Shining in the Darkness

“Life” is found in the “Word” or ‘Logos,’ and this life is the “Light of Men.” It is “shining in the darkness.” This “light” has become the Living Word of God in the man, Jesus of Nazareth, in whom the glory and life of God are fully manifested. Therefore, this Divine “Word” is both life and life-giving - (John 1:1, 1 John 1:5).

The disciples of the Nazarene are called to “testify” of the light in this darkened world. Many voices compete for our attention, each claiming to be the light, the source of illumination, and the “shining city on the hill.”

[Photo by Chinh Le Duc on Unsplash]

However, with the manifestation of God’s “light” in His Son, 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” – (1 John 1:5, 2:8).

Political ideologies, philosophies, religions, economic theories, and messianic figures claim to be the way, humanity’s best hope for peace and life, bulwarks against the darkness that threatens to overwhelm humanity. However, they are shadowy counterfeits. They are exposed when the True “Light of God” radiates brightly on Earth.

These false claims have failed mankind time and again. According to John, there is one source for the True Light that “illuminates every man coming into the World.” “Light” and “Life” are found only in God’s chosen vessel of light, revelation, and salvation, namely, Jesus Christ, the one who came to “save his people from their sins” and “achieved the purification of sins” through his sacrificial death - (Matthew 1:21, Hebrews 1:1-3).

It began with John the Baptist, the “man sent from God” who bore witness of the coming “Light” so men might “believe.” That “Light” came to fullness in the man from Nazareth. All men who believe in him see the “glory as of the only born of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

His followers become “lights in the world” as they “shine before men so they may glorify their Father in heaven.” His Light and Life are manifested in His Son, and reflected in his disciples as they bear witness of Jesus and “take up the cross” and follow him daily – (John 1:1-14).

Thus, Jesus is the “Light of the World,” and there is no other source of “Life” and “Light” but him. His followers become the shining “City on a Hill” for all men to see when they let HIS light shine in their lives. There is no genuine light or life apart from Jesus, and his Assembly is called to mediate this same light to all men.

In the Gospel of John, the Baptist declared that Jesus is the “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the World.” Thus, he testified before the Jewish nation that Jesus was the Son of God. In turn, his Church is called to testify before all the nations of the Earth – (John 1:29-34).

WORD MADE FLESH

John’s Gospel begins with the declaration that God created all things through His “Word,” the “Logos.” “Light” and “Life” are found only in this “Word made flesh.” In him, the Creator of all things gave living form to the same “Word” by which He created the Heavens and the Earth.

Jesus is the Light of the World because he is the full and final expression of this creative “Word” or ‘Logos’ of God. This is why anyone who believes in him and his words no longer “abides in the darkness” and has passed from death to life. The man who rejects his words will be judged by this same “Word” on the last day – (John 12:44-50).

In his first epistle, John summarizes this truth, and he employs several terms and themes from 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).

Hence, Jesus of Nazareth is the “Word of Life” manifested to the world. Because this “Word of Life” has entered the world through him, the “darkness is passing away, and the true light already is shining.” The “darkness cannot seize” the Light. Instead, the “darkness” retreats wherever this life-giving word shines – (1 John 1:1-3, 2:8).

In a very dark world, Jesus is the bright light that radiates God’s life, truth, salvation, and hope to all men and women. In him alone, the Fullness of God’s grace and truth are presented for all men to see, especially in his Death and Resurrection. The “proclamation of Christ Crucified” is the “wisdom and power of God” - (1 Corinthians 1:24).

As Jesus declared to his disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” No one comes to God “except through me,” and, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” Only in Jesus is the nature and light of God found and manifested, and nowhere else.

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RELATED POSTS:

• God has Spoken! - (God is speaking His definitive word in His Son. All previous words spoken by the prophets were preparatory, promissory, and partial)

• Grace and Truth - (The fullness, grace, and truth of God are found only in the Word made Flesh, namely, Jesus of Nazareth – John 1:14-18)

• His Mysteries Revealed - (The mysteries of God previously hidden are revealed in Jesus of Nazareth, and especially in his death and resurrection)