The Glory of the Son: Full of Grace and Truth, John 1:1-18

The Logos as the Light in Darkness

 

1. Which Came First, Life or Matter? Life proceeds matter, “In Him was life”

 

1. “In Him was Life” meaning
2. The Word is the very basis of existence, John 1:1
3. The Word is the Creator of life, John 1:3 –
4. The Word lived an incredible, divine, supernatural life, John 1:4
5. The Word gives eternal, spiritual and physical life, John 1:5
6. Examples of the use of “Life” in John’s Gospel (37 occurrences in total)

• John 1:9-13, 3:1-8, 3:15-16, 3:36, 4:14, 5:21, 5:24, 5:39-40, 6:33-35, 6:40-63, 6:68, 8:12, 10:10, 10:28, 11:25, 14:6, 17:1-3, 20:31

1. The Use of Light and Darkness in John’s Gospel

• Jesus is Light and Jesus shines Light, John 1:4-5, John 1:9
• We by nature are in darkness and we by nature love the darkness,
  John 3:18-20, John 8:12, John 12:35, John 12:46

1. The Light Shines in the Darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

• The Light was visible, obvious, clear, while shining into our dark existence and our minds still could not understand or comprehend the Light.

 

Conclusion: The Son of God is the very essence of being. He is the giver of physical life. He lived a perfect life thus enabling Him to be the giver of new life. Life and light are integrally linked as a person who is in darkness is in a state of death. When the Light shines through the life of Jesus, the natural reaction is to close eyes more tightly, thus remaining in a state of darkness and ultimately in a state of death. But for some, those who open their eyes, they see light and thus receive life.

 

 

 

The Glory of the Son: Full of Grace and Truth, John 1:1-18

The Logos as the Giver of Life

1. Introduction: (Header Slide)

• There are many illustrations throughout the Bible using light and darkness to explain spiritual issues
• Light and darkness become a major theme in John’s Gospel

1. “In Him was Life” meaning

• Read John 1:4 (Slide 2)
• Brief rejoinder from last week
• A.The Word is the very basis of existence, John 1:1
• B.The Word is the Creator of life, John 1:3
• C.The Word lived an incredible, divine, supernatural life, John 1:4
• D.The Word gives eternal, spiritual and physical life, John 1:5

1. Examples of the use of “Life” in John’s Gospel (37 occurrences in total)

• We then looked at a few examples from John’s Gospel
• John 1:9-13, 3:1-8, 3:15-16, 3:36, 4:14, 5:21, 5:24, 5:39-40, 6:33-35, 6:40-63, 6:68, 8:12, 10:10, 10:28, 11:25, 14:6, 17:1-3, 20:31

1. The Use of Light and Darkness in John’s Gospel

• We turn our attention to the second half of this statement by John, “the life was the Light of men.”
• Light and darkness throughout the bible as a metaphor of spiritual realities
• Read John 1:5 (Slide 3)
• If I step on a toy in the middle of the night…
• “Dad, Sam won’t get out of my bed.” Now the dog becomes a moving obstacle all the way back to my bed. He seems to know right where I am walking and goes to great effort to get there just before me. Why did God create darkness?
• Read Genesis 1:2-3 (Slide 4)
• All of this drama could have been avoided.  Genesis opens with that great theological statement, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In the next verse, Genesis 1:2, darkness envelops the creation providing a cosmic showdown between the Creator and the dark.  God intrudes on this malady with the first spoken words in the Bible, “Let there be light.” 
• However, God does not eliminate darkness.  Instead He separates light from darkness.  The darkness remains.  Its reality dictates much of our lives even today.  Street lights, headlights, reading lights, stadium lights, florescent lights, flashlights, porch lights and on and on it goes. 
• Why does God allow this thing to remain?  That’s an odd question.  Darkness is not really a thing.  Light possesses the attributes of both particles and waves.  Light is.  Light does.  Darkness really describes the absence of light.  Even at night, when it is dark, in reality it is just not as light as it is during the day. At night, there is some light, just not enough to function without some assistance. If we are in a place of utter darkness, then there is absolutely no light. Why does God create light and why does He leave the darkness in the creation?
• Throughout Scripture, light depicts two fundamental themes: truth and righteousness. God is light because everything He says is true. God is light because everything He does is right. With respect to humanity these two themes work as follows. First, for us light means possessing and living out the truth. Darkness indicates living or believing a lie. Second, light marks moral goodness while darkness illustrates moral evil.
• In the case of truth, Isaiah 9:2 prophesies that when Christ comes “the people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.” Matthew 4:16 quotes this verse in reference to Christ. This prophecy predicts the teaching ministry of Christ in regions beyond Judea. Jesus says it this way, in John 12:46“I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.” In the prologue to the Gospel of John, John describes Jesus as “the true Light which…enlightens every man.” Christ, as the Light, enlightens or brings truth to every person. Light describes the mind clearing work done by Christ when He comes into the world. The world is in darkness because it lacks truth. Christ intrudes on this darkness through His incarnation and ministry.
• The Apostle Paul captures all of this language in his letter to the Corinthian church. In II Corinthians 4:6 he writes, “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.” Light shines in order to give knowledge. The light gives true knowledge about God and His glory. Christ Jesus, the Light of the Word, is the primary way the truth of the glory of God is revealed to humanity. Light and darkness represent truth and falsehood, respectively. Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, the Light overcoming the darkness of falsehood. Just as God overcame the dominance of darkness in creation through the creation of light, so too has God overcome the dominance of darkness in the world of falsehood through His Son.
• Moving from believing truth to the arena of light and darkness as symbols of right and wrong, Isaiah gives serious caution to “those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness.” (Isaiah 5:20) John says, “This is judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19) We love darkness (except when we are trying to make it through the house in the middle of the night). We are darkness lovers by nature because we are sinners by nature. Darkness equates to moral deeds of evil. We, by nature, love evil. However, because of our God given conscience we wish to hide the evil we love. The Bible describes this as “deeds of darkness.” We by nature are in darkness and God is by nature in the Light. We are unrighteous. God is righteous. We love evil. God loves the good.
• This disparity in nature creates a huge problem for humanity. This is why we remain in the darkness. We cannot bear to come into the light. Just like when we wake our kids in the morning, when we turn on the light they grimace. It is painful to wake up that way. They are enjoying their darkness and their slumber. The light comes and we pull the sheet over our head to cover our eyes. The plea comes for more hours of darkness. “Please dada, turn off the light.” This is the picture of humanity with relation to God. We don’t want the light to come. We are enjoying our darkness.
• This creates a challenge for individuals to become Christians. We do not want God to interrupt our slumber in the darkness. However, danger lurks there in the darkness. There is spiritual death where there is no light. When we are saved, God rescues “us from the domain darkness.” (Colossians 1:13) He takes darkness loving individuals and changes the disposition of our hearts. We loved darkness and now we love Jesus Christ, the Light of the world. Just as God overwhelms the dominance of darkness in the creation, He suddenly overwhelms the darkness of sin in the hearts of hell bound rebels. We receive a transfer. Our environment changes from the cold, darkened world of human depravity to the warm, lit world of grace.
• The change should be dramatic. Like the difference in someone first waking up in the morning and someone outside on a sunny day. The sleeper is shocked by the light. The one already awake would be just as shocked if suddenly the sun went completely black. After God saves us, we are to be different. Believers are to live differently. Romans 13:12 says, “Let us lay aside the deeds of darkness.” The analogy in this verse presents us with a fashion statement. If my wife tells me that my jacket does not match my pants, I lay aside the jacket and pick up a new jacket that hopefully matches. It is the same when we become Christians. We set aside the old way of doing things. We lay aside the old ways of thinking, speaking and acting. We put on new garments, garments that reflect the thinking, speaking and acting of those now awake.
• In I John, the apostle affirms the significance of moral purity when we encounter God. In order for us to be close to God we must imitate God in this attribute of light. We must maintain a holy, pure, chaste and righteous life in order to have an ongoing relationship with God. This is what John says in I John 1:6-7, “God is light… If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth, but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Notice in this verse that both pictures of light and darkness are resident. If we walk in darkness (commit deeds of unrighteousness), we lie and do not practice truth. Living a life of sin is to live a life of deceit. Living a life of righteousness is to live a life of truthfulness. Here is truth. We cannot claim to have a closeness of relationship with God and carry out the evil that once controlled our lives.
• There are many benefits to the existence of light and darkness. It is hard to see without light and hard to sleep without darkness. However, something more seems to be taking place in the creation account. From the beginning, good and evil, right and wrong, truth and lie, dominate the human story. Scripture continually uses light and darkness to describe this unfolding drama. When I walk through the most treacherous twenty feet in the world in the middle of the night, I am reminded of God’s righteousness and my inclination toward depravity. It helps me contemplate the extreme danger of living a moral life in the darkness. It helps me think on the dangers of living a lie. When the light comes on and allows us to see, we are reminded that when we walk in righteousness and truth we are close to God, for God is Light. There is no darkness in God. There is no unrighteousness in Him. There is no lie in Him. If I want to be close to Him, I must jettison all falsehood and unrighteousness. God made the light to help us comprehend these themes. God allowed darkness to remain so that we could see the darkness in our own hearts and seek His saving Light.
• Jesus is Light and Jesus shines Light, John 1:4-5
• Read John 1:5 (Slide 5)
• In this passage, Jesus is the Light
• In this passage, darkness seems to be the world we live in
• Darkness describes the realm of evil and deception that is everywhere around us and in us
• Because this is our natural realm, we are most comfortable here
• We are like children when the light comes on in the morning
• We like our darkness – we like living in the falsehood of our present existence and we like living in the unrighteousness of our present world
• Therefore, we by nature are in darkness and we by nature love the darkness, John 3:18-20, John 8:12, John 12:35, John 12:46
• Consider the discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus
• Read John 2:24-25 (Slide 6)
• Read John 3:1-2 (Slide 7)
• Read John 3:18-21 (Slides 8-11)
• Conclusion: The Son of God is the very essence of being. He is the giver of physical life. He lived a perfect life thus enabling Him to be the giver of new life. Life and light are integrally linked as a person who is in darkness is in a state of death. When the Light shines through the life of Jesus, the natural reaction is to close eyes more tightly, thus remaining in a state of darkness and ultimately in a state of death. But for some, those who open their eyes, they see light and thus receive life.