Jesus the Light and Life

From time to time, we see celebrities in places that we attend and visit for leisure or to grab a bite to eat. We can observe the talk and mannerisms we have celebrated over the years being displayed before us, and it isn't easy to believe because we do not think some of their standing and celebrity will visit the same places we attended. We think they would not get caught at some lowly places that we go to, such as a movie theatre, a fried fish restaurant, a BBQ joint, or a bowling alley. I heard many wish they could go to places ordinary people attend. Some would call the celebrity an impersonator because the real person would not get caught seen around what some call normal people.

Jesus came to this earth, and man had a difficult time then and a now acknowledging Him as God. Isaiah prophesied about this visit in Isaiah 7:14 “ Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” Matthew 1:23 says Immanuel is translated God-with-us! And I say Amen to that. God came; he brought light to a lowly manger, light to the ghetto of Nazareth and Galilee, and ultimately, the entire world.

One may ask the celebrity why you come. And he/she might tell you that I have come for the hot dogs and view the wonder scenery. Some celebrities, when they visit places that we visit, will shut the entire business down by way of buying all of the space for the time that they would be there because they do not want to be around all of their fans, knowing how some of us behave.

If you ask Jesus why He came, he will tell you I came for you. I have come to save you, to deliver you from the ways of the world. Not only did he come not to isolate himself from His creation but to bring us all together to himself.

Jesus came because we were dead in our sins. Eph. 2:1-3 “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” To be dead in sins is synonymous with being separated from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). Physical death is a separation of the physical body from the soul. James 2:26 “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” We see and feel the separation as we look inside the iron where the cremated remains lie, or we look inside the coffin. We see the shell, but we know that person or soul is no longer there because of the separation. Jesus came because our relationship with the Creator was, as we say about the deceased, “gone.”And he came to bring it back.

John 1:4-5 “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 1:4 “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

John said in Him was life.

ζωή (zōē). n. fem. life. Primarily refers to a natural life.

In Jesus was life. Whether they realized it or not, the one who gave them natural life was in their presence. While Jesus was here, some embraced Him by listening and accepting His truths, while some blasphemed and slandered Him. Now, they would slander and abuse the one who gave them life or natural life. This reminds me why the Scriptures command that everyone honors their father and mother. Eph. 6:2 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” As you know, if we cannot honor the people who participated in bringing us into this world, how will we honor the One who gives life to our parents and everything?

Honor – τιμάω (timaō): vb.; ≡ Str 5091; TDNT 8.169—1. LN 87.8 honor, show respect, give recognition, often implying action to show that honor (Mt 15:4; Jn 5:23); 2. LN 57.165 set price on, determine an amount of money (Mt 27:9); 3. LN 57.117 assist, provide aid or financial assistance (1Ti 5:3)

If we honor our parents, we are commanded to love or honor God more. God is to be respected, recognized, and appraised with the highest value. God asked in the days of Malichi, and it is relevant even today, where is my honor? Mal. 1:6 ““A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the LORD of hosts To you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’”

God is to be honored because he gives us physical life.

God is also to be honored because he gives us eternal life. This life that Christ gives, empowers us here and empowers us to everlasting life. 1 Tim. 4:8 “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” What is life to come? The life that is to come is eternal life. Like today, there has always been a minority of people seeking eternal life. Too many are just focused on life in the here and now. There are stiff penalties for those who destroy someone’s life in the here and now based on the life that was taken and the potential. The penalty for taking a life tends to be physical death. When we focus on everlasting life, no one takes that from you but you. God offers it, and he gives it, for us not to receive it is on us; the penalty is everlasting death or separation.

Jesus has come to reconcile us now with God and prepare us for our future. So, we can say that we owe our lives to God. We were separated and now reconciled. We were just a shell of what we could be without Christ. Now our souls have been animated with life flowing to eternal life.

This eternal life increases our quality of life on earth. People tend to associate the quality of life with their income, if you have this you can have a good quality of life. I have news for you, those who do not have much material means life a good quality of life. 1 Tim. 6:6 “Now godliness with contentment is great gain.” My connection should not be attached to what I did not bring into this world. But if I can connect to Him who allowed me to be here, that is when I have life.

John 1:5 “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

Light -φῶς (phōs). n. neut. light. Agent which shines and makes visibility possible.

There is the physical life, light, and spiritual life and light. God automatically gave us the physical ability to see. This spiritual light is something that we must desire, and it is only found in Christ Jesus. We do not get this sight apart from Jesus. Without Jesus, we will find ourselves groping in darkness. And we see it all the time. People are blindly searching for something, not sure of what they are looking for form but still reaching. And whatever they lay hold of is what they follow. Tasha was looking at something last night about people who were a part of this cult. And they interviewed many who were a part of it. They were mostly highly educated, yet they fell for the abuse. I could think of several reasons for why, but only God knows. I put it under the category of what we are looking at now. People are in darkness and they groap in darkness. People are looking for something to latch to, but since they are in darkness, I fear people do not know what they have latched onto. Isaiah 9:2 “The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.” Because of darkness, we all have a past of things done in darkness or ignorance. And praise God. Jesus brought light to all of it. He forgave us of all of it. What He did for us. He desires to do for the world (John 3:16)

Jesus came to be a light to the world. Eph. 5:8-14 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”

Shameful - αἰσχρός aischros adj:Shameful, base, disgraceful, dishonorable.

As the inspired writer said, it is shameful to even speak of things done in secret. To mention those things is borderline slander. That is what makes them base, shameful. So, if you don’t have to say it don’t, if you do not have to repeat it, don’t. The Bible mentions turning the other cheek, encouraging us to suffer the loss when we can instead of taking it to court. When you take it to court, you will have to relive and repeat those things that are base and shameful that another Christian did to you. Paul would say you can present that to Christians in 1 Cor. 7. Even when you bring it up to brethren to help, that shame. I think that is one of the reasons why I apologize when I have to say certain things. Knowing and feeling the shame that must be uttered.

The excuse I didn’t know does not work for a person who has been exposed to light. If you put you hand in the fire, can you say, I didn’t see it. I didn’t see that person I run over, I didn’t see the person that I hit. Acts 17:30-31 “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

There was a time that God overlooked things because He knew that torch, that light was not in the world yet. 1 John 3:8 “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. “Now that the light has come, all men and women are commanded to repent. That is, you see the light, you embrace the light, and when you see the light, you do not forget what manner of man you are; you make the corrections as God sees fit. James 1:23-25 “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

Jesus is the Word; Jesus is the Light of all men. Men’s response to the Word and the Light is to receive or reject. To comprehend or have no comprehension of it.

John 1:5 “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

We would not know what light is if it had not been for the Lord. Jesus shows us the way. Now, this light is associated with life. Amen. If I have life in Christ Jesus, I also have this light. I will always have this light if I follow him. We will not walk in darkness if we are following Jesus. John 8:12 “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Jesus the Light is opposed to darkness, and the darkness is opposed to the light. In Jesus’ life, what was the evidence that the darkness was opposed to Jesus the light. It is rare to find encounters when Jesus was not confronted by evil behavior and accusations.

This world has grown accustomed to evil. The world is so clouded with darkness, when it sees something that is good, people are apprehensive about it. That is they are fearful that something bad is going to come out of this good thing. Something bad is going to come out of this good person because they are used to it in this world.

Jesus was the Light, and he was accused of being full of darkness. Yet he shined anyway and continues to shine. As you shine, you may be misrepresented as Jesus but shine anyway.

The gospel leads men and women out of darkness.

John 1:5 “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

Comprehend or overcome: καταλαμβάνομαι (katalambanomai), καταλαμβάνω (katalambanō): vb.; ≡ Str 2638; TDNT 4.9—1. LN 57.56 acquire, obtain, implying effort (1Co 9:24; Mk 16:15 v.r.); 2. LN 39.48 attack, imply the gaining of control over (Mk 9:18); 3. LN 37.108 seize, arrest (Jn 8:3, 4 v.r.); 4. LN 37.19 overpower, overcome, gain control over (Jn 1:5; Jn 6:17 NA26), for another interp, see next; 5. LN 32.18 understand, comprehend, grasp (Ac 10:34; Jn 1:5), for another interp, see prior; 6. LN 27.10 (dep.) learn about, find out (Ac 25:25); 7. LN 13.119 (dep.) happen (1Th 5:4)

καταλαμβάνω, (A) act. (a) I seize tight hold of, arrest, catch, capture, appropriate, Mk. 9:18, [John] 8:3, 4, Rom. 9:30, 1 Cor. 9:24, Phil. 3:12, 13; (b) I overtake, John 1:5, 6:17 (v. l.), 12:35, 1 Thess. 5:4; (B) mid. aor. I perceived, comprehended.

Let's look at the darkness did not comprehend. Many in darkness behaved and pretended they did not understand what Jesus stood for and what he taught. Three years of teaching publicly and performing miracles and signs and because of their hardness of hearts, it led to them putting Jesus to death over His doctrine. John 18:20 “Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard Me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.” For all the good and light and life Jesus brought into the world. It ended with them desiring to take His life and putting out

Let's look at the darkness that did not overcome. If you read the gospel of John up to the crucifixion of Jesus. It appears that Jesus lost. Darkness did not overcome because of what happened to Jesus. But the Word said through His word that he would resurrect. And darkness did not overcome. He overcame death, hell, and the grave. Rev. 1:17-18 “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”