John 01(04+05)

Introduction

This is now our third week on John’s gospel. And we haven’t got very far, because each verse is so rich and full of treasures for us to uncover and admire and enjoy.

John has been telling us about the Word who in the beginning was with God and who was God. And we thought about how the Word is John’s title for God the Son, who is God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God. And so, he is both with God as the second person of the Trinity and he is God.

And just as we express ourselves and reveal ourselves by the words we say, so this divine Word perfectly expresses who the Father is, because he has the same being as the Father. He’s the same as the Father. And just as God’s word of command in the Old Testament was powerful and always fulfilled God’s will and never returned to him empty, so this divine Word powerfully accomplishes the Father’s will and returns to the Father.

And we also thought about how in the beginning God the Father made all things through this divine Word. The Word is not part of the Father’s creation, because the Word created all things alongside the Father and with the Father. He is the Father’s co-creator. And this is so, because the Word is God.

And we thought about how God is the Blessed Trinity who is infinitely and eternally and unchangeably happy. He was therefore perfectly happy before he made us and he wouldn’t have been any worse off or less happy or less satisfied if he did not make us. In other words, he did not need to make us. But out of his overflowing goodness and love, he created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them through his divine Word. And last of all he made us; and he made us so that we could share his happiness for ever and for ever. That’s what the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden signified. Adam forfeited for us the right to eat from the Tree of Life by his disobedience, but God the Son has won for us the right to eat from the Tree of Life by his perfect obedience here on earth as one of us. And through faith in him we can look forward to eternal life and eternal happiness in the presence of God.

And we also thought about how God the Holy Trinity made all things from nothing. Once there was absolutely nothing and then God made everything and he has filled our lives with good things to enjoy. And though his good world has been spoiled because of Adam’s sin in the beginning, he promises his people everlasting life in a renewed and perfected world where we will worship him for ever.

Those are some of the things we’ve been thinking about. Today we come to verses 4 and 5. And we’ll break these two verses up into four parts and we’ll think about: firstly, ‘In him [that is, in the divine Word] was life’; secondly, ‘that life was the light of men’; thirdly, ‘the light shines in the darkness’; and fourthly, ‘the darkness has not understood it’ or ‘the darkness has not overcome it’. So, we’ll think about those four things this evening.

In him was life

And so, ‘In him was life’. That is, in the divine Word was life.

Last time, I referred to the time when we studied the attributes of God at our midweek. We thought about God’s simplicity and how he’s not made up of parts, because all that is in God is God. And we thought about how he is omnipotent so that he can do all things; and he is omniscient so that he knows all things; and he is omnipresent so that he is present everywhere all at once. And we thought about his goodness and holiness and justice and how he cannot change, but is the same, yesterday, today and for ever. And he is eternal so that he is without beginning and without end and everything is eternally present to him. We thought about how he works all things according to his will. And last of all, we thought about his blessedness and how he is infinitely and eternally and unchangeably happy. And last week we thought about how his blessedness relates to the creation of the world.

But then there was one other attribute which we studied at the midweek and I’ve mentioned it several times since. It’s God’s aseity. The word aseity comes from the Latin a se which means from self. And when we talk about God’s aseity, we’re referring to the way he has all life or fullness of life in and from himself. The Father has all life in and from himself. The Spirit has all life in and from himself. And the Son, or the Word, has all life in and from himself.

You and I, on the other hand, receive our life and everything else from God. So, he is the one who created Adam and Eve in the beginning and gave them their life; and he sustains the human race through the generations. And every good thing we have on earth has come down to us from God who fills our lives with good things to enjoy and who provides us with all that we need for this life.

And so, we depend on God for our life and for everything else. And this is true, not only for us, but for every living creature. As we read recently in Psalm 104, all living creatures look to God to give them their food at the proper time. When God gives it to them, they gather it up; when he opens his hand, they’re satisfied with good things. But when he hides his face, they are terrified. So, all living creatures, whether they realise it or not, rely on God for everything.

But God doesn’t not rely on us or on anything outside of himself for anything. He has all life in and from himself. Or, as someone has put it, he has of himself all that he has. All that I have I have received from God. But God has all that he has from himself. He is the great ‘I am’. I am what I am because of God, who made me and who sustains me and who has made me what I am. You are what you are because of God, who made you and who sustains you and who has made you what you are. But God says about himself, ‘I am what I am.’ He is not what he is because of someone else. He is what he is. Full stop. What he is is from himself. And he has all life in and from himself.

And so, John is able to say that in the divine Word was life. This is so, because the Word is God and God has all life in and from himself. And from his fullness, he gives life to every living creature. He gives life to the fish in the sea and to the birds in the air and to all living creatures on the land. And he gives life to every human being. From his fullness, he gives us our life and he sustains us day by day by his life-giving power. As the psalmist says: ‘with you is the fountain of life’. God is a fountain of life and his life overflows to us through his divine Word. And not only does he give us life in this world, but he promises eternal life in his presence to all who believe in God the Son, who came into the world as one of us and who who gave up his life to pay for our sins so that all who believe can have everlasting life. Death came into the world because of Adam’s first sin. And it spread to all so that now we all die. But God the Son came into the world to give resurrection life — eternal life — to all who believe in his name.

So, he has all life in himself. And he gives each person our life here on earth and he gives eternal life to all who believe in his name.

The life was the light of men

John then tells us that that life, which was in the divine Word, was the light of men. That is, it’s the light for men and women and boys and girls. And by putting it this way — by saying that the light that was in him is the light for us, then John is saying that everyone who receives life in this world also receives this light. Life and light go together. You can’t have life without also having this light.

So, what is this light? By saying it’s the light of men, John means it’s a light for human beings. Lots of things have life, but not all living creatures have this light. Plants have life. You plant a seed and water it and it comes to life and it grows. But, though it has life, that plant doesn’t have this light which is for humans. Animals and fish and birds have life. They come from their mother and they are alive and they live and grow. But, though they have life, they don’t have this light which is for humans. John is referring to a light which is for humans. And it’s a light which all humans receive. Every human being who receives life in this world also receives this light.

Some interpretators think that John is referring to our ability to think. Plants can’t think. Fish and animals and birds can’t think. We like to think that our dogs and cats can think, but they really can’t. And so, what distinguishes us from plants and animals is our ability to think and to reason and to make sense of life. And, of course, our ability to think comes from God who made us. He gives us our life and everything else including the power of reason.

So, some interpreters think John is referring here to our ability to think. But I’m more inclined to agree with those interpreters who say that John is referring here to our knowledge of God. The light of men or the light of men and women is our knowledge of God, which every living person receives from the divine Word.

And the best way to think about this is to link what John says here about the light to what Paul says in Romans 1 about how, since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what he been made so that men are without excuse. So, ever since the creation of the world, God has made himself known to us by the things he has made. He has made known to us by the things he has made that he’s real and that he’s powerful. And in Acts 14, Paul also says that God has made known to us his kindness by giving us rain from heaven and crops in their season and by providing us with plenty of food and by filling our hearts with joy. So, since the creation of the world, God has made known to us that he’s real and that he’s powerful and that he’s good. In other words, he is continually revealing himself to everyone through what he has made and by what he does in the world. Or, to put it in the words of John, he has displayed to all living people on the earth his light. Everything that he has made and everything he has done in the world is like a bright light or it’s like a flashing sign which tells every single person that there’s a God and he’s powerful and he’s good.

And not only does he reveal himself to us by the things he has made, but he has also written the work of his law on our hearts so that our conscience bears witness to us about the law of God and whether we have kept it or not. And since we’re sinners and we’re sinfully inclined to break his law, then our conscience bears witness to us that we’re evil.

And so, God has given to every single living person the knowledge that he’s real and he’s powerful and he’s good. And he had given to every single living person the knowledge of right and wrong and good and evil. God is continually revealing himself to us so that deep down inside everyone knows God and everyone knows that they have done wrong.

John says that in the divine Word was life and that life — which is in him and which he gives to us — is the light of every living person. Every living person knows God deep down inside.

The light shines in the darkness

But then John goes on to say that the light shines in the darkness.

So, the light shines. It’s always shining. It’s continually shining. God is continually revealing himself to us. God is continually making himself known. When I go out with the dogs in the morning, I need to bring a torch with me to shine on the path ahead of me. But once it gets to about 7.30, I can switch it off. I don’t need it anymore. My torch shines for a little while, but God’s light shines continually. He is always revealing himself. He is always making himself known. His witness to himself is constant. He is continually giving us the knowledge of himself.

But we live in a fallen world. The world is not the way it was supposed to be, because the world is now filled with darkness. In the beginning, everything was very good. And Adam knew God. But then Adam disobeyed God and sin and death came into the world. And now, instead of knowing God as we should, we suppress the truth about God. Paul says in Romans that we suppress the truth by our wickedness. In other words, we suppress it because we’re wicked by nature. Because we’re sinners by nature, we suppress the truth. Or we repress it the way someone might repress an unpleasant memory. People can’t cope with an unpleasant memory and, without knowing they’re doing it, they push it out of their thoughts. People can’t cope with an unpleasant thought and, without knowing they’re doing it, they bury it deep down inside. A mother can’t accept that her son is a thief and, without knowing she’s doing it, she hides the truth from herself and explains away his behaviour. And without knowing it, men and women and boys and girls repress the truth about God. Instead of acknowledging that God is real and he’s powerful and he’s good and we have done wrong, they push every thought of God out of their minds. And as well as repressing the truth, they invent substitutes. They put their trust in something else instead of in the one, true and living God. And that’s why the world is full of other religions and superstitions and all those ideologies and philosophies and isms like materialism and scientism and consumerism which people rely on to make sense of the world.

And so, everyone knows God, because God is continually revealing himself to us by the things he has made and by what he has done. Everyone knows God. He has shone his light into their lives. He has given people everywhere the knowledge they need. They know him.

And yet, they don’t know him, because they push the truth out of their thoughts without even realising that they’re doing it. And they trust in other things instead of in the true God. The light is shining. It’s shining continually. It’s always shining. God is always making himself know. But it’s shining in the darkness, because we live in a fallen world which is in the dark about God.

And so, we suppress the truth. We repress it. We hide it from ourselves without even knowing it. We are like people on holiday who are in the sun, but who are wearing sunglasses. The sun is shining brightly, but they don’t notice the sun’s rays, because of their dark glasses. And God is continually giving us the knowledge of himself by the things he has made and by the things he has done. The light is shining continually. It’s shining brightly. But by nature we’re wearing dark glasses and we cannot see it or acknowledge it. We’re in the dark about God because we’re sinners.

The darkness has not understood it

Now we come to the final point. John says that the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. However, if you’re looking at the NIV, you’ll see there’s a footnote beside the word ‘understood’ which says that the word John uses can also be translated ‘overcome’. So, is he saying that the darkness has not understood the light or is he saying that the darkness has not overcome the light? Saying that the darkness has not understood the light is really what I’ve been saying already about the way we do not see the light because we’re sinners by nature. Instead of understanding the light, we repress it and we replace it.

That’s an entirely negative statement: the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it; and there’s nothing to be done about it. But the rest of the gospel is about what God has done to save us from the darkness of our sin and unbelief. And so, I’m inclined to take it that John means the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.

So, by nature we’re in the dark about God despite God’s continual revelation of himself to us by what he has made and by the way he provides for us. However, the darkness of our sin and unbelief has not overcome the light. It has not obliterated the light. God continues to make his light known. He continues to let his light shine in this dark world. He will not let our sin and unbelief snuff out the light. Indeed, throughout the period of the Old Testament, God not only revealed himself to all people everywhere through what he has made, but he revealed himself in an even clearer way to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And then he revealed himself to the people of Israel through the prophets. In this way, he revealed his will to save his people from their sin and misery by a Saviour who was coming into the world.

And the last of these prophets was John the Baptist. And John, the writer of this gospel, will go on in verse 6 of this chapter to speak about John the Baptist. John, the writer of this gospel, says about John the Baptist that he was a man who came from God to bear witness to the light. And so, God sent John the Baptist as the last of his Old Testament prophets to make himself known to his people so that they would know him and his will to save them by the Saviour who was coming.

And then, when the time was right, God spoke even more fully by his Son, the divine Word, who came into the world as one of us to reveal God’s glory and to reveal his grace and truth by saving us from our sin and misery.

So, God continually reveals himself to all people everywhere by what he has made and by providing for us. In this way he shows us that he’s real and he’s powerful and he’s good. And by writing his law on our hearts, he shows us that we have done wrong. He reveals this to all people everywhere. But instead of acknowledging the truth, we repress it and we replace it. Then God revealed himself in a clearer way through the prophets. And now God has revealed himself to us more fully by coming to us in the person of his Son.

And now that his Son has returned to heaven, God still speaks to us through the reading and preaching of his written word in the power of his Spirit. And just as God caused light to shine in the darkness at the time of the creation, so by his Spirit he causes light to shine in our dark hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And if you’re a believer today, that’s what he did for you. You were a sinner by birth. And so, by birth you were sinfully inclined to repress the truth about God and to replace it with something else. Your heart was dark. Your mind was dark. You were in the dark about God. You would never have believed if he did not intervene in your life to enable you to see the light.

And so, he did not let your natural darkness obliterate the truth about God. Instead he has overcome your natural darkness and he enabled you to see the light of God’s glory in the gospel of Jesus Christ; and he enabled you to believe in his Son for salvation. A man in the sun takes off his dark glasses to enable him to see his wife more clearly. And God has taken away our darkness to enable us to see him far more clearly and to see what he has done for us by his Son who gave up his life for our salvation.

If you’re a believer, then it’s because this is what God did for you. And you should give thanks to him today and every day for his kindness to you in Christ Jesus. And you should pray to the Father Almighty, asking him to take away the darkness of the people all around us so that they too might see the light of God’s glory revealed to us in the good news about Jesus Christ. Pray that they will see the light and will bow before the Father Almighty and give thanks to him for all his good gifts. And pray that they will see the light and will bow before the Father Almighty and give thanks to him for his greatest gifts which are forgiveness and eternal life through faith in his Son.

In the divine Word was life. He has fullness of life in and from himself because he is God. And from his fullness, he gives us life in this world. And he also gives us light: the knowledge of God. But because we’re sinners by birth, and our hearts are dark, we repress the truth about God and we replace it. But God will not let our natural darkness obliterate the light. Instead he overcomes our darkness. He says, ‘Let there be light’ and he enables us to see the light of his glory in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And he enables us to believe and to receive forgiveness and the hope of everlasting life in the presence of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And to him be all praise and glory for ever and for ever.