Supporting Texts: Genesis 2:7; Psalm 19:1-4; Isaiah 40:3, 43:10, 44:8, 53:1; John 3:18-21, 12:3740, 20:31; Acts 17:25; Romans 1:19-22; Ephesians 2:1; 1 John 5:12; Revelation 21:22-24.
This Saturday, July 4, our nation will celebrate its Semiquincentennial (or its two-hundred and fiftieth anniversary since the Declaration of Independence). The War for American Independence from Great Britain was fought in North America from Canada to the coasts of Florida, and on the Atlantic Ocean. Historians date the beginning of the war from the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, to the British surrender at the Battle of Yorktown on October 19, 1781, with the treaty between the United States and Great Britain being signed in 1783.
I am sure many of you know many of the key figures in the War for American Independence, such as General George Washington, John Adams, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and John Hancock. But, as in all of our nation’s conflicts and wars there are many unsung and unknown heroes. Most of us know about the “midnight ride of Paul Revere,” but few modern Americans know of the midnight ride of Sybil Ludington. Sybil was the sixteen-year-old daughter of Colonel Henry Ludington who commanded the militia near her hometown of Fredricksburg, New York. On April 25, 1777, the British landed 2,000 soldiers just thirty miles from Sybil’s home in order to attack patriot supplies at Danbury, Connecticut. At about 9:00 p.m., a messenger arrived at the Ludington farm with the news that the British were burning Danbury. Colonel Ludington was ordered to muster his militia and join with other militia units to defend Danbury and attack the British. The Colonel had to remain at his farm to organize and lead the militia which meant he had to find someone to ride into the night to rouse the militia.
In this emergency, Colonel Ludington turned to his daughter, Sybil, who, just a few days before had passed her sixteenth birthday and urged her to take a horse and ride for the men of the militia and tell them to be at his house by daybreak. The forty-mile ride from Carmel to Cold Spring was filled with dangerous roads and stretches through thick forests. She rode through the night in the rain on a route that was twice as long as Paul Revere. Ludington’s militia joined with other patriot forces to cause the British to retreat from Danbury, thus saving much of the town. The Battle of Ridgefield ensued with the British suffering much greater losses than the Americans. Sybil Ludington is credited with saving the lives of many Americans and the protection of patriot property.
Today, as we continue our study of the prologue of the gospel of John, we will meet a Bible hero whom God used to bring many people to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will observe his commission to his ministry, the purpose of his ministry and the content of his message and we will note a two-fold response to the message he proclaimed. We will begin with the declaration of the Lord Jesus being the Life and the Light, and proceed to the witness of the Light, and conclude with the true Light that came into the world.
THE LIFE AND THE LIGHT. John 1:4-5
The Lord Jesus: the Eternal, Self-Existent Creator. The Gospel of John was written by John the disciple of Jesus who was later chosen to be one of the Lord’s apostles. His ministry spanned much of the first century and he was responsible for leading many people to Christ. He had a passionate desire to point people to the Lord Jesus and to testify to them the truth about Jesus. It is for that reason he began his gospel message with the supremacy and centrality of Christ. John knew Jesus was eternal, that is, that He has always existed. Jesus had no beginning – He is eternally self-existent. John grew up in a Jewish world and knew the Shema from Deuteronomy 6, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” Yet this deeply committed Jewish man knew that Jesus was equal with God the Father. He knew Jesus was and is God, absolutely identical in every way to God. John knew that Jesus enjoys all of the full attributes and glories of God.
John also knew Jesus was present with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit at the beginning, before anything of the material universe existed. Through his years of close association and friendship with Jesus, John knew that Jesus is the Creator, that everything that exists in the universe came into existence through Jesus and nothing exists that He did not create. These are neither assumptions nor personal theories of the apostle, but facts gained by his unique relationship with the One who created him.
Knowing the profound and absolute truth of these things, John spent the years of his ministry explaining to people who Jesus Christ really is. In all of history and of all the billions of people who have walked upon this earth, Jesus is far and away the greatest, the most supreme and the most important to every man and woman: young and old. In John’s opinion, the purpose of our existence is to know Jesus. And it is for this reason that John states his purpose for his gospel this way: “These [things] have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). Put simply, John has filled his gospel with the truth about Jesus so that you will believe in Jesus, trust Him as your personal Lord and Savior, and through your faith, be given life in His name. We will notice that even here, at the beginning of his gospel, that faith in Christ is of the greatest importance.
Jesus is the Life. Jesus is life! He is the source of life – He is the cause of life. Life is the most significant element in creation. The origin of life, which seems to mankind to be most mysterious, is really no mystery at all. Jesus is life and He created life. It is only because there is life in Jesus that there is any life in this material universe at all. Life does not exist on its own. The great panorama of Genesis 1 shows the creation and unveiling of life. In mere moments, the earth blossomed with the abundance of life because of Jesus the Creator. Nowhere is this clearer than in Genesis chapter two. There we find this verse, “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). Man was only a lump of dust until the Creator breathed life into him. Ever since, God has given to “all life and breath” (Acts 17:25).
Throughout his gospel, John consistently connects life with Jesus. In the tenth chapter, Jesus gives abundant life, while in the third chapter, Jesus gives eternal life as a gift. In the fourteenth chapter, Jesus is the life. Jesus is permanent, eternal, self-existent, non-changing life and the Source of life. His life is pure, true and holy. You and I are alive at this moment because the Lord Jesus has graciously granted life to us. In Ephesians 2:1, the Bible tells us that we “were dead in our trespasses and sins.” In that condition, we were helpless and hopeless. Death cannot give life to itself. Only Jesus can give life. For any person to have everlasting life, it must be given to them by Jesus and only by Jesus.
Jesus is the Light. The life of Jesus is the Light. As a quality of His life, Jesus is glorious and blazing light. His light illuminates every corner of the universe and every corner of the human heart. His light penetrates into every aspect of our souls and He knows who we are and what we are. There is no hiding from His brilliant light. Presently, our physical eyes are shielded from the spiritual light of Jesus that fills all creation.
From the moment of creation, the light of Jesus flooded the universe. We find on the first day, “God said, “Let there be light.”” Yet the sources of physical light were not created until day four. Where did that light come from? It was the blazing life of Jesus shining brilliantly through creation. He was and is the source of light. We find in Matthew 24 that when Jesus comes again, He will be surrounded with power and great glory. Although the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, those on earth will have no trouble seeing the blazing glory of Christ’s return. We also note that in eternity, Jesus will provide the light. Revelation 21 says of the eternal city, “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it” (Revelation 21:22-24).
However, despite the powerful illumination of the Light of the Lord Jesus, darkness did not comprehend the light. Darkness in John’s gospel is the world estranged from God, spiritually ignorant, blind, fallen and sinful, dominated by Satan. Intellectually, light refers to the truth and darkness the falsehood. Morally and ethically, light refers to holiness and darkness to sin. Spiritually, Jesus is the source of life while Satan’s kingdom is the domain of darkness. Light is God’s life manifest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Having established the eternal deity of the Lord Jesus, John now turns to the only two possible responses to this reality – belief or unbelief.
THE WITNESS OF THE LIGHT. John 1:6-8
The Commission of John. The eternal, self-existent Jesus is God and was always with God. John on the other hand was sent by God on a specific and special task. John was commissioned by God and that places him in the same category as other Old Testament prophets like Moses and Elijah. John (whom we know as John the Baptist) was the messenger chosen by God for the ministry of announcing the coming of Israel’s Messiah. People in sin are in such darkness that they need someone to tell them what is the light. John was set apart through his miraculous birth (his parents were old and childless and God intervened in a unique way to empower John’s birth). His birth was heralded by an angelic visitation to his parents. His ministry was prophesied in the Old Testament: Isaiah wrote, “A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3).
The Mission of John. John’s mission was to cause people to believe. In His sovereign grace, God continuously intervenes in human history to bring the message of salvation and forgiveness. God took the initiative to invade the nation of Israel with John’s message of repentance – a calling to turn away from sin and turn to the living and holy God. In verse twenty-nine we see John doing exactly what he had been called to do: point people to Jesus – “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, “After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me” (John 1:29-30). John came so that people would believe. That is still the mission of the church and of every believer.
The Message of John. John was called to be a witness to the Light. He was not the Light. The focus was only on the Lord Jesus. John was not to draw attention to himself, but to turn people to Jesus the Savior and Messiah. In this gospel there are seven designated witnesses: the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the works of Jesus, the testimony of Scripture, John the Baptist, and other people – for example, the disciples and the Samaritan woman. In each case, the witness was to point people to Jesus. Why were these to be witnesses and why are we to be witnesses? Isaiah answers that question: “You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and there is no savior besides Me. It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there was no strange god among you; so you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God” (Isaiah 43:10-12).
THE TRUE LIGHT CAME INTO THE WORLD. John 1:9-13
The Light Rejected. Jesus is the true Light, the genuine Light. He illuminates every person. The Bible tells us that everyone knows about God’s existence, whether they will admit it or not. Psalm 19 contends: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4, (NIV)). Everyone knows about God’s glory – creation continually declares that message.
Paul says essentially the same thing in Romans 1: “That which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:19-22). Notice carefully that God has intervened into the lives of every person to make Himself evident to them. Everyone knows about His invisible attributes, His eternal power and His divine nature. These have been clearly understood. That does not mean that everyone will admit to having this basic illumination. But it does mean God will be righteous and just in His judgment of those who reject Jesus as Lord and Savior. They knew the truth and willfully rejected it.
John, the apostle, first points to the Gentile world. Even though they were enlightened, and even though the living God was in the world, and even though they knew He is the Creator, they still refused to know Him. The saw the Light and turned away into darkness. Remember, Light received brings more light; light rejected only brings darkness. Standing in the audience of Jesus the living God, Pontius Pilate asked, “What is truth?” He was looking at truth and speaking with the One who is Light and Life. Still, like millions of others, he turned his back and walked away.
Next, John turned to the Jewish people. These are the ones who were His own, He had chosen them, He had given them His commandments and prophecies. He sent prophets to tell them about the Messiah, created a known ancestry from which the Messiah would descend. He gave them His written word to help them know the Messiah when He came. Still there are these tragic words, “those who were His own did not receive Him.” Along with many Gentiles, the Jewish people turned their back on their own Savior and walked away from eternal life.
The Light Received. We can glorify God for verse twelve! Not everyone rejected Jesus. Not everyone rejected His truth, His Light, and His salvation. Some received Him. Some believed in Him and trusted in Him. They recognized Jesus as Lord and God, the very One who created them and they embraced Him as their own Savior and received Him as Master. When they did, the living God worked a miracle of grace. Because of their faith; because they believed in Jesus as Lord, He granted them the authority to become the children of God. The story does not end with the tragedy of rejection but with the grace of acceptance. Those who believe in Jesus are by grace given the full authority to own the exalted title of children of God. To believe in His name means to trust the One who is the Word, the One who was in the beginning, the One who was with God and the One who is God. We trust the Word who is Jesus and believe in Him as He is. It is to believe that God is the God we see revealed in Jesus, the Word, the Revealer and to put our complete trust in Him.
Spiritual Birth – Born of God. But just how is it that people enter that eternal heavenly family? They were born! See that there are divine descriptions of that birth. They are not born of blood, that is they are not saved through some sort of ethnic heritage or as a descendant from any family. Also, they are not born of the will of the flesh, that is through personal desire or effort. No works and no good deeds, no matter how many can lead to spiritual birth. And, not birth by the will of man, no man-made system or religion; no personal philosophy or ideology; nothing men or women do to earn salvation will be sufficient. All will fall short. All will result in eternal condemnation.
But a person can be given the divine right to become God’s child by the will of God! Salvation – receiving and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is impossible for any sinner and all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. God must grant the power supernaturally and with it divine life and light to the lifeless, darkened sinner. And that comes only through believing in Jesus Christ and that only by grace through faith.
Have you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior or are you still rejecting Him? Down through the centuries of human history, millions have been confronted with this question. Some have received Christ. Many have rejected Him. Your eternal destiny rests on your answer to this question: “What will you do with Jesus?” May I invite you to receive Him today? If you have received the True Light, Jesus Christ, then because of God’s supernatural power, you have been given the authority to see yourself as a child of God. What a marvelous truth!
