TEXT: JAMES 1:17
" Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."(KJV)
"Whatever gifts are worth having, whatever endowments are perfect of their kind, these come to us from above; they are sent down by the Father of all that gives light, with whom there can be no change, no swerving from his course."(Knox NT)
God is refers to in this text as the father of lights. This description of Him suggests that He is the maker of the sun, the moon and the stars. He is the father of all that gives light, according to Knox rendering. God being the father of lights, connotes He is the maker of all sources of natural light.
We would not ignore this description of God, for herein lies great reason for us to praise and worship Him the more. And in surveying this, we should bear in mind that this descriptive verse has its root in the accusation laid on God in vs 13. Vs 17 was provoked by this allegation. From verses 14 through 18, James goes on the voyage of exonorating God.
In our present text, He paints God as the father of all lights...in the first part of this vs, he has said that all good and perfect gifts are from God and in this second part of the same vs, he posits that God is the author, the father and initiator of all sources of natural light. This kind of God cannot be one who places sin in the way of any man.(James argued)
Come to think of it, light is very pleasant to the soul: it beauty and glory cannot be overstretched. No man loves darkness at all. The presence of darkness is the abundance of confussion and bruises. Where there is no light, men are forced to walk aimlessly. Whenever light comes, joy comes and sorrow goes away.
Hypocrisy and all forms of deceit gives way to sincerity at the instance and presence of light. Any man that loves light, would love God...John, the beloved says, "What, then, is this message we have heard from him, and are passing on to you? That God is light, and no darkness can find any place in him."(1Jn 1:5)(Knox NT) God is light, whatever emanates from Him carries the nature of light.
The moon, sun and stars, which are the main, if not, the only natural sources of light, share some characteristic with God. If God is called the father of anything, it suggests that such thing shares some characteristics of God. Infact anything created by God has God's characteristic. So, Paul says, in Rom.1:20, " For from the first making of the world, those things of God which the eye is unable to see, that is, his eternal power and existence, are fully made clear, he having given the knowledge of them through the things which he has made, so that men have no reason for wrongdoing."(BBE)
The bottom line of this theology of James is simply this, in God, there is no darkness at all...He is pure, innocent, glorious and revealing. When a man joins himself to God or enters into partnership with God, he enters into the sphare or realm of clarity, soundness of mind and pointfulness. Why? Because he has enter into rest...he has joined hand with light and the source of all light. No wonder, James was so bold to tell his audience to ask for wisdom if they lack it...wisdom here means light to guide a man into what to do per time.
Moreover, in the passage from 1 Jn above, it is gathered that the centrality of Jesus's massages and ministry on earth, is that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all, meaning, no underhanded character. He is plain and simple as light. The simplest being to relate with is God...His accommodating capacity is way beyond what any man can imagine. He is the father of all light!
Furthermore, this phrase, namely, "the father of all light" suggests as well that God is the source of all insight, it could be scientific insight, spiritual insight or otherwise! Insight into any puzzle comes from God. He knows the end from the beginning. Fellowship and partnership with Him, is a chance to know what otherwise a man cannot know. With God, there is no secrate , for "...not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do."
No man can be prophetic if he be far away from God! To be far from God is to be far from knowing our true state and that of others. To a man that has pitched his tent with God, nothing is a secrate. What has being and is and would be are known only to those who dwell with this Fathered of all lights. To be continued.