The Light of Men

It’s great to be back! I pray you took the time to read the Gospel of John; if not, won’t you begin today?

Whenever I can convince a non-believer to read just one book from the Bible, I lead them to John. When a new believer asks where he or she should begin reading the Bible, I lead them to John.

Why? Because the Gospel of John was written for the whole world and it brings spiritual enlightenment.

How is it possible that a gospel can bring spiritual enlightenment? Because as John describes it, Jesus is the Word of God Who has existed always. Here, take a look:

    “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 nothing was made that was made. 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 1:1-5)

So many prophecies are fulfilled in those first five verses it would take a whole semester just to cover it; however I want to concentrate on the last two verses, 4 and 5. John tells us that in Jesus was life, and the life was the light of men. What light is John speaking of? It is spiritual enlightenment. It is the Holy Word of God manifested through the Incarnate Christ. So how do we receive this light? You have to go back to the first three verses. It is through the Word. The psalmist knew that we are spiritually blind without the Word:

    “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.” (Psalm 119:18)

Did you see that? The Bible can open our eyes to the point of discovering “wondrous things.” How long has it been since you saw something wondrous?

We live in a dark world; evil abounds and we have lost our national morality. For the longest time growing up I remember being taught that Soviet Russia was our greatest threat, that communism was the greatest threat to liberty. It is not; it is us. We are our greatest enemy as a nation…WE the People. Notice what G.K. Chesterton said early in the 1900’s:

    ‎”The next great heresy is going to be simply an attack on morality and especially on sexual morality, and the madness of tomorrow will come not from Moscow but from Manhattan.”

Is that not so true today? My late buddy Dino Minutillo used to say the downfall of America was the sexual revolution of the 60’s and he’s right that it brought about open sexual immorality. When we were children homosexuality was an abomination; today it is an alternative lifestyle. But America’s downfall started long before that. It actually began at the turn of the 20th Century when theologians brought back a liberal social theology from German philosophers. We got away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ and turned to man for enlightenment. And what that brings is not light, but darkness.

Man cannot bring light because Jesus is the Light of men; look at verse four again:

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

When we receive Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we receive this Light through the Indwelling Holy Spirit. So many people, believers and nonbelievers, try to discern the will for their lives and they always fail. Why? Because there can never be a discernment of God’s will for us apart from a surrender of our will to Him. Look what Paul teaches us in Romans 8:14:

    “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

We must be children of God and that comes from a surrendered life to Jesus Christ. And when we give the Holy Spirit preeminence in our lives and we feed on the Bread of Life, the Word of God, Jesus Christ Himself, we have the Light of God to shine in the horrendous darkness that encompasses this world:

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

What does John mean by the darkness not comprehending it, comprehending the light? The Prophet Micah explains it:

    “But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, nor do they understand His counsel; for He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor.” (Micah 4:12)

What does this mean for man if he does not comprehend the Light? Jesus tells us later in John’s Gospel…we’ll preview chapter 3:

    “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19)

Did you see that? Men love the darkness because their deeds are evil, and truth be told they love their evil deeds. They wallow in their wickedness like a pig wallowing in the mud.

They need the Light.

Do you have it?

Does the Light of Men shine in your heart?

Do you have the Life?

Won’t you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?

I pray that today will be the Day of Salvation for any of you who do not know Christ the Messiah.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2010 David Jeffers

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