The Nature of God as the Basis of Fellowship
We have been brought into fellowship with divine persons. This is a wonderful privilege—but it also involves responsibility. When we consider with whom we have fellowship, it is clear that this fellowship must be connected with certain conditions.
Therefore, verses 5–10 speak about the nature (the essence) of God.
Just as the content of the message, so also its source: Christ Himself. John is not passing on a message he heard from others. It is not a tradition handed down from generation to generation. Nor is it based on human reasoning, conclusions, or imagination. Rather, it is the message “which we have heard from him.”
How important it is—even today—that we pay attention, especially in divine matters, to the source of what we hear. Does it come from Him? Is it founded on the Word of God? If not, it must be rejected as a lie.
God Is Light and God Is Love
When it comes to the question of who God is in His nature, our epistle gives a twofold answer:
- “God is light”(1:5)
- “God is love”(4:8,16)
Both characteristics belong inseparably together. We must be careful not to emphasize one at the expense of the other. Often this happens with the love of God. Yet we can hardly understand the love of God properly unless we also understand what it means that God is light. It is noteworthy that John first speaks about this aspect of God’s nature. Nevertheless, both stand side by side—equally important and inseparable.
When we think about the statement that God is light and that in Him there is no darkness at all, it may initially be a frightening thought. Light speaks of the absolute purity of God. He has absolutely nothing to do with sin and is completely separated from it. Furthermore, light reveals our condition.
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He placed people in the light of God, and their sinfulness became evident. The same is true today: “But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light; for whatever makes manifest is light.”(Ephesians 5:13). Man, who is darkness, cannot have fellowship with God, who is light. “For ye were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:8). In his sinfulness, he stands in complete opposition to the nature of God. This caused people to hate the Lord Jesus in the past, and it still drives them away from Him today.
Children of God and the New Nature
Yet the children of God are neither frightened by the thought that God is light nor driven away from Him by it. On the contrary, John presents the nature of God as the foundation of our fellowship with Him. Anyone who wishes to have fellowship with God must be aligned to His nature. And this is exactly the case with the children of God. Through new birth, they have received eternal life. They therefore possess the nature of God. If God is light, this now also characterizes the children of God: “But now you are light in the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:8).
Of course, it is true that we once were darkness. What God possesses essentially had first to be given to us through the new birth. We had to be born of God (cf. Gospel of John 1:13). God desired to have fellowship with human beings, and the children of God may know that God Himself has made them suitable for this by giving them His own nature. What immeasurable grace!
The three tests of profession (verses 6–10)
In the following verses, John presents three statements, each beginning with the words “If we say…”:
- “…that we have fellowship with him.”(v.6)
- “…that we have no sin.”(v.8)
- “…that we have not sinned.”(v.10)
Whether someone makes such statements or not, John does not say. But if this happens—if the condition is fulfilled—then he examines such a profession. To profess something is not necessarily wrong; all of us do so in one way or another. But what if our profession does not agree with our life? What if what we claim contradicts the Word of God? Then the profession proves to be false. With these three statements, we can go even further: they serve as tests to determine whether someone is truly a child of God. John now has in view all who profess to be Christians—the whole of Christendom. He even includes himself in the “we” and examines the profession: Is it genuine? Is this truly a child of God? Or is it merely a professor who claims something that is not actually true?
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