Light of the World (John 1:1 - 14)

Introduction

As a boy, my families tradition was to have Christmas in Cape Town. Specifically, we would spend Christmas a my Uncle’s house which was in a small part of Cape Town called Hout Bay, or in Afrikaans - Houd Baai. Part of the preparation for Christmas would include finding and cutting down a medium sized conifer or Christmas tree that would grow on the lower slopes of Table Mountain, near Constantia Nek. We would then drag this Christmas tree into the house, find a large 25l disused plastic paint bucket, pile it with rocks and then hoist the tree up. The girls in the famiy would then decorate the tree with tinsel and various ornaments, like ceramic balls and stuffed father christmas’s. Part of the decoration was placing Christmas lights of various colours on the tree. The lights would flash in different cycles, some on, some off, all on, then all off and so the cycle would repeat. The point is, that at night when the lounge was dark, the sight of the Christmas tree in the lounge was specatcular. I don’t use that word lightly. A Christmas tree standing from floor to ceiling, decorated in tinsel and ornaments, and arrayed in lights is beautiful to see. There is something wonderful about it.

Our passage this morning is taken from John 1:1–14 . This is the prologue (or introduction) to his testimony about the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we read through this passage, you will see that there a few themes running through it. There is the concept of light, of life, of logos and of love. But what I want you to come away with this morning is a sense of wonder. The same sense of wonder that the apostle John had when he wrote this book.

John 1:1–14 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

In our passage this morning we see the light of the Christ coming into the world. We also see four responses to the light of Christ from three groups of people. I want us to look at this passage under three headings in line with the four different responses.

John the Apostle (1 - 5)

John the Baptist (6 - 9)

John or Jane Doe the Ordinary (9 - 14)

John the Apostle (v. 1 - 5)

Biography

Now just like I stood in awe as a young boy, so the Apostle John, the author of this book also stood in awe. But he did not stand in awe of a simple Christmas tree, he stood in awe of the Lord Jesus Christ. His amazement and wonder at the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ is all over this book, in fact it is the primary reason for his writing of this book. From the very first verse until the very last, John is overawed by the majesty of Christ.

John and his brother James worked with their father as fisherman, when Christ called them. Whilst they followed the Lord dutifully, they privately hoped for personal glory and honour, asking the Lord on two occassions to sit one at his right and one at his left hand when Christ entered his glory (Mark 10:35 - 45; Matthew 20:20 - 28). Jesus called James and John Boanerges or the ‘the sons of thunder’ for their firely personalities and impetuousity. Yet, the brothers would mature and both would become authors, James would become the first of the twelve to be martyred and John would become known as the apostle of love and a key author and figure in the New Testament.

As John reflects ont he life of Christ, he understands that the Lord Jesus Christ is more than just God’s son. In fact, we are only introduced to the concept of Jesus as God’s son in verse 14. When we think of Jesus as God’s son we may be tempted to think of him as a semi-god, half-man and half-god a common thought or idea within Roman and Greek mythology. No, what John wanted to establish unmistakably is the divinity of God the Son. He wanted to make it clear that God the Son and God the father were of the same essence, fulfilling different roles yes, but together equal in their divinity.

Logos

I want you to notice that John doesn’t refer to the Lord Jesus Christ as God’s son until verse 14. Instead he emphasises Christ as the Word, or Logos.

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

The first few words of John’s gospel reference the original creation language. He writes, “In the beginning...”. We read the same phrase in Genesis 1:1–3 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

God initiates the creation of the world. But that creation was chaotic. We are told that it was without form and it was void (dark and empty). so what does God do, he imposes himself upon the darkness and upon the emptiness.

How? Genesis 1:3 “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”

God speaks. The words that God speaks are words that are affective, words that impose order on an otherwise disordered world. This is the logos of Genesis 1. God speaks and things happen.

[For Jordan Peterson, Logos (λόγος) is the ancient concept of divine reason, order, and the creative, ordering principle of the universe, manifested in language, consciousness, and truth, often personified in Christ as "The Word Made Flesh," representing the path to aligning individual being with ultimate reality to overcome chaos and find meaning. It's the structure that allows us to perceive, categorize, and speak order into existence, guiding us to truth and goodness].

Now what is fascinating is that John says that Jesus Christ is the word of God. He says Jesus is the Logos. What does this mean?

J.I. Packer says the following, “God’s Word in the old testament is His creative utterance, His power in action fulfilling his purpose. The Old Testament depicted God’s utterance, the actual statement of His purpose, as having power in itself to effect the thing purposed. Genesis 1 tells us how at creation ‘ God said let there be… and there was’ (Gen 1:3). By the word of the Lord were the heavens made … he spake , and it was done (PS 33:6, 9) The Word of God is thus God at work”.

Who is the word of God according to John 1? It is Jesus Christ himself. This means that when God spoke at the beginning of creation, it was the Lord Jesus Christ actioning and animating the very words of God. God said, Christ actioned it. This is important because what John deals with in the rest of his prologue is not creation, but recreation.

Let us look at the historical picture for a minute.

At the creation of the world, God speaks. We have established that the logos of God is Christ. When God spoke, Christ actioned it.

We then go through a period of time where God ceases to speak directly to his creation. Instead he speaks through his prophets (recorded for us in the Old Testament).

God then ceases to speak altogether. After Malachi, 400 years of silence.

Finally, God speaks again and he does it like he did at the creation. He sends His very Word to earth in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? To recreate, to reorder. It is an incredible thought and so beautifully summed up in Hebrews 1:1–5 “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?”

Do you see it? Christ is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power! That is the logos, that is what John means when he refers to Christ as the Word of God.

Seven Characteristics of the Word (taken from J.I. Packer, knowing God, 48 - 49)

John takes up this figure and proceeds to tell us seven things about the divine Word:

Eternal ‘In the beginning was the Word (verse1). He had no beginning of His own; when other things began, He was.

Personhood 'And the Word was with God' (verse 1). The power that fulfils God's purposes is the power of a distinct personal being, who stands in an cternal relation to God of active fellowship (this is what the phrase means).

Deity 'And the Word was God' (verse 1). Though personally distinct from the Father, He is not a creature; He is divine in Himself, as the Father is. The mystery with which this verse confronts us is thus the mystery of personal distinctions within the unity of the Godhead,

Creative ' All things were made by him' (verse 3). He was the Father's agent in every act of making that the Father has ever performed. All that was made was made through Him. (Here, incidentally, is further proof that He, the maker, does not belong to the class of things made, any more than the Father does.)

Animating. 'In him was life' (verse 4). Here is the Word animating. There is no physical life in the realm of created things save in and through Him. Here is the Bible answer to the problem of the origin and continuance of life, in all its forms: life is given and maintained by the Word. Created things do not have life in them- selves, but life in_the Word, the second person of the Godhead.

Revealing. 'And the life was the light of men' (verse 4). Here is the Word revealing. In giving life, He gives light too; that is to say, every man receives intimations of God from the very fact of his being alive in God's world, and this, no less than the fact that he is alive, is due to the work of the Word.

Incarnate 'And the Word became flesh (verse 14). The baby in the manger at Bethlehem was none other than the eternal Word of God.

John the Baptist (vv. 6 - 9)

The second response to Christ coming into the world is from John the Baptist.

Luke 1:41 “And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.”

In vv. 6–9, we are introduced to John the Baptist—the older cousin of Jesus, who was called to prepare the way of the Lord.

Biography

John is introduced to us as “a man sent from God, whose name was John” (v. 6). It is noted by commentators that this messenger is never called “the Baptist” by John. The reason is that John, the apostle, never mentions his own name in his Gospel. When we read “John,” we should therefore think “Baptist.”`

John the Baptist was by in a sense an “apostle”—in the sense that apostolos is the verb translated “sent” in v. 6. John was called by God from before his birth to herald the light of God in Christ to a world in darkness. In the words of Isaiah, “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:1–2, quoted in Matthew 4:16).

The apostle John is highlighting God’s commitment to make this light known. And one way he does this is by raising up, and sending forth, human messengers. John the Baptist was foremost in this regard. He was not the light, but was rather a passionate reflector of the Light. (See 5:35—“he was the burning and shining lamp.”)

There is a very real sense in which those who have the light are to do the same thing. John was sent by God to point people to the light that was sent by God (3:34; 4:34; etc.) who now has sent us to reflect and to declare this light (20:21). In other words, the Christmas light is a year-round illumination. It is to shine all the time and everywhere by those who have been “lit up.”

The Mission

The mission of John was to “bear witness” to the reality of the light: “This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world” (vv. 7–9).

A “witness” (very Johannine word) is one who provides competent testimony concerning that which one has himself seen, heard or experienced. John was such a witness. He was not that light, but the reflector of the true light. As Hendriksen puts it, “John testified concerning the Christ like the moon testifies concerning the sun.”

We should note that John saw himself as merely a light-bearer. Yet there were those who exalted him. It seems that John the apostle is at pains to make it clear that this was problem back in the day. So he makes it clear that John the Baptist was merely a messenger on a mission, lest anyone make the mistake of identifying him with the Master.

The mission continues but the messengers are expendable. The Master is the light, his messengers are just that: messengers. But let John have the last word: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (3:30).

The Mess

In v. 9, John introduces the concept of the “world,” and it is a dominant one in his Gospel: “That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.”

Of the 259 uses of this word in the Bible, 78 are located in the Gospel of John. A further twenty are found in 1 John, with one in 2 John and eight in Revelation. In total, 41% of the occurrences of this word are in Johanine writings.

The concept, as John uses it, is not primarily the physical cosmos, but rather the rebellious system of all that is opposed to God’s regal and rightful and righteous rule. It is that system that John sees as “darkness.” Carson says, “‘This world’, is not the universe, but the created order in rebellion against its Maker.” Ryan summarises, “The ‘world’ is humankind gone wrong, a world shattered by human rebellion.”

As has been well noted by many, when John mentions the “world,” he is thinking badness, not bigness. John is preparing us for the reality that the Christmas Light will not be welcomed by all. And lest we are tempted to boast, “Let’s be honest: it is abundantly obvious that ‘the world’ in John 1:10–11 is none other than us.” (Ryan)

John and Jane Doe the ordinary (vv. 9 - 13)

There are two responses by John and Jane Doe to the Light of Christ.

Biography

Who is John and Jane Doe?

John and Jane Doe represent all people on earth both past and present. All people that is that live in darkness. The darkness that John speaks of here is not a physical reality, but a spiritual reality. Darkness characterised by a seperation from the knowledge and love of God. All without exception are born into this darkness, this seperation from God without exception.

Within the John and Jane Doe group, there are two responses.

Rejection of Christ as the light (vv. 9 - 11).

Reception of Christ as the light (vv. 12 - 13).

Rejection (vs. 9 - 11)

Universal Rejection (vs. 9 - 10)

In spite of gracious visitations, there was universal rejection. “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him” (v. 10).

“Know” is a rich word, used by Jewish people to indicate perception or recognition, and even of sexual relationship (Matthew 1:25). John is revealing that, as Jesus was in the world, as he shone his light in this world, he was not recognised or pursued. The implication is that he was rejected.

The Evangelist is saying that, throughout history, Jesus was rejected, not merely when he walked the earth for 33 years. In other words, ever since the fall, the world has turned a blind eye to him as it careened into the darkness. The history of the world is the history of being wilfully oblivious to the light (Romans 1:18–20).

John says that the people whom Jesus Christ created did not pursue relationship with him. Throughout the history of the world, in spite of the Jesus’ presence, the world largely refused him.

Think about history, and think about all of the gracious divine visitations, and yet the world has rejected a relationship with God. From Abel to the flood, in spite of an Enos and in spite of an Enoch, the world rejected God. From the flood to Abraham, in spite of God’s gracious act of judgement at Babel, the world rejected God. Don Richardson has written a great book titled Eternity in their Hearts, in which he points to culture after culture that had some evidence of knowledge of the true God, but supressed it in unrighteousness. This is the story of the world.

The Christmas light shone long before the Christmas Day. And yet man rejected it. Are you beginning to see the need for something dramatic?

Particular Rejection (vs. 11)

But to make matters worse, there was a particular rejection: “He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.” “His own” refers to his own people—the people of Israel, the physical seed of Abraham. It seems that there is here an important and even dramatic shift in thought. It seems as if John is turning our attention to the incarnation. But let’s slow down for a moment.

Whereas the light of the world was always in the world throughout history (see Acts 17—God has never left the world without witness), there came a time in history when God chose a people through whom he would shine his light. That people was Israel (Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 7:6). It was to them that God gave the light of the promises, and the light of the covenant, and the light of the law, and the light of the shekinah glory. And how did “his own” respond? The majority “did not receive him.”

The word translated “receive” means to “receive near,” to “associate oneself with in a familiar or intimate way.” In other words, “his own” wanted nothing to do with him. When the light of Christmas arrived, “his own” did all they could to unplug it. In fact, they put him on a tree, and they raised the tree with the intention of snuffing out the light of the world. Thankfully, their rejection was not the final word.

John is helping us to understand the hostility of the world to the Christmas light. And that hostility continues today. Much of the world rejects Christ. Countries like North Korea have gone so far as to ban the celebration of Christmas.

John wants us to appreciate just how dark this world is so that we will see just how bright the light of Christ is. The Christmas light is not comprehended by all, but thankfully neither is it overcome by such darkness. Christmas is a shout of victory in the midst of our battle with darkness. Christmas is a bright light that declares that the darkness will not win the day. And we see this clearly in the final two verses.

Reception (vs. 12 - 13)

Thankfully, there were some who received the light: “But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (vv. 12–13).

A Powerful Contrast

“But” is such a wonderful word in Scripture (Ephesians 2:5, etc.)! Not everyone rejected the light. Some, in fact, received the light. Those who did were given the inestimable privilege becoming “children of God.” This is another term that is especially Johannine (see 11:52; 1 John 3:1, 10; 5:2).

John is writing so that his readers will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved (20:31). To “receive” is to take to oneself, to make one’s own. It even has the idea of seizing for oneself. This is precisely what it means to “believe in (or on) his name.” Not everyone rejects Christ, not everyone remains in darkness, not everyone refuses a relationship with God in Christ.

Rather, there are many who turn from their sins and from the realm of the devil’s dominion to live under the authority of God. Those who do are made “children of God.”

But this leads to the important question: What makes the difference? Why do some embrace the Christmas light while others refuse to know it, refuse to receive him? To answer that, we must look at the last verse in our passage.

A Powerful Conversion

The closing verse is wonderful, for it speaks of those “who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (v. 13). “Not of blood” means not of human lineage or physical descent. “Nor of the will of the flesh” means not by procreation or sexual impulse. “Nor of the will of man” means not by the procreative urge of the male. In other words, says Hendriksen, “in no sense whatever do believers derive their birth or standing from physical or biological causes.”

No. What is required is a new creation, which only God can provide (see vv. 1–5). Nothing else can overcome the spiritual darkness. Nothing else can deliver us from the domain of evil. Nothing else can overcome our propensity to sin. Nothing else can overcome our natural rejection of the Lord. No, the only way to become one of the children of God—the only way to stop rejecting the light and to receive the light, to turn from unbelief to belief—is to be “born … of God.”

2 Corinthians 4:3–7 “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”

Conclusion and application

Friend, what about you? What is your response to the gospel? You have seen the response of John the Apostle and author. One of wonder and awe. You have seen the response of John the Baptist, one of self-abasement and self-sacrifice. You have also seen two other responses from John and Jane Doe. To either receive, or reject the light of Christ.

Are you in darkness? Then behold the light of the world (8:12). Confess your sin and confess the Saviour, who will cleanse you from your sins. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on him who experienced the ultimate darkness for all who will trust him as Saviour and Lord. Believe on the one who lived as the full light of the world in sinless perfection. Believe on him who not only created the world, but is able by that same power now to recreate you. Believe on him who not only lived the life that you should have lived, but died the death you deserved, thus experiencing the ultimate form of darkness of seperation on your behalf. Believe on him who rose from the dead. Believe as you experience the blessed light of the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. May you know the Christmas light—and the life that it brings, evermore.