1 John (part 1)

It’s weird. I’m trying to write a post on a book that I read over three months ago. I’ve been reading Steven Pressfield’s “The War of Art” and I can’t help but notice I’ve been facing The Resistance. It’s been distracting me from writing, keeping me from this blog. It’s been slowing me down, this Resistance. It’s a dreadful foe. And sadly, it’s gotten the best of me.

So now I’m taking on the Resistance, and I’m writing these entries on 1 John. Ironically, this little letter from John feels much the same way. It’s a trip down memory lane: the old man John, at the end of his life, realizing there is a lot more he still wants to share about Jesus, the man, the Messiah, the God in flesh that he encountered and lived with in his early years.

John starts it off in that reflective tone, saying,

“From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in — we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in the most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The Infinite Life of God himself took shape before us…

Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!”

And that my friends, is why I’m writing this post for you. 1 John is an incredible little letter with a ton of insights. I won’t be able to cover them all, but my hope is to share a few of the best nuggets I found.

Here’s one for the go…

God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.

Talk about a loaded statement! Light is a baffling and complex entity!

It has no mass. It is both a wave and a particle. There is visible light, infrared light, x-rays and ultraviolet light. It’s speed in a vacuum is a constant, but those different types of light mentioned above act differently, show up in the world differently, travel at different speeds, and serve very different purposes in our world. It makes my brain hurt just trying to wrap my head around it. So if this analogy of God and light is true, or if God is actually light (who knows?!), then our attempts to understand light and/or God just give us a greater appreciation for it / Him.

If you ever want to dive deeper into it, read a book or two on the concept of light. Study particle theory, wave theory, electromagnetic theory, or quantum theory. Rob Bell has done a little bit of work in this area and perhaps you’d enjoy listening to it. Or maybe just start out with a nice little wikipedia article. Either way, prepare to be scratching your head. I’ll see you on the next one!