The Light Entered the World
INTRODUCTION:
Interest:
This is the week of Christmas. I expect that even in the strange year of 2020, the anticipation among the children and grandchildren is building. It could be that most of us adults are also looking forward to the day as well. Even though the family gatherings are likely smaller this year, the time around the table capped off by nearly calorie-free desserts are something that we look forward to each Christmas.
Because Christmas is an annual event, we are quite familiar with the Christmas story. The record of the birth of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel makes up the content for many of the songs that we have sung already this morning:
1 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.
2 This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
3 And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,
5 in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.
6 While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.
7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
This is the record of Jesus’ birth approximately 2,000 years ago…a birth announcement that we are familiar with. Yet, to truly understand the significance of Jesus’ birth, we need to place this announcement into a larger context. Why was He born? What did He accomplish once He grew up that made Him important? Why are we still celebrating His birth in the Year of our Lord 2020, a year that uses Him as its reference?
Involvement:
These are the questions that I want us to consider this morning by turning to another passage that references the birth of Jesus, but which also places it into a much larger context than Luke’s birth announcement.
Context:
The passage we are going to look at this morning, as you can see on the screen, is in the first chapter of John, what is considered the prologue of the Apostle John’s Gospel.
Preview:
John, we will see, refers to Jesus as the Light. In fact, it is John’s reference to Jesus as Light that will serve as the basis for our candlelight service Thursday evening…I would encourage you to plan on joining us for that service at 5:00 Christmas Eve. It is always a special time together.
This morning I want us to consider John’s reference to Jesus as the Light. Why does he use the term Light to refer to Jesus? We are going to look at the first 14 verses of John’s Gospel as we observe three points that he tells us about the Jesus as the Light.
Transition from introduction to body:
The first point that I would like for us to consider is what John says in verses 1–5. Here we learn that…
BODY:
I. The Light was eternal, vv. 1–5
If you have your Bibles with you this morning, please follow along as I read the first five verses of John’s gospel…<read John 1:1–5>
There is a connection between the way John starts his Gospel and the way the Bible itself begins way back in Genesis, “In the beginning…” In the case of Genesis, what follows is a record of how God created everything that exists. Here in John, we are alerted by John’s words that this is the start of a new beginning. Yet, this beginning is not the beginning of the Person that John calls the Light. John is careful to indicate that this Person existed throughout eternity.
In verse 1, John starts by calling this Person the Word. John is making a bold statement about this Person by that reference. John is very clearly indicating that this Person qualitatively God in every sense. Yet, at the same time, John also notes that this Person is distinct from God as a separate entity. This seems a bit confusing at first—how can this Person be both God and distinct from God at the same time. We find out later in his gospel that this is John’s way of distinguishing God the Father from God the Son, a distinction that he is introducing in these first verses.
Because this Person was God, He is eternal; He has always been in fellowship with God. This Person was part of the creation event. In fact, verse 3 says that He was the active Agent of creation. As such He was the Source of life, both physical and spiritual life.
Most significantly for our focus this morning, though, He was also Light. In verse 4 John refers to this as yet unnamed Person as “the Light of men.” From verse 4 on, John uses the Light/darkness contrast throughout much of the book. The Light is how God reveals His truth. It represents truth. Darkness is result of the rejection of that truth. Darkness is one of the main ways that John refers to spiritual evil under the dominion of Satan—God’s archenemy. Darkness is what blinds people’s reason and conscience so that we cannot see the glory of God. Darkness is the result of sin, the rejection of God’s revelation.
John is incredibly careful to say that the darkness could not extinguish the Light. As extensive as the darkness was because of the universal impact of sin upon mankind, it could not overcome the Light. The eternal Light did not go out when sin entered the world…it continued to shine. God’s truth has been eternally embodied in the One who is called the Light.
Illustration
Folks, you may have not thought about it a lot, but there is a reason that light is such a central focus of our Christmas celebration. Look at how much it plays into the Christmas decorations here? We have lights in the garland. We have candles on the rail behind me. Likewise, at home we put lights on our trees, on our houses, on our wreaths. Thursday night as part of the Christmas Eve service tradition we will light candles. Light is central to Christmas because each one of these lights symbolize this eternal Light which could not be overcome by sin’s darkness.
Application
The Light was eternal. That is the message of the first five verses of John’s gospel. So what are we to do about it? We are to comprehend. We are to comprehend that the truth and purity of God has always existed, it is eternal. We are to comprehend that the truth and purity of God has not been squashed by sin, it continues to shine forth. In fact, it shines into the very darkness created by sin, revealing truth and purity. We are to comprehend all of this as we approach Christmas once again. The Light was eternal.
Transition:
Our first point this morning then is that the Light was eternal. The second point that I would like us to see comes in verses 6–8. In these verses we see is that…
II. The Light was announced, vv. 6–8
Let’s read these three verses…<read John 1:6–8>.
The apostle John suddenly switches topics to talk about a second person, a man who we refer to as John the Baptist. I’ll refer to the Apostle John, our writer of this book, as John and John the Baptist as the Baptist, just to simplify things. John assumes here that the Baptist is known. By the time John wrote this Gospel the Baptist had been killed, but he was well-known to John’s original readers. John refers to the Baptist because the Baptist was part of human history. A historical man anchors the truths that John is about to state in history.
At the same time John also carefully sets the Baptist apart from the Light. The Baptist was not the One referred to as Light; he was an entirely different person. The Baptist was the person commissioned by God to announce the coming of the Person referred to as Light. The Baptist’s role was one of announcing, providing an introduction on the stage of human history.
Illustration
Back when I was in high school, for several of the years I had the job of announcing the starting lineups at our home basketball games. I had to get the starting information from the opposing team and learn how to pronounce the names of their starting five players. After I announced the opposition, I would announce our home team starters. I admit, I put a lot more energy into announcing our players. I told them what position each person was going to play. I listed how tall they were. I announced their spot on the team because our home crowd needed to be prepared for our players to hit the floor. I announced our players so that our fans could cheer for them and add excitement to the game. The objective was to add energy to the players as the game began. It was actually a lot of fun.
Announcing was the role of the Baptist. He had the exciting job of announcing that the Light was on His way; He was coming. The Baptist told the people of Israel what type of a Person the Light was going to be when He came. He introduced Him to the people. Yet don’t overlook the point in verse 7 that the Baptist had an objective to his introduction. The Baptist announced that the Light was coming so that people “might believe through him.” That word believe is used nearly 100 times by John in his Gospel with verse 7 being its first appearance. Belief is the desired result of the Baptist’s witness. It is why the Light was announced by him.
Application
The Light was announced. That is what we see in verses 6–8. So again, what are we to do about it. We are to proclaim. We are to proclaim the same basic message that the Baptist announced. The Light is One that people must believe in. We are to tell others of the Light. We are to proclaim.
Transition:
Point 1, the Light was eternal. Point 2, the Light was announced. In verses 9–14 we see a final point, really the point about Christmas itself…
III. The Light was born, vv. 9–14
<read John 1:9–14>.
The Light entered the world. It is amazing to think that there is an eternal God. It is pretty incredible that that God ensured that His existence was announced. But it is beyond comprehension that that same God would enter into His own creation. And yet, that is what verse 9, verse 11, and verse 14 all state. Three times in these six verses John makes the point that the Light was born.
I began by reading about that birth from Luke’s account in chapter 2 of His gospel. But here John puts that birth into a much larger context. The birth of that Baby in Bethlehem…the small child who was laid in that manger as a bed because there was no room in the inn…was the Light. He was the One who was eternal. He was the One who had been announced. God Himself became part of His creation.
Let’s take a few minutes and look more closely at what John says in these final verses about the coming of the Light into the World…the One that we know by the name of Jesus. Specifically, I want us to notice two things that John says repeatedly in these verses about the Light who was born.
First of all, even though He was the eternal Light who had been announced, He was largely unrecognized by the world. The very One who had created the world was not recognized by those living in the world at that time. People did not expect the eternal Creator to enter His own creation. Certainly there was no thought that should something so fabulous occur that it would occur in the form of a baby being born to lowly parents.
Yet there is more to the story than that simple fact that the way in which the Light was born was unexpected. You see, the real problem that the world was unable to recognize Him for who He was. The vast majority of mankind had already rejected their Creator through their rebellion in sin. So when the Light came, it was too blinding for them to comprehend. They did not recognize Him because they did not know God. Sin’s darkness was all that the people knew…even those who should have been…as John says in verse 11, “His own.” Even the Jews, God’s chosen people who had received centuries of revelation from God through His prophets were not prepared to recognize the Light. Instead, they rejected Him…they “did not receive Him.”
But this brings us to the second thing that John says repeatedly about the Light who was born. The failure of men to recognize Him did not change one bit the reality of who He was—He was…verse 9, “the true Light.” That word “true” means “real” or “genuine.” The darkness that mankind was accustomed to because of sin was not the real deal—the Light was the truth. He was the One who could enlighten every man as to truth. The failure of the many to recognize Him did not change the reality of the One at all—He was who He was—the Light. He was still the eternal Light who had been born as announced.
We also should note that not all was hopeless. While the Light was not accepted by those who should have, from every practical standpoint, been His own, there were many who did receive Him…many who did believe on Him. And every person who believed on Him received the greatest gift possible—they were given the right to become children of God! This is John’s way of describing salvation—rebellious sinners were adopted by God as righteous children, children not by birth, but by divine decree. The result was all who were adopted were able to behold who the Light really was—the manifestation of God’s glory. John says, “We saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” The One born—Jesus—the Light—was unique. God’s glory had taken up residence among His people again, something that had not been true since sin entered the Garden of Eden shortly after the first “In the beginning.”
The Apostle John was a witness. He was not a witness to the birth in Bethlehem, but he was a witness to the revelation of the Light—He knew Jesus. And John was one of those few who believed. He was one of those few who experienced the adoption by God, who saw the glory of the Light, because the Light was born.
Application
The Light was born. That is the amazing news of these final verses. How should be respond to this news? We are to celebrate. We are to celebrate that Jesus was born; the Son of God came into creation. this is the cosmic event that we celebrate today. The Light was born…truth and glory entered the world as the Creator was born in a manger in a small town within His creation. It was an event that John carefully anchored in the events of history 2,000 years ago.
How should we celebrate this cosmic event? What should our celebration look like? Well, we celebrate by believing, by believing in the name of Jesus and thereby becoming children of God. In fact, the reason that we continue to celebrate this cosmic event is because the change it brought to the cosmos is still ongoing. People are still becoming children of God.
You see, The Light is the Source of eternal life. The opportunity to believe in the Light was not limited to those who were alive when Jesus was born. John tells us at the end of his Gospel that the reason that he writes is so that those who read it may also believe these things about Jesus, “and that believing you may have live in His name.” We too, can celebrate by believing in the Light.
Transition from body to conclusion:
The Light was eternal. The Light was announced. The Light was born. The Light is the Source of eternal life.
CONCLUSION
The question that really should be our central concern this Christmas season is what will each of us do with the Light? The overall situation in the world remains similar to the way it was when Jesus was born. Sin still has darkness covering the world. In fact, each one of us is born in that darkness; it is our natural abode because we are all born sinners. Our natural inclination is still to reject God—to reject the truth of His word. The truth of the matter is that the vast majority of the planet’s population have rejected Jesus. In this sense things are much as they were when Jesus was born.
Yet things are only similar, not the same; the Light has come—the brilliant glory of the eternal Son of God has shown through the life that Jesus Christ lived. The Baby that was born grew up and walked this earth for approximately 30 years. Yet He never sinned. That aspect of His glory alone was enough to cause sinful men to put Him to death. Of course, we know from John and the other NT writers that His death was the very reason that He was born in the first place. Jesus came to die so that a righteous God could adopt rebellious sinners. God could not simply set aside our sin. His holiness demanded that sin bear a just penalty. The rejection of the Creator by His creatures warranted death. But Jesus, the Light, willingly took death upon Himself so that He might stand in the place of all those who believe in Him.
This is the glorious gift that the Apostle John experienced—his sin was placed upon Jesus and through his faith—his belief in Jesus—the righteousness of Jesus was credited by God to John as if it was John’s own. He became a child of God.
And the very same gift is offered to us today. We can believe in Jesus. We can accept His righteousness by faith—by believing in Him. We can allow Him to take the penalty of our sin upon Himself and we can become children of God.
Children of God have eternal life. The eternal God grants eternal life to His children…all through the Light. The Light is the Source of eternal life.
I know this is a familiar story for most of us…we have heard it before. Yet I trust spending these few minutes on it this morning will allow us to see through the familiarity of the story so that we can be overwhelmed by the wonder of the Light. The Light is the Source of eternal life.
For a few here today or listening on the Livestream, up to this point in your life, you may have refused to believe in Jesus. You may be like those who should have known Him when He came but did not receive Him. If that is you, then you are still in darkness. You are in sin and do not have eternal life. But the Light has come. He is the Source of eternal life. Place your faith in Him today so that you can truly celebrate Christmas.
The Light was eternal… <reread 1:1–5>. The Light was announced…<reread 1:6–8>. The Light was born…<reread 1:9–14> The Light is the Source of eternal life.
If you would like to hear more about how you can personally believe in Jesus as your Source of eternal life, please contact me. My email address and the church phone number are on the screen. I would love to share with you this Christmas season how you too can experience eternal life.