The Light in the Darkness (John 1:4-9)
It’s interesting how light can effect things differently and be received differently. Just this past week, as it was kinda cold and cloudy, the sun came out and shone down on me. I remember how lovely it felt as it warmed my body from the inside out. I just sat there for a moment, enjoying every minute of the sun’s rays shining on me. It was glorious.
It’s interesting how light can affect things differently and be received differently. Just this past week, as it was kinda cold and cloudy, the sun came out and shone down on me. I remember how lovely it felt as it warmed my body from the inside out. I just sat there for a moment, enjoying every minute of the sun’s rays shining on me. It was glorious.
Yet, I can think of times when I didn’t respond to the light with glory, times when I had pretty bad sunburn. With the burns on my flesh, I didn’t feel the same joy as the sun beat down upon me. I didn’t bask in the glow of the sun. I had moments where I yelled at the sun and wished that it would go away, that it would stop shining on me. It was miserable.
Yet, it was the same sun shining—the same light emanating. Why the different response? Why did I respond to the light with glory and at another time with misery? It was my condition. It was the state I was in. My condition changed the way I respond to the light. The light wasn’t at fault. It was all about my condition.
Let’s take a look at our passage this morning. [Read John 1:4-9]
I want to start by looking at the last verse. It says, “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” (John 1:9, NIV). Again, this is talking about Jesus. John is describing Jesus as the true light that is coming into the world. As the true light comes into the world, that light shines on every person. Every single person in the entire world has the light of Jesus shining on them.
Take a moment to let that sink in a bit. The light of Jesus Christ is shining on every person. That’s what John just said. The rays of Jesus’ glory are reaching every person on earth. Those rays are touching you, they are touching your family, they are touching your friends, your neighbors, and even your enemies. Every person has the light of Jesus shining on them.
Yet, John also says, “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” (John 1:5, NIV). As that light shines in the darkness of this world, the darkness has not understood it. The light shines on every single person in all of creation, yet some don’t understand it. They have no idea that it’s the light of Jesus shining on them. Not only that, but later in John’s Gospel he says, “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” (John 3:20, NIV). Not only do they not understand the light, they hate the light because it exposes their works—it shows them the reality of their situation. The light shows that they are in darkness. The light reveals that they are dead.
Here’s John’s point. Jesus’ coming into the world divided all of humanity. Herman Ridderbos says, “The coming of the light demands a choice: People must want to leave behind the darkness in which they have been enclosed and imprisoned and ‘come to the light.’” (42). There are now two types of people. Those who receive the light of Jesus and those who do not understand the light of Jesus—who hate the light of Jesus. That’s it. When Jesus was born into the world He created, he forced the issue. His light shining on every person forced the issue. Now they have to choose. Will they receive the light of Jesus or hate the light of Jesus. Will they bask in the glow of Jesus’ light or will they yell at it and tell it to go away? There’s no middle ground.
I want you to ask yourself, “Am I basking in the light of Christ? Or, am I telling the light of Christ to get out of my way—am I hating the light of Christ?” I realize this is a hard question to ask ourselves, but it’s important for us to ask it anyway. Really, truly, deeply ask yourself how you’re receiving the light of Christ that is shining on you. Do you see it has a hinderance? As something that is holding you back, or something that is preventing you from doing what you truly want to do? Do you see it as an interrogation light, that is trying hard to expose the deeds you are trying to keep hidden? OR are you basking in the glow? Are you resting in the warmth of that light, enjoying every minute of it?
Because of this natural rejection of the light, God sent someone into the world to witness to the light. Our passage says, “There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.” (John 1:6–8, NIV). So, John the Baptist was sent by God to be a witness to the light. John reminds us that he was not the light himself. Jesus is the true light. John is only a witness to the light.
A witness is someone who points people to something else. Think about it how a witness works during a criminal investigation. The witnesses job is not to talk about themself. Their job is to point people to what they saw and experienced at the scene of the crime. It’s not about them. It’s about something else. A witness is someone who points away from themselves and to Christ. That was John the Baptist’s job—to point away from himself to Christ—away from himself to the light. People continued to press John to point to himself, people tried to point to John, but John continued to point them past himself to Christ. That’s what a witness does.
What was the purpose of his witness—or the Goal of his witness? Verse seven says, “He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.” (John 1:7, NIV). Whenever you see the words “so that” is helpful to think PURPOSE. It doesn’t always refer to purpose, but almost always. So, the purpose of John’s witness is that people would believe through his witness. That was the goal. The goal of his witness was that people would SEE the light, understand the light, and believe in the light. As they were living their lives in darkness, not understanding the light and hating the light, John as there repeatedly saying, “LOOK! There’s the light! Can’t you see it! Look how beautiful it is! Why would you want to remain in the darkness? Aren’t you sick of it yet? Isn’t it exhausting? There’s the light. Turn to it and believe!”
Over the years, I’ve been increasingly convinced that the church’s role in the world is to be a witness. We are not called to try and draw people into the church through programs and activities. We are not called to structure our worship service in such a way that the world will think it’s “cool” and wanna check it out. We are called to be witnesses in the world. We are called to leave this worship service, enter the world in our jobs, throughout friendships, through our neighbors, and act as witnesses. That’s how God has designed His kingdom to grow.
I also realize that some people hear that and begin to sweat, maybe get a little jittery, start breathing a little faster. We get nervous about being witnesses in the world. In part, I think it’s because we have made it much more complicated that it is. We have believed that we need to have some prepared speech to “share the gospel with someone,” or some perfect idea that opens their eyes to the gospel. Yet, we are called to be witnesses in the world.
We are called to be people who point away from themselves and point people to Christ. We are called to point away from ourselves to the light of Christ that is shining on everyone already. That doesn’t mean having a “canned” presentation, that simply means having conversations with people. As we build relationships with people and talk to them, we should naturally be talking about the ways Christ has worked in our lives. As we talk about the ways Christ has worked in our life, we are pointing away from ourselves and pointing people to Christ. Remember the point of last week’s message: every single blessing we have in this world comes from Christ. Now, as you talk to people about those blessings, point them to Christ. Explain, how Christ has answered your prayers. Explain how thankful you are that Christ has provided for your needs. It doesn’t have to be perfect or planned out, it only has to come from your heart. That’s all that a witness is doing. As they go through their daily lives in the world, they are pointing away from themself and pointing people to Christ.
Why are we doing it? Because we want them to believe! We want to see them turn from their sin and turn to Christ. We want to see them stop walking in darkness and walk in the light. Yet, we cannot force them to believe. We cannot even persuade them to believe. That’s the Holy Spirit’s work. If we want people to put their trust in Jesus, our job is to simply point them to Him over and over and over again.
This is so important because of what John says at the beginning of this passage. He says, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:4, NIV). So, the light that is shining on all humanity, the light that some people are not understanding—are hating—is the light of life. IT IS LIFE! True and full life in this world. The life that Jesus offers is REAL life and that life is shining on a bunch of people who are rejecting it—hating it.
This is what breaks my heart. There are moments when I look at the world around me and all I can see are people who are living in darkness who think their lives are fine. There are moments when I find myself surrounded by people who are destroying their lives through various things, yet they think they are “living the good life.” There are people who think that the good life is working hard, making money, having power and authority or status. Yet, in their pursuit of those things, they are destroying their life and they don’t even realize it. There are people who think that the good life is “finding the one they love.” They spend their whole life searching for someone to spend their life with. They jump from person to person to person trying to find someone to spend their life with—all the while destroying their life. There are people who think that the good life is rejecting the light of Christ—remaining in darkness—rejecting the REAL life that Christ has to offer—and they choose to live their days in the death of darkness. It’s devastating.
When Christ was born into this world, his purpose was to grant us LIFE—REAL, TRUE, LIFE. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10, NIV). That’s why He came. That’s why He was born into this world. He came so that we would have life and would have life to the FULL! That’s amazing. He didn’t come so that we would have an alright life. He didn’t come so that we would have a life burdened by following all of his rules. No. He came in order to free us so that we could truly live. The “rules” he give us lead us to the FULL LIFE. I don’t care if the world tells you that Jesus’ “rules” are burdensome or restricting or are holding you back. They don’t know what they are talking about. They are walking in darkness. They are rejecting the light. The one who created you—the one who created the heavens and the earth—says, “Turn from your sin and follow me. Give your life to me—every aspect of your life. Listen to what I have to say. Trust me. I will give you a FULL LIFE.”
Then, as we live those FULL LIVES in the world, as we encounter people living in darkness—people living DEAD LIVES—we can be witnesses. We can begin to witness to the fullness of life that Christ has given us. As people begin to notice that you’re different, you will have an opportunity to explain why you’re different—why you have a full life, why you’re no longer walking in darkness. When people ask what’s different about you, don’t say, “I try to work hard and have a positive attitude,” say, “Christ has given me everything. He continues to bless me with a work ethic and a positive attitude. He continues to give me peace in the midst of trials. He continues to bless me when I don’t deserve it.” When you answer that way, you are pointing away from yourself and pointing people to Christ. You’re being a witness and God will use your witness to bring people into His kingdom and give them the FULL LIFE that He has given you.
Yet, I can think of times when I didn’t respond to the light with glory, times when I had pretty bad sunburn. With the burns on my flesh, I didn’t feel the same joy as the sun beat down upon me. I didn’t bask in the glow of the sun. I had moments where I yelled at the sun and wished that it would go away, that it would stop shining on me. It was miserable.
Yet, it was the same sun shining—the same light eminating. Why the different response? Why did I respond to the light with glory and at another time with misery? It was my condition. It was the state I was in. My condition changed the way I respond to the light. The light wasn’t at fault. It was all about my condition.
Let’s take a look at our passage this morning. [Read John 1:4-9]
I want to start by looking at the last verse. It says, “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” (John 1:9, NIV).Again, this is talking about Jesus. John is describing Jesus as the true light that is coming into the world. As the true light comes into the world, that light shines on every person. Every single person in the entire world has the light of Jesus shining on them.
Take a moment to let that sink in a bit. The light of Jesus Christ is shining on every person. That’s what John just said. The rays of Jesus’ glory are reaching every person on earth. Those rays are touching you, they are touching your family, they are touching your friends, your neighbors, and even your enemies. Every person has the light of Jesus shining on them.
Yet, John also says, “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” (John 1:5, NIV). As that light shines in the darkness of this world, the darkness has not understood it. The light shines on every single person in all of creation, yet some don’t understand it. They have no idea that it’s the light of Jesus shining on them. Not only that, but later in John’s Gospel he says, “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” (John 3:20, NIV). Not only do they not understand the light, they hate the light because it exposes their works—it shows them the reality of their situation. The light shows that they are in darkness. The light reveals that they are dead.
Here’s John’s point. Jesus’ coming into the world divided all of humanity. Herman Ridderbos says, “The coming of the light demands a choice: People must want to leave behind the darkness in which they have been enclosed and imprisoned and ‘come to the light.’” (42). There are now two types of people. Those who receive the light of Jesus and those who do not understand the light of Jesus—who hate the light of Jesus. That’s it. When Jesus was born into the world He created, he forced the issue. His light shining on every person forced the issue. Now they have to choose. Will they receive the light of Jesus or hate the light of Jesus. Will they bask in the glow of Jesus’ light or will they yell at it and tell it to go away? There’s no middle ground.
I want you to ask yourself, “Am I basking in the light of Christ? Or, am I telling the light of Christ to get out of my way—am I hating the light of Christ?” I realize this is a hard question to ask ourselves, but it’s importatant for us to ask it anyway. Really, truly, deeply ask yourself how you’re receiving the light of Christ that is shining on you. Do you see it has a hinderance? As something that is holding you back, or something that is preventing you from doing what you truly want to do? Do you see it as an interogation light, that is trying hard to expose the deeds you are trying to keep hidden? OR are you basking in the glow? Are you resting in the warmth of that light, enjoying every minute of it?
Because of this natural rejection of the light, God sent someone into the world to witness to the light. Our passage says, “There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.” (John 1:6–8, NIV). So, John the Baptist was sent by God to be a witness to the light. John reminds us that he was not the light himself. Jesus is the true light. John is only a witness to the light.
A witness is someone who points people to something else. Think about it how a witness works during a criminal investigation. The witnesses job is not to talk about themself. Their job is to point people to what they saw and experienced at the scene of the crime. It’s not about them. It’s about something else. A witness is someone who points away from themselves and to Christ. That was John the Baptist’s job—to point away from himself to Christ—away from himself to the light. People continued to press John to point to himself, people tried to point to John, but John continued to point them past himself to Christ. That’s what a witness does.
What was the purpose of his witness—or the Goal of his witness? Verse seven says, “He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.” (John 1:7, NIV). Whenever you see the words “so that” is helpful to think PURPOSE. It doesn’t always refer to purpose, but almost always. So, the purpose of John’s witness is that people would believe through his witness. That was the goal. The goal of his witness was that people would SEE the light, understand the light, and beleive in the light. As they were living their lives in darkness, not understanding the light and hating the light, John as there repeatedly saying, “LOOK! There’s the light! Can’t you see it! Look how beautiful it is! Why would you want to remain in the darkness? Aren’t you sick of it yet? Isn’t it exhausting? There’s the light. Turn to it and believe!”
Over the years, I’ve been increasingly convinced that the church’s role in the world is to be a witness. We are not called to try and draw people into the church through programs and activities. We are not called to structure our worship service in such a way that the world will think it’s “cool” and wanna check it out. We are called to be witnesses in the world. We are called to leave this worship service, enter the world in our jobs, through out friendships, through our neighbors, and act as witnesses. That’s how God has designed His kingdom to grow.
I also realize that some people hear that and begin to sweat, maybe get a little jittery, start breathing a little faster. We get nervous about being witnesses in the world. In part, I think it’s because we have made it much more complicated that it is. We have believed that we need to have some prepared speech to “share the gospel with someone,” or some perfect idea that opens thier eyes to the gospel. Yet, we are called to be witnesses in the world.
We are called to be people who point away from themselves and point people to Christ. We are called to point away from ourselves to the light of Christ that is shining on everyone already. That doesn’t mean having a “canned” presentation, that simply means having conversations with people. As we build relationships with people and talk to them, we should naturally be talking about the ways Christ has worked in our lives. As we talk about the ways Christ has worked in our life, we are pointing away from ourselves and pointing people to Christ. Remember the point of last week’s message: every single blessing we have in this world comes from Christ. Now, as you talk to people about those blessings, point them to Christ. Explain, how Christ has answered your prayers. Explain how thankful you are that Christ has provided for your needs. It doesn’t have to be perfect or planned out, it only has to come from your heart. That’s all that a witness is doing. As they go through their daily lives in the world, they are pointing away from themself and pointing people to Christ.
Why are we doing it? Because we want them to believe! We want to see them turn from their sin and turn to Christ. We want to see them stop walking in darkness and walk in the light. Yet, we cannot force them to believe. We cannot even pursuade them to believe. That’s the Holy Spirit’s work. If we want people to put their trust in Jesus, our job is to simply point them to Him over and over and over again.
This is so important because of what John says at the beginning of this passage. He says, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:4, NIV). So, the light that is shining on all humanity, the light that some people are not understanding—are hating—is the light of life. IT IS LIFE! True and full life in this world. The life that Jesus offers is REAL life and that life is shining on a bunch of people who are rejecting it—hating it.
This is what breaks my heart. There are moments when I look at the world around me and all I can see are people who are living in darkness who think their lives are fine. There are moments when I find myself surrounded by people who are destroying their lives through various things, yet they think they are “living the good life.” There are people who think that the good life is working hard, making money, having power and authority or status. Yet, in their pursuit of those things, they are destroying their life and they don’t even realize it. There are people who think that the good life is “finding the one they love.” They spend their whole life searching for someone to spend their life with. They jump from person to person to person trying to find someone to spend their life with—all the while destroying their life. There are people who think that the good life is rejecting the light of Christ—remaining in darkness—rejecting the REAL life that Christ has to offer—and they choose to live their days in the death of darkness. It’s devastating.
When Christ was born into this world, his purpose was to grant us LIFE—REAL, TRUE, LIFE. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10, NIV). That’s why He came. That’s why He was born into this world. He came so that we would have life and would have life to the FULL! That’s amazing. He didn’t come so that we would have an alright life. He didn’t come so that we would have a life burdened by following all of his rules. No. He came in order to free us so that we could truly live. The “rules” he give us lead us to the FULL LIFE. I don’t care if the world tells you that Jesus’ “rules” are burdensom or restricting or are holding you back. They don’t know what they are talking about. They are walking in darkness. They are rejecting the light. The one who created you—the one who created the heavens and the earth—says, “Turn from your sin and follow me. Give your life to me—every aspect of your life. Listen to what I have to say. Trust me. I will give you a FULL LIFE.”
Then, as we live those FULL LIVES in the world, as we encounter people living in darkness—people living DEAD LIVES—we can be witnesses. We can begin to witness to the fullness of life that Christ has given us. As people begin to notice that you’re different, you will have an opportunity to explain why you’re different—why you have a full life, why you’re no longer walking in darkness. When people ask what’s different about you, don’t say, “I try to work hard and have a positive attitude,” say, “Christ has given me everything. He continues to bless me with a work ethic and a possitive attitude. He continues to give me peace in the midst of trials. He continues to bless me when I don’t deserve it.” When you answer that way, you are pointing away from yourself and pointing people to Christ. You’re being a witness and God will use your witness to bring people into His kingdom and give them the FULL LIFE that He has given you.