#1458 John 1 Part 4 Light and Life

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. John 1: 1-5 LSB

John 1: 1-5

V. 2 He was in the beginning with God - We know that the Word is Christ, and that He was always with God, facing God, part of God, there at the invention of time and space, the Creation.

…9You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You above Your companions with the oil of joy.” 10And: “In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. 11They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment.… Hebrews 1: 9-11

V. 3 All things came into being through Him - We covered this, the impossible scenario of His being what Jehovah's witnesses reference as the first created thing, but like the rest of the verse makes even clearer yet again, apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. R.C. Sproul has an interesting observation about this, that God does not exist, because things that exist do so because they come into being, God does not come into being, He is being, has always been, this is something beyond human language. Another way of saying the second part of verse 3 would be that nothing was made that wasn't by Him, through Him. Again, His being is eternal, before everything that was made, everything, so He was not made. He preexists His physical incarnation, the addition of humanity to His deity. 

…4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me. 6In burnt offerings and sin offerings You took no delight.… Hebrews 10: 4-6

…5The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of His loving devotion. 6By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the stars by the breath of His mouth. 7He piles up the waters of the sea; He puts the depths into storehouses.… Psalm 33: 5-7

…17But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will not be put to shame or humiliated, to ages everlasting. 18For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens— He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other. 19I have not spoken in secret, from a place in a land of darkness. I did not say to the descendants of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a wasteland.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I say what is right.… Isaiah 45: 17-19

…2But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4So He became as far superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is excellent beyond theirs.… Hebrews 1: 2-4

…10the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne, and they worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 11“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and came to be.” Revelation 4: 10-11

V. 4 In Him was life - He has always lived, and the life we know, the Creation proceeds forth from Him and all things are held together by Him. Eternal life is with the Father, and comes to us through the Son. 

…20The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. And to your amazement, He will show Him even greater works than these. 21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes. 22Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,… John 5: 20-22

5“Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”… John 14: 5-7

James Montgomery Boice sees a double meaning for the term life in Him in John 1:4 - (1) Physical life - But what does it mean to say that Jesus is the source of life or that he is the life? The first answer to that question is one that takes us back to the opening pages of the Book of Genesis and therefore to the role of the Lord Jesus Christ in giving life to all living things in the world. We have already seen in our previous studies that the writer intends a reference to the first chapters of Genesis in his introductory verses; this is also the case here....“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life” (John 1:3, 4), every Bible student should think instantly of the life that went forth out of God to bring life to inanimate matter at the beginning of the creation of the world. In other words, John is saying that our physical life comes from God through the Lord Jesus.....(2) Spiritual Life - However, this is only the beginning of our understanding of what John intends by the use of the word “life” in the Gospel. He is speaking of Christ’s role in creation, in one sense. But this is only the groundwork for the spiritual interpretation of the word that he unfolds in the pages of the Gospel. It is true that John speaks of physical life here, but as the book goes on he speaks increasingly of spiritual life. And the point is that just as Jesus is the source of physical life, so is he the source of the spiritual life that we receive when we believe on Him....(and) the life that God gives through Jesus Christ is not merely an earthly life or a life of such quality that it can be lost, but eternal life. It can never be lost....(and) he has also given us a life that is meant to be abundant even in our present circumstances...It is unfortunate that many Christians, though they have eternal life, nevertheless do not have life abundantly. This was not meant to be. Instead of living a miserable life and always complaining, Christians are meant to live lives of such joy and exuberance that their lives will be a blessing to others....Oh, the joys of living out the abundant life of Christ! They are the joys of increasingly finding him to be the bread of life that satisfies all our hunger and the water of life that quenches our deepest thirst. (Gospel of John) - Precept Austin

v. 4b And the Life was the Light of men - 

John MacArthur on the life was the light of all men - While it is appropriate to make some distinction between life and light, the statement the life was the Light halts any disconnect between the two. In reality, John is writing that life and light cannot be separated. They are essentially the same, with the idea of light emphasizing the manifestation of the divine life. The life was the Light is the same construction as “the Word was God” (Jn 1:1). As God is not separate from the Word, but the same in essence, so life and light share the same essential properties. The light combines with life in a metaphor for the purpose of clarity and contrast. God’s life is true and holy. Light is that truth and holiness manifest against the darkness of lies and sin. Light and life are linked in this same way in John 8:12, in which Jesus says: “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” The connection between light and life is also clearly made in the Old Testament. Psalm 36:9 says: “For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.” “The light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2Cor 4:4) is nothing more than the radiating, manifest life of God shining in His Son. Paul specifically says: “God … 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” (Jn 1:6). So light is God’s life manifest in Christ. (John 1-11 MacArthur New Testament Commentary) - Precept Austin

V. 5 Light shines in the darkness - In our falleness we hate light because it exposes us for what we really are, not how we like to imagine ourselves. I hated the light of Christ because He was pleasing to the Father, as He said, He didn't come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. I loved sin, so I loved to remain in darkness about it, and in darkness to be seemingly hidden. The only thing I didn't like about my sin was it's consequences, and since I didn't love God or want to believe in Him, I did not fear His disappointment or His judgment. I was a rebel without a flashlight.

…29For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD. 30They accepted none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof. 31So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.… Proverbs 1: 29-31

…27Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,… Romans 1: 27-29

…18Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.… John 3: 18-20

John Calvin said that "The blindness of unbelievers in no way detracts from the clarity of the gospel; the sun is no less bright because blind men do not perceive its light."

A. W. Tozer - The human intellect, even in its fallen state, is an awesome work of God, but it lies in darkness until it has been illuminated by the Holy Spirit. - Precept Austin