JOHN 1:4-5 - The Light of Men

Introduction

Of all the holidays that Americans decorate for, Christmas is far and away decorated with some kind of lights. And we use a lot of lights—according to one industry website, Pennsylvanians are estimated to use as much as 67 million megawatts of electricity for Christmas lights in the 45-day period between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. (For comparison, the United Arab Emirates uses a total of 70 million megawatts in an entire year!) (Source: https://www.electricchoice.com/blog/electricity-cost-and-consumption-christmas-lights-and-decorations-in-america/ Retrieved 11/28/2025)

We are a people who love to use light to decorate for Christmas—whether it’s a few lights strung around the eaves or full-on Griswold-style. But so many people will celebrate Christmas with a house and a tree that blazes with light while their own lives are sunk in darkness. Beautiful lights outside that scatter the darkness around their house, but nothing that can penetrate the dark guilt and shame and brokenness of their own hearts.

And as we read a moment ago, John describes Jesus’ appearance on earth in His Incarnation as light coming to earth in the midst of darkness. We noted last week that John begins his Gospel with deliberate echoes of Genesis 1:1 - “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...” “In the beginning was the Word...” John is doing the same thing here in Verses 4-5 when he writes about the light of Christ and the darkness of the world. After all—what is the first thing God does in the beginning of Creation?

Genesis 1:3–4 LSB

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

It is an image that we see throughout the Scriptures, light of God’s truth contrasted with the darkness of rebellion and sin. John uses the image of light and darkness throughout his Gospel and his first epistle—fourteen out of seventeen uses of the word “darkness” in the entire New Testament are found in John’s writings. The verses here before us this morning represent the foundation of what he has to say about Jesus Christ, and so we want to look carefully at them this morning. If you are going to celebrate Christmas like a Christian, you need to understand what John is saying about the light of Christ’s life in you this morning. The way I want to present it to you today is that

It is only in Christ’s LIFE you have LIGHT to scatter the DARKNESS of your world

Look here with me at Verse 4 of our text. John shows us here that there is no other way to find the life that we desperately seek except through Jesus. See here that

I. All LIFE is found in Christ (John 1:4)

John 1:4 LSB

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

Consider first of all that all life is found in Christ in that

He puts the DAYS in your LIFE

All of our physical life comes from Christ. John’s Gospel is full of demonstrations of Jesus’ authority over our physical lives—from His ability to provide for our physical needs (Wine in John 2, bread in John 6) to the authority to bring us healing (the royal official’s son in John 4, the lame beggar in Bethesda in John 5, the man born blind in John 9), to the authority to call the dead back to life (Lazarus in John 11). Beloved, all life is in Jesus Christ—all healing comes through Him, all health is from Him, every beat of your heart and every breath in your lungs comes because He is giving it to you moment by moment.

And when you belong to Him by faith, you have the comfort and assurance of knowing that all of your days are in His hands! Whatever comes to you, be it pain or relief, health or frailty, healing or decay, all of it is your dear Savior’s doing, and you can trust Him in it. Whatever painful path you may be called to walk, He has not sent you down that path; He is leading you through it.

In Jesus Christ is life—all of your days are written in His book. And consider the rest of Verse 4, where John writes

John 1:4 LSB

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

He puts the days in your life, beloved, and

He gives you the LIGHT in your DAYS (cp. John 10:10)

There are so many people who have no time for Christ or His promises because they slander Him in their belief that Jesus means to ruin their fun. If they come to Jesus in repentance, they have to quit doing all the things that they crave; they have to quit pursuing any kind of happiness and instead sit around with long, serious faces while they scour their lives free from anything that smacks of pleasure.

I wish I could take someone who thinks like that and introduce them to the woman caught in adultery in John 8. I want them to ask her if “Jesus ruined her fun”? She was having a fling with another woman’s husband—or maybe she was another man’s wife, we don’t know. But when Jesus told her “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11), did she take that as ruining her fun?

Or the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4—did Jesus “ruin her fun” by revealing Himself as the long-awaited Messiah Who was bringing the Good News of salvation to her? Or Nicodemus in John 3 (who, by the way, came to Jesus by night!)—did Jesus make his life miserable by declaring to him “You must be born again? (John 3:7)?

Ask the drunkard that Christ has delivered from his sin—did Jesus ruin his life by setting him free? Ask the former sexual glutton who gorged himself on pornography and lust—did Jesus take away your fun by delivering you from the false promises of sin and the slave-chains of corruption when He gave you the renewed mind of the new man that allowed you to put off the darkness of the futile mind of sin? It is only in Christ that you have any kind of light or freedom or joy in the darkness of this world. Sin is a thief that will rob you of any real happiness or joy or satisfaction—but Jesus says in John 10:10

John 10:10 LSB

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

All life is found in Christ—He puts the days in your life, He puts the light in your days, and

He promises you LIFE that never ENDS (cp. John 3:36)

In John’s image of light and darkness, he is not just contrasting light with life and darkness with death—it is the contrast between eternal life and eternal death:

John 3:36 LSB

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

It is true that Jesus came to bring physical life: He is the source of all healing, all health, all life that we live. He is the One Who brings life to our years, setting us free from the false promises of sin. But more than that—most gloriously of all—Jesus Christ is the source of the life that you will have for all eternity in Heaven with Him.

There are a lot of people who are interested in the first two ways that Christ brings life—they want health, they want length of days, they want healing and soundness of body. So to come to Jesus for physical health and life is something a lot of people can get behind.

In the same way, there are a lot of people who like the way Jesus’ teachings can make them a better person—Jesus is the key to living a moral life, breaking bad habits and learning better ones, giving them a sense of purpose and belonging in their lives as they try to live according to His example.

But as the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:19

1 Corinthians 15:19 LSB

If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

For all the light and hope Christ brings to this life, there is no good thing in this life that you will take with you into the next life. It is only as you are trusting in the eternal life Christ promises you that you will be saved from the wrath of God that abides on those who will not obey His call to repent of their sin and submit to Him by faith. It is only the eternal life Christ offers you that the darkness of the wrath of God against your sin can be scattered.

John proclaims here in Verse 4 that all life is found in Christ. And in Verse 5 he goes on to declare that

II. All LIGHT is given by Christ (John 1:5)

John 1:4–5 LSB

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. And the Light shines in the darkness...

John comes back to his favorite way of describing Christ—He is the light shining in the darkness. Consider the image of light and what it does—first of all,

It REVEALS (cp. John 14:9)

When you walk into a dark room, what is the first thing you do? You turn on a light so that you can see what you are doing! We’ve observed before that the only way to know what is really going on in your heart—the only way to really know what your standing is before God—is through the light that Christ shines into you by His Word.

Jesus came to show you Who God really is; and by knowing Him as He is, you can know that you are in a right relationship with Him. Jesus said to Philip at the Last Supper,

John 14:9 LSB

...He who has seen Me has seen the Father...

In the light that Christ brings there is no more superstition about God; there are no more questions about what God is like or whether He is even knowable. The light that was given to God’s people in the Old Testament through the sacrificial system and the Temple and Law of Moses were glimpses at best of God’s full character. But now in Christ, the fulness of Who God is has been revealed. We are no longer bumping around in the dark trying to figure out how to be made right with God; His entire character and His entire plan for redeeming this broken world has been revealed once and for all through Christ.

All light is given by Christ—light reveals, and

It PURIFIES (cp. John 12:46)

Just as sunlight is a natural disinfectant, purifying and cleansing what it touches, when the light of Christ’s life shines into you through the New Birth He works in you, your life is purified from the decay and rot of the old futility of our darkened mind:

John 12:46 LSB

“I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.

A new power has come into your life—the sins you used to love you hate; the righteousness and goodness you used to scoff at have become your deepest delights; attending to God’s Word and worship on the Lord’s Day with His people is now a privilege where it used to be a burden; your preoccupation with your own desires and wants is transformed into compassion and sacrificial love for your family, your co-workers, your church. The purifying light of the life of Christ in you transforms you as you walk daily in it—the light of Christ reveals, it purifies, and

It GUIDES (cp. John 8:12; cp. Ps. 23:3)

Just as the pillar of fire that went before God’s people in the Old Testament brought them safely through the howling wilderness to the Promised Land, so the light of Christ is your guide through the dark pitfalls and traps of this world:

John 8:12 LSB

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

C.S. Lewis once described a man groping his way through a pitch-black cavern, trying to find his way out. He writes:

Doubtless he was in one way helped by the darkness: he had no real sensation of height and no giddiness. On the other hand, to work by touch alone made crazy climbing. Doubtless if anyone had seen him he would have appeared at one moment to take mad risks and at another to indulge in excessive caution. (Lewis, C. S.. Perelandra: (Space Trilogy, Book Two) (The Space Trilogy 2) (p. 132). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.)

How many people go through life that way—taking absolutely insane risks at one point and at another point being paralyzed by irrational fear, having no light to guide them they do what they “feel” at a given moment but have no real understanding or direction for their lives. In Christ alone we have our only reliable Guide, the only “lamp to our feet and light to our path” through His Word which He has preserved for us.

See here in these two verses that all life is found in Christ, all light is given by Christ, and at the end of Verse 5,

III. All DARKNESS is defeated through Christ (John 1:5; cp. John 3:19)

John 1:4–5 LSB

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.

The King James translation that we all grew up with renders this verse

John 1:5 KJV 1900

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

This is an example of how language changes over time—in the Seventeenth Century, “comprehend” meant to “encompass” or “surround” something. To us it means to “understand” something (by “taking it all in”, as it were.)

So it is a better translation of the Greek term here to render it “overtake” or “catch”. John is saying here that there is no darkness that can overwhelm the light of Christ that has been revealed by His life. When you open the door of a dark cellar, the darkness of the cellar doesn’t come out and swallow up the light you’re standing in; the light dispels the darkness inside that room.

In the same way, the darkness of this world cannot overcome the light that Christ came to bring. This world may be dark with confusion, but

CONFUSION cannot overcome His REVELATION (cp. John 14:27)

In the light of Christ, beloved—you have somewhere safe to stand in the upheaval of this chaotic hour. When the world around you is thrown into panic and fear and uncertainty; when everything from politics to the economy to families and marriages and societies seem to be unraveling before your eyes and you are tempted to fret over your future or your family’s future, you have the promise of Christ’s revelation of Himself to you:

John 14:27 LSB

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

The darkness of this world threatens to confuse you with anxiety and unbelief, but Christ’s revelation of Himself is the light that gives you peace.

This world’s darkness will seek to deceive you with its lies, sin will seduce you with its false promises of satisfaction, but be encouraged Christian—

DECEPTION cannot overcome His GUIDANCE (cp. John 8:32)

When you come to Christ for the light of the life He offers you in salvation, you are able to see through the deceptions of this world’s false promises. The old sins that used to promise you so much satisfaction and enjoyment are shown to be the lies that they are—you can see right through them because of the new vision Christ gives the eyes of your heart (like suddenly discovering your favorite MAGA Twitter feed is actually based in Saudi Arabia!) Christ sets you free from those deceptions—He promises in John 8:32

John 8:32 LSB

and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

The world cannot extinguish the Light that dawned on that first Christmas morning—it began there in that manger in Bethlehem and it has been growing ever since.

The darkness of the curse of death held sway over this poor ruined world for millennia—but when Christ came to earth, the eternal Second Person of the Trinity taking up humanity into Himself,

DEATH could not overcome His LIFE (cp, John 10:17-18)

Whether it was Herod trying to drown it in the blood of infants, whether it was Satan trying to put it out by his temptations in the wilderness, whether it was the Pharisees trying to shout it down in the synagogues or the Romans trying to thrust a spear through it on the Cross and sealing it in a tomb, nothing could stop the Light of the world from overtaking the darkness of death. Jesus alone has the authority over all life—including His own:

John 10:17–18 LSB

“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. “No one takes it away from Me, but from Myself, I lay it down. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

There is no darkness that can overtake the light of life in Christ that has dawned on this world. Even though this world hates that light and wants the darkness because of the evil of their deeds (John 3:19), there is no stopping the Sun that first pierced the darkness two thousand years ago from growing and brightening and spreading until the Day fully dawns.

Christian, this is the light that shines in you through the life of Christ you have been given in the New Birth! He is the One that numbers your days, and He is the one that fills your days with His life—you can trust Him and rest in His care, because He is your life and your security and you are His precious child. Don’t let the deceptive lies of this world’s darkness drag you into unbelief or fear or hopelessness in the midst of difficult days. Trust Him with the days of your life, look to Him to sustain you and care for you moment by moment.

You have a light, Christian, that has revealed the face of God Himself to you! You do not have to fret over whether you really can know God; you do not have to live in the anxiety that wonders whether God will receive you on the Last Day—in Jesus Christ you have a revelation of what your Heavenly Father is like! He loves, you, He delights in you, and His greatest desire (as Jesus says in John 17:24) is that you spend eternity with Him in the glory of His love and delight!

John 17:24–25 LSB

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me;

Beloved, you have in Christ a light that this world cannot extinguish; you have in Him a promise of life that Death cannot overcome. God’s wrath against your sin has been quenched, the darkness that has held you in its grip has been broken; you are free to walk before Him in the light of the righteousness that He has given you. There is no threat of punishment, there is no guilt or shame, and all of your regrets and sorrows have been washed away by the favor of His delight in you.

And friend, if you are here this morning apart from the promises of Christ for you; if you are content to see the life and work of Christ as a moral inspiration for your life but don’t want to be told that you are a sinner or that you are in desperate need of rescue, then you need to understand that you are never going to get rid of the darkness that lives inside you on your own. You cannot go down into that dark cellar of your heart and sweep the darkness out with a broom; you cannot scrub it out with the filthy rags of your own righteousness.

The only way to banish the darkness is to open the cellar door and let in the light:

Ephesians 5:13–14 LSB

But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.”

The only hope that you have to escape the darkness within you—the only way to escape eternity in the Outer Darkness that awaits you—is to come to this Light:

1 John 1:7 LSB

but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

The Light is shining for you this morning—in this holiday so full of light, won’t you make this the day when you make your escape from all of the confusion, lies, false promises, guilt, shame, wickedness and rebellion of the darkness around you and within you? Leave the darkness behind—there is nothing for you there—and come (and welcome!) to Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

Jude 24–25 LSB

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

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