testament book of Hebrews is a discourse to Christians who were formerly Jews that Christianity and Jesus Christ are greater! Therefore, with any type of comparison between man and God, “God is greater.”
Third, John exclaims, “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). How can we even contemplate our Almighty Sovereign Creator without regarding His love for His created? We need to reflect more upon the love of God. John 3:16 paints the love of God perfectly, as it is one of the first memory verses we have learned from our childhood. Calvary is the portrait of the love of God. The statement of John is true: “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
Therefore, from the first epistle of John, we learn that “God is light…God is greater…God is love.”