..
In Him Was Life, and the Life Was the Light of
Men
John 1:1-5
The first five verses of John's gospel say quite a lot about Jesus. It is a
grand introduction to the Son of God and the Savior of the world. The rest of
the book is a
record which was written to show "that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and
that believing you may have life in His name." (JOHN 20:31).
John, the son of Zebedee, was a Jew familiar with the customs and feasts of
Israel. He was an apostle of Jesus and an eyewitness of Jesus' ministry . He
observed that Jesus was tired as he sat by the well in Sychar, a city in
Samaria. He was present at the final Passover. He specifies that it was the
right ear of Malchus that Peter cut off with a sword in the misguided attempt to
save Jesus from arrest. Clement of Rome, as early as 96 A.D. indicates a
knowledge of John's gospel. It seems to have been written between 80 and 95
A.D., while the other three gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke were all finished by
about 70 A.D. The reason this is important is because there is a rather large
group of liberal, modernistic scholars who contend that the gospels were
gradually compiled by early Christians in later generations to justify their
faith, and were not written by inspired men present during the timeframe of
Jesus' ministry and the book of Acts. But both historical references as well as
the nature of the accounts themselves show otherwise.
Consider the first five verses of John's gospel: "In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with
God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into
being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of
men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend
it." (JOHN 1:1-5).
JESUS THE WORD: HIS RELATIONSHIP TO GOD
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God." (JOHN 1:1,2). In the first century, it
was the Gnostics who were denying the deity of Christ. They were the wise of the
age, the ancient counterparts to the modern, liberal skeptics. John's gospel, as
well as his epistles, are an answer to such infidelity.
In much the same way as we use words to express ideas, the Son is God's
expression of Himself. Later, verse 14 identifies the Word as the One who
"became flesh
and dwelt among us." In this way, the Word explained God to us.
There are three things which we learn in the first two verses about the Person
who became Jesus of Nazareth. First, that He was in the beginning with God. The
Bible does not say He had a beginning, but that He was already there "in the
beginning."
Second, that He was "with God." He was in fellowship with the Father. The
Scriptures show that He was equal with God, but "did not regard equality with
God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a
bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of man." (PHILIPPIANS 2:6,7).
Third, we see that "the word was God." He possesses the characteristics of God,
such as His eternal nature; His identity; His purpose and His mind. While Jesus
certainly subjected Himself to human limitations during His incarnation (HEBREWS
2:17,18; 4:14-16; PHILIPPIANS 2:8), He did not become a different person. Even
as He walked on earth, He was still the eternal One (JOHN 5:18; 8:56-59;
11:30-33; 20:28). Regarding that last reference; any doctrine that makes one
feel uncomfortable addressing Jesus as "My Lord and my God" is not a Biblical
doctrine whether it comes from a liberal modernist, a member of a cult or even a
misguided brother or sister in Christ!
JESUS THE LIFE: HIS RELATIONSHIP TO CREATION
"All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing has come into
being that has come into being. In Him was life..." (JOHN 1:3,4a). One of the
most used phrases in the Genesis account of creation is, "And God said..." When
God spoke, it became so. In the creation, we witness the power, majesty and
wisdom of God. The creative force which acted to bring all things into existence
was not impersonal, but rather a living being. He is called "the Word" and He is
eternal, He is with God and He is God.
The One we came to know as Jesus was the active agent in creation. The Genesis
account makes it clear that there is a plurality of Persons that are included in
the
one God we worship. The Bible says, "Then God said, 'Let us make man in Our
image, according to Our likeness...." (Genesis 1:26). The Word carried out this
determination of the mind of God.
Some say the concept of a plurality of Persons as one God is difficult to
understand. I agree, but I am not one who expects that it would be easy to
comprehend all the facets of our eternal God. Certainly, if the Bible can speak
of a man and woman "becoming one flesh" (Genesis 2:24) then it can also speak of
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as being "one God."
There are several passages which speak of the Son's role in creation. God
created "all things" which He "carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord." (EPHESIANS
3:9-11). Again, speaking of the Son; "For by Him all things were created, both
in the heavens and on earth... all things have been created by Him and for Him.
And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." (COLOSSIANS
1:16-17) and "in these last days has spoken to us through His Son, whom He
appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world." (HEBREWS
1:2).
These passages plainly show that the Son, or Word of God is the source of all
creation. Nothing has come into being apart from Him. This means that the Son
Himself is eternal, for He couldn't have created Himself! He is the source of
life itself. No created living thing exists apart from Him.
JESUS THE LIGHT: HIS RELATIONSHIP TO MAN
"...and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and
the darkness did not comprehend it." (JOHN 1:4b-5). The phrase "and the life was
the light of men" is in the Greek imperfect tense. This means that "the life"
began to be "the light of men" in the past and continues to be so in the present
time. The Son of God is the source and essence of life itself. When lost in
darkness and death, the best place to look for redemption is the source of all
life (Jesus, the Son) and not the source of death (Satan, the adversary). The
wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord." (ROMANS 6:23).
Even as the Son first gave physical life to the creatures of the world, and just
as He continues to "uphold all things by the word of His power" (HEBREWS 1:3),
He offers spiritual life to the spiritually dead and eternal life to those who
live by faith. In the darkness of suffering and sin, as evil and wickedness
continues to have such a cruel impact on our existence in this world, it would
seem as if people would be flocking to the light that has come into the world.
But that is not the way it is!
"And the light shines in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." The
sad truth is darkness is opposed to the truth. Many have closed their hearts and
minds to the light. They choose to ignore it, neglect it, or even oppose it.
Many have come to "love darkness" and "hate the light" because "their deeds were
evil" (JOHN 3:19-21). The final result of this kind of rebellion is eternal
darkness; a final separation from the light. But this also means a final
separation from all that is good; from love, joy and peace. It means never
ending sorrow, tears and pain. Do not retreat from the light! It leads to life!
By Jon W. Quinn.
From Expository Files 2.7; July, 1995
