Jesus is the Light

(John 1:4-9)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
Weve seen John wrote this letter
To prove Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
So that you might believe in Him
And in believing, receive eternal life.

Not surprisingly, he begins the letter

With a heavy emphasis on His deity.

Last week, we saw that the Word/Jesus is eternal:

He was in the beginning
In the beginning was the Word (v. 1).
He was in the beginning with God (v. 2).
He was there at that point just before creation,
Where there was no time, only eternity
He must be God since God alone lives outside of time.

We saw that Jesus made everything that is created.

All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into
being that has come into being (v. 3).
He wasnt the instrument God used
Or merely an agent of creation

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He is the Creator Himself!
The Bible says, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Gen.
1:1).

We saw that John says as much, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God (v. 1).
He doesnt say the Word was a god
As Jehovahs Witnesses say
Its very clear that John considered Jesus to be God in the full sense of the word.
And he isnt just going to tell us Jesus is God
Although that would be enough,
Since he writes by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
Hes also going to show us
By recording what Jesus said and did to prove it.

And we saw that there was at least one other person present with Him at the
beginning who is also called God:
The Word was with God (v. 1).
He was in the beginning with God (v. 2).
John actually gives us several indications in His Gospel
That God is multi-personal that He is, in fact, Triune.
B. Preview.
But John isnt finished.
This morning, he tells us two more things about Jesus
That highlight His deity:
That He has life in Himself.

And that He is the Light of men.

II. Sermon.
A. Lets look first at the fact that Jesus has life in Himself.
John writes, In Him was life (v. 4).
What does he mean?

In todays world,
We tend to take life for granted.
Its everywhere around us
Bacteria, plants, insects, reptiles, birds, mammals,
And of course, man.
A majority of people, at least in Western culture,
Believe that life is inevitable
That it just happens given enough time
Thats what evolution is all about.
Its really nothing unusual
Its just the way things are.

But life isnt inevitable.

It doesnt necessarily happen.
Life doesnt explain itself
Theres no reason why lifeless molecules
Should work together as they do
To make life possible

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Life points beyond itself to the One who is life
To the only One who can give it: God.

In Genesis 1, we read how life came about:

How God spoke and the earth was formed (v. 1),
How He separated the water from the dry land (vv. 9-10),
How He commanded and life appeared:
Plants and trees (vv. 11-12), then fish, birds (vv. 20-22), and land animals (vv. 2425).
We read in Genesis 2 how man came about:
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 (Gen. 2:7).
We read how mans creation was special:
God was personally involved.
He made only one man from which He would also make woman
When He had make so many of the other creatures at once.
He formed him from the dust of the ground
Where with the others, He spoke and they leaped into existence.
And while man was yet an inanimate creature
Between the time God formed him
And when he began to live
God breathed life into his body
And man became a living being.

I want you to notice two things about this account:

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1. It tells us that evolution cant be true
Not even an evolution brought about by God (theistic evolution).

Evolution teaches that a single living cell,

Over millions of years,
Going through myriads of mutations/changes,
Narrowed down through natural selection,
Eventually became a man.
In other words, evolution teaches that man came from something that was
already alive
That life was evolving for millions of years
Before man came into being.

God says He made man directly from the dust of the ground
And that he wasnt alive that he didnt begin to live
Until God breathed the breath of life in his nostrils.

2. It also tells us where life comes from: it comes from God.

It isnt the inevitable outcome of matter and time.
Its something God gives,
And only He can give it, because He alone has it.

But who possesses this life? John tells us that Jesus does!
He writes, In Him was life (v. 4).
It was actually the pre-incarnate Jesus
The Son of God

That formed the man and breathed life into his soul;
Remember, All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him
nothing came into being that has come into being (1:3).
Jesus is the Author of life.

But you know this isnt the only kind of life Jesus has.
He also possesses spiritual/eternal life and gives that to whom He wills.
We read in John 5:24-26, Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and
believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment,
but has passed out of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is
coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and
those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so
He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself (John 5:26).
If you have heard the voice of the Son of God in the Gospel,
He has given you spiritual life.

Jesus is the reason you are alive today,

And He is the reason you have eternal life,
Because as God, He has life in Himself (v. 4).

B. I wanted to emphasize the two kinds of life that are in Jesus

So that this next part would make more sense.
We see, secondly, that Jesus is the Light.
Again, verse 4, In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
Just as there are two senses in which Jesus has life in Himself,
So there are two senses in which He is the Light of men.

He is the Light in the sense that He is source of our knowledge.

He created our souls gave us the ability to think

When He breathed life into our father, Adam,
And he became a living soul.
Along with life came intellectual light
He turned the lights on upstairs.
He gave us the ability to take in information,
To form ideas in our imaginations,
To contemplate them and make deductions from them.
The Son of God has given you light
This is just one of the ways Jesus made you in His image.

Jesus has also given you the degree of light you have
Both intelligence and knowledge.
He is the One who gives or withholds knowledge
Which is why man makes new discoveries when and where he does.

Jesus is the One who gave Adam

The knowledge he had in the garden
Knowledge of the world around him.

He gave him the knowledge of what is right and wrong

The same knowledge He has given you and all men through conscience
Even before you read His Word.

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Jesus is the One who gives light to everyone day by day through the Creation,
As David writes in Psalm 19, The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and
their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge (vv. 1-2).

These are two of the things John means when he writes,

The Light shines in the darkness (v. 5).

The world fell into the darkness of ignorance and sin through the Fall of man.
But Jesus shines the truth about God through the Creation,
And the truth of His righteousness through conscience
And both of these actually get through:
Paul writes, 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 (Rom. 1:20).

Jesus shined the light of His redemptive work through the Old Testament Scripture,
and through the types, shadows and prophecies.
And He came into the world to shine that light through His life.
Jesus gives both natural and redemptive light.

Does the fact that Jesus gives light to everyone mean everyone will be saved?
No. John tells us, The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not
comprehend it (John 1:5).

The word, comprehend, can mean either to understand or to overpower

something.
Hes saying either they didnt understand it,
Or they couldnt stop it or suppress it.

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Both are true in a certain sense:

The light He gives through natural revelation gets through to the mind
Paul says they understand it
But its not welcome they suppress it
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that
which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to
them (Rom. 1:18-19).
Their attempt to suppress it may be why they dont fully see it.
They are, however, still accountable to God.

The unconverted Jews did the same with the light He gave through the Old
Covenant types and shadows; and with the clearer light of the Gospel.
They wanted to kill Jesus because of His light.
We will read later in John 11, Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees
convened a council, and were saying, What are we doing? For this man is
performing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in
Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.
But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, You
know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that
one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish. Now he did
not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied
that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in
order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are
scattered abroad (vv. 47-52).

They were all the more inexcusable because God sent a messenger to prepare His
way: John the Baptist.
There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness,
to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the
Light, but he came to testify about the Light (vv. 6-8).

John himself was a light

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Jesus said of him, He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you
were willing to rejoice for a while in his light (John 5:35)
He was sent to get the people ready to receive the greater Light:
Particularly after Jesus baptism, when he declared, Behold, the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29).

Jesus is the light who illumines the whole world:

John writes, There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens
every man (v. 9).
This verse should be translated, There was the true light, which enlightens every
man coming into the world.
John isnt saying that Jesus began to enlighten men when He came into the world
Weve seen He was already enlightening them in many ways
But that He gives light to everyone who comes into the world.
The light of reason,
The light of conscience,
The light of creation;
To the Jews, the light of the Gospel in the Old Covenant;
And in the New, the light of His Gospel, not to Jews only, but also to Gentiles
To as many as He wills.

John wants you to know that Jesus is God

He is the Light the revelation of God
Who shines the light of His truth,
So that you might receive the life that is in Him: eternal life.

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Have you seen His Light?

Has the fact that you have a mind convinced you that God exists?
How is the stuff youre made of able to think?
Its because Jesus makes it able.

Has the light He shines in Creation

The wisdom and power displayed in its design
Convinced you who God is?

Has the light He shines in your conscience convinced you that you are guilty and in
need of forgiveness?

Has the light He shines in His Gospel

The revelation of His love and mercy through the cross,
The offer of full pardon and everlasting peace
Convinced you that you need to come to Jesus to receive His life?

Have you received His life?

The reason He gave you this light
Was that you might escape the judgment you deserve for your sins.
Dont suppress that light; dont try to put it out so that you can live with yourself.
If you do, you will die in your sins.
Let His light lead you away from your sins to Him,
That you might your trust in Him and live.
May the Lord grant that each of us may by His grace. Amen.

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