According to John, “Life” is found in the “Word,” and that life is the “Light of men.” It is “shining in the darkness,” and the darkness “cannot seize” or suppress it. This same “Word” or Logos has become “flesh,” the Living Word of God manifested and expressed in Jesus of Nazareth. In him, the Glory and the Life of the God who created all things are illuminated for all men to behold.
His disciples are summoned
to “testify” of this “Light.” Many competitors are clamoring for humanity’s attention, and each one claims to be the true
light and source of illumination.
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| [Photo by Julia Florczak on Unsplash] |
With the manifestation of God’s true Light in Jesus, “the darkness is passing away, and the True Light is shining.” This must be so since “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” Darkness recedes wherever His Light is shining – (1 John 1:5, 2:8).
In this present age, political ideologies,
philosophies, and messianic figures claim to be the way of enlightenment,
humanity’s best hope for peace and prosperity, and bulwarks
against the forces of chaos that threaten to overwhelm civilization.
All such claims are false, and their idolatrous lies are exposed when
the true “Light of God” radiates brightly in this world. There is only
one source of the Light that “illuminates every man who is coming into the
world,” namely, Jesus Christ.
JOHN’S TESTIMONY
It began with John the Baptist who bore witness to the Light so that men
might see it and “believe.” The Light came to fruition in the Nazarene in whom all men who believe see the “Glory as of the only born of the
Father, full of Grace and Truth.”
His disciples are “lights
in the world” sent to let their “light shine before men so they may
glorify their Father in heaven.” The fullness of His Light is manifested
in His Son and reflected in his followers as they bear witness of him – (John
1:1-14).
In Jesus, God gave concrete and living form to this “Word,” the same Logos through which He made the Universe. He is the Light because he is the true expression of the Living God – (John 12:44-50).
In his first epistle, John summarizes this
proposition by employing several of the terms found in the Prologue of his Gospel:
- “That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life. And the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare unto you the everlasting life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us. Indeed, our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ” – (1 John 1:1-3).
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| [Photo by Raphael Andres on Unsplash] |
Jesus is the “Word of Life,” therefore the “darkness is passing away, and the true light already is shining.” The “darkness cannot seize” the Light. Instead, it retreats wherever the “Light” is shining – (1 John 1:1-3, 2:8).
As Jesus declared, “I am the Way and the Truth
and the Life.” No one comes to God “except through me.” That is also
why he said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” The Living God
cannot be known or understood apart from His Son, Jesus Christ, and salvation
and life are obtained only from him.
SEE ALSO:
- The Forerunner - (John the Baptist prepared the way for the Messiah, the herald of the Good News of the Kingdom of God – Mark 1:4-8)
- Rend the Heavens - (The Spirit of God and the voice from heaven confirmed the calling and identity of Jesus – Son, Messiah, and Servant of the LORD)