Creator and Light of the World

Transcript

GR 334
10/14/1979
Creator and Light of the World
JOHN 1:3-13
Gil Rugh

The gospel of John and the 1st chapter. We're early in our study of this very important portion of the New Testament. In our last study together, we looked at the opening verses of chapter 1 where the focus was on the relationship of the Word to God the Father. The Word being a title or name in John's gospel for Jesus Christ. And how the Word related to God. We noted in verse 1 three statements about the Word—the Word was in the beginning with God. We noted the emphasis on that was when you come to the beginning, the Word was already in the process of existing. As far as we can go back timewise—Genesis 1:1, when you get there the Word already was. Secondly, the Word was with God, denoting a personal distinction from God the Father. He was with God, the preposition denoting closeness and intimacy of relationship. But personally distinct. He is not the same as God the Father. There is a distinction in person. And thirdly, the Word was God. He Himself is deity. So even though you say the Word was with God—personally distinct—that does not mean He is less than deity, but it means that He Himself is God and exists in an eternal relationship with God. It sounds confusing until we make the distinction God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is a foundational subject in the gospel of John—the deity of Jesus Christ. It is crucial that we today be founded and grounded on this important doctrine regarding the person of Jesus Christ.

I had an individual come and visit me this week from one of the cults in the city of Lincoln, primarily functions on the campus. And the crucial issue of disagreement with this person was over the deity of Jesus Christ. I asked them upon what do you base your salvation? Upon my faith in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. My that sounds good. Do you believe that Jesus Christ
was Himself deity? No I do not. He is a created being. Then that statement
of believing in Jesus Christ does not result in salvation because he is not believing in Jesus Christ of the Bible. You must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and as a result of believing those facts, we are those who enter into life.

So Jesus Christ is established as God. Now that subject will pervade the gospel. As we come to verse 3 and talk about the relationship of the Word with creation, the deity is involved here as well. Because we’re going to see that Jesus Christ Himself is creator. So when you go back and read Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1—"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" you could read that "In the beginning Jesus Christ created the heavens and the earth." Or, "In the beginning, God the Father created the heavens and the earth." Or, "In the beginning, the Holy Spirit created the heavens and the earth." All three persons of the Godhead are said to have created. That’s a characteristic of God—He creates. And in verse 3, we talk about Jesus Christ as it relates to creation. "All things came into being by Him; and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." All things...and the way this is expressed it denotes that all things taken individually. Every single thing came into being by Him. Creation in its entirety, with all its individual parts, is a result of the creating work of Jesus Christ. It came into being through Him. This ’through Him' we often speak of Jesus Christ as the mediate agency of creation, or agent of creation. In other words, the Word often pictures God the Father as the source, creating through God the Son by the activity of God the Holy Spirit. That doesn't mean there is an inferiority developed. It means there is an order within the Godhead. So even though all three are equal and deity, not all three do exactly the same thing. There is order within the Godhead.

Look over in Colossians chapter 1, where we have very clearly stressed the deity of Christ revealed in the fact that He is Creator. And if you talk to someone who denies the deity of Christ, you will find them twisting the passages of scripture that relate to Him as Creator in trying to make them say something else. And in Colossians chapter 1 we're told in verse 13, "He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. And He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created...." You really have one sentence flowing through here as it was originally written. It has been broken down for us into several sentences to make it more readable. But don't lose the flow of thought. It builds here. His beloved Son, He is the one in whom we have redemption, He is the one who is the image of the invisible God, He is the one by whom all things were created. Now we'll talk about the firstborn of all creation as you have it at the end of verse 15 as we move along in our study in the gospel of John, particularly in chapter 1. But you note verse 16. "By Him all things were created..." Now you want to know what that includes? It includes things in the heavens and things on the earth. Visible and invisible. Thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities—all things have been created by Him. Everything. In the material world, in the spiritual world. Everything is a result of the creating work of Jesus Christ. That's a statement of His deity, as well as the fact that He is the Creator. Because God is the Creator. He is the source of all things.

And you'll note the end of verse 16. "They were created by Him and for Him." Now, everything exists, was brought into existence, continues to exist, for one purpose—to bring glory to God. And here we're told it was all created for Jesus Christ, to bring glory to Him. It's another way of saying He is deity. Colossians 1—don't let anybody twist you out of it. This particular individual I visited with tried to give me a grammatical lesson, that there should be a parenthesis here. Don't believe it. There is no break even in the sentence, and it all ties back to the beloved Son Jesus Christ. He is the Creator. That in the gospel of John, 'In the beginning He already was.' "And in Him all things hold together." The very fact that this world continues on, doesn't disintegrate as a result of the sustaining work of Jesus Christ. So scientists can come up with all kinds of theories as to how this could disintegrate and come apart. How there could be a cataclysmic event where there would be certain collisions and nothing but dust. Impossible because Jesus Christ holds it all together. And all the structures of science, and all the reasons that all the molecules and atoms just hold together, behind it all (and I'm not very scientific in my understanding and I never was very excited about science in school. But I must say it's exciting to know that behind it all) is Jesus Christ, so I simply took the short-cut. He's the one who holds it all together, now the details—well, they're interesting.

Look over in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 2. "In these last days God has spoken to us in one who is His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world." Now you note, God the Father making the world through God the Son. You say, 'Doesn't that imply that God the Son is inferior. That God the Father is the source of creation and Jesus Christ is simply an agent that He used?' No because of the stress given to the part that the Son has in making the world. He couldn't have made the world through me. He didn't make the world through angels. But He made the world through One who is also deity.

Perhaps I Corinthians chapter 1 verse 8 will help solidify this. No,
I Corinthians chapter 8 verse 5. Paul is talking here about idols, and those who worship idols and other gods, so called. "For even if there are so-called gosds whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords...." now note verse 5. Many gods and many lords are used interchangeably here to refer to idols that people worship. To the gods that they make. Gods or lords is a reference to a deity that a person constructs.

Now note verse 6. "Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom (or out of whom as source) are all things and we exist for Him..." We noted in Colossians chapter 1 that all things were created for Christ. So you note the equality there. "...and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and we exist through Him." Now you note at the end of verse 5, gods and lords are used interchangeably. And I take it it’s the same in verse 6. There’s one God, the Father, who is the source. There is one Lord or God the Son, Jesus Christ, through whom everything comes into existence. We won’t do it this morning, but we could also look at several verses in the New Testament where things are said to happen through God the Father where He becomes the mediate agency in effect, or agent in what is being accomplished.

So that is the order in the Godhead—from the God the Father, through God the Son, by the working of God the Holy Spirit. So come back then to John chapter 1. You get something of the close, intimate relationship of Christ in creation by the last statement in verse 3. ’Apart from Him, not even one thing came into being which exists.' So there is no creation, nothing has been created that was created apart from the work of Jesus Christ. So you see, it's not that there is God up here and He did some work through Jesus Christ, but all creation is an inseparable part of the work of the triune God, and not even one thing—and that's the stress here— it's translated 'and apart from Him nothing'—that's two words. Not even one thing. Not one thing came into being that has come into being. So that's the negative side. He created everything and apart from Him nothing was created.

Now he moves on to the subject of life in verse 4 and we're going to make a transition to spiritual reality. It starts out in verse 4, "In Him was life," referring to Jesus Christ. He is the source of life. You remember this is one of the key words in the gospel of John—used about 36 times by John. Used over 50 times when you add to this his epistles. Life, and it usually is used of spiritual life. Now it's true that Christ is the source of all life, generally speaking. Acts 3:15 calls Him the author or prince of life. The very fact that He created everything would identify Him as the source of all life. But He is the source of life, generally, but in particular He is the source of spiritual life. And that's the area that he zeros in on in verse 4. "In Him was life" and when you talk about having life, you're talking about not being dead. The opposite of life is death. In Him was life—ties to like I John chapter 5 verse 12, "He that has the Son has life; He that has not the Son of God has not life." Talking about spiritual life which is a relationship with God the Father. Remember death is the absence of a relationship or separation. Physical death is the separation of a person from his body. Spiritual death is separation of a person from God. So a person who has spiritual life is a person who has a personal relationship with God. In Him was life, spiritual life, the reality of a personal relationship with God.

Now he goes on...."And the life was the light of men." We're going to note here in this section that life and light are also names used for Jesus Christ. Since He is the source of life, you can call Him the life, and he does that in John chapter 14, verse 6—"I am the way, the truth, and THE LIFE." So in Him was life—He JLS the life, and it's also true that He is the light. And the life was the light of men. Now light is the ability to understand spiritual truth. What light is revelation. Light makes known, it reveals. When we are said to be in the light, we are said to be in a position where we can understand and comprehend spiritual reality. That will contrast through the gospel of John with being in the darkness. It's going to come out in a few moments in our study. When you're in the darkness, you have no ability to perceive and see spiritual reality. Just like if we turned off the lights in a room, and a person went into that pitch black room—there could be beautiful adornments in the room, pictures and decorations, etc. But no one would see those because it would be dark. But when the light is turned on, you are given the ability to see. Well, in the spiritual sense, light is the ability to perceive and see and comprehend spiritual reality. So we read, 'In Him was life and the life was the light of men.' In other words, you had to have light in order to perceive and comprehend spiritual reality. And that life comes through Jesus Christ. When a person comes to have life in Him, they come to be able to perceive and comprehend spiritual truth. Or you could say, when a person comes to Christ who is the life, they have the ability to perceive and comprehend spiritual truths. This is the message of I Corinthians chapter 2, where the Spirit of God indwells the person who has come to believe in Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God indwelling that person opens up that person's understanding and reveals to Him the things that pertain to God and His character. And what we have here very clearly is that apart from Jesus Christ, the life and the light, man has no ability to function and comprehend spiritual truth. I didn't say he couldn't be religious, but apart from Jesus Christ who is light and life, man is unable to comprehend and grasp spiritual matters. He is in the darkness. He is blind and unseeing as regards spiritual truth.

Now this connection of light and life comes out of the Old Testament. It would not be a new concept for the Jews. In fact, they would see here an emphasis on the deity of Jesus Christ.

Go back to Psalms chapter 36. Psalm 36 and verse 9, "For with Thee is the fountain of life; in Thy light we see light." You note the connection of life and light. He is the fountain of life and He has already noted in verse 8 that He gives to drink of His delights, the river of His delights. The fountain is the source, just like the fountain of water is the source of water for people. Well here, God is the fountain of life, He is the source of life for those who come to Him. And He is also light. "In Thy light we see light." You note you come to Him for life, and He is the light and you come to see. So you have light and life in Him. John simply takes this concept and begins his gospel with it. Now as you would read Psalm 36, verses 8 and 9, you would see that is God speaking. Being the fountain of life and the source of light, and now John says that's what Jesus Christ is. He is the source of life. You come to Him for life. You come to Him for light. What is he saying? We’re dealing with one who Himself is deity.

So come back to John 1. Important what we're saying here. It becomes very narrow—that anyone who is ever going to have life, a personal relationship with God, anyone who is ever going to have any ability to function and comprehend and grasp things pertaining to God is going to be a person who has come to a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. That's where our section this morning will culminate, by the sovereign work of God in bringing that person to that point.

Now verse 5. "And the light sines in the darkness; and the darkness did not comprehend it." Now again, I take it the light here is a personal reference to Jesus Christ primarily. He is the light shining in the darkness.
Interesting the tenses here. We talk about 'In the beginning was the Word'— we talked about His continual existence in the past. When you talk about creation in verse 3, you talk about something that happened at a point in time, most often in the past. He brought things into existence. Now we talk about the light shines—that's a present tense. That's something that is continually going on. Jesus Christ came into the world as life. He is the one who most fully and completely reveals the character of God. If you want to know what God is like, you come to Jesus Christ. He that has seen me has seen the Father Jesus said. He is the perfect revelation and manifestation of Him, but He continues to be that revelation even through the Word that we are studying. The light shines in the darkness.

The Darkness here is a reference to the sinful condition of the world.
People who are dead, who are separated from God. No perception in spiritual things, they live in the realm of darkness. Now. The light shines in the darkness. The darkness did not comprehend it. And you get the idea from that word that they did not understand it and that may be so. It is true the darkness did not understand Christ. But the idea seems to be 'overpower or overcome' and what you have here is a reference to the conflict that went on. When the light came, the darkness reacted to the light and you have a conflict. The ones who were light were opposed by the ones who were darkness, and by the one himself, Satan, who is the leader of the forces of darkness. So you have that conflict, but the darkness was unable to overcome the light. Now you have a change in tenses again at the end of verse 5. "The darkness did not comprehend it, overcome it. Aorist tense. I take it that carries us to the point of battle in the life of Christ, particularly viewing His life culminating in the crucifixion where the forces of darkness attempted to put out the light which was Jesus Christ. But they were unsuccessful. They did not succeed in overcoming it. In the first part of the verse The light continued to shine because the darkness was not successful in overcoming it. And in effect, the darkness itself was defeated with the victory of Jesus Christ. We'll build to that in John chapter 12 where Satan would be defeated by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now note over in John chapter 3.

John chapter 3, verse 19. We'll see this contrast—favorite concept of John. "And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light..." You note. Light has come into the world. Here is Christ, the full revelation of God. "Men loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil, for everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." What light does is reveal, makes things known. So someone who is going to carry out an evil or wicked deed, they want to use the cover of darkness. We use that express 'the cover of darkness' - why? It hides them. They want to break into your house so what do they do? They wait until it's nighttime and they cannot be seen so well.

We're aware of this. There are certain streets that you would walk on in the afternoon but that you would be rather afraid to walk on at night. Well,
under the cover of darkness someone might carry out an evil deed. That’s the concept here in the spiritual realm. Those who are functioning wickedly, contrary to God and His character like the light. The people of Jesus' day could not stand it—here He was there, revealing the character of God. And as He did that, He revealed their sinfulness and they couldn't stand it. So what did they attempt to do? Get rid of the light.

So that's the concept and the battle that is going on. And that hasn't changed. Now the victory has been won. The darkness did not succeed in overcoming the light. The darkness continues to oppose the light. They are opposed. You cannot have darkness and light. You either have darkness or light. You don't say 'My we have dark light.' Now we might say that if the light bulbs are turned down or we have dimmers, etc. But they are two opposing things. When light comes, darkness is dissipated. But you have that conflict that continues to exist and go on. Men still rebel and react against Jesus Christ as the One who brings the revelation of His character. They still deny His finished work. They still deny His character as the Son of God, as God Himself. They still deny the fact of His resurrection. They still deny that there is salvation through believing in His finished work. They still oppose the light. They still oppose those who are, in effect, the light. It tells you something about the antagonism and conflict that exists among us as believers today and the world generally. If I am going to function as a light, one who is truly a light, revealing God and His character through my life and my words, what is going to happen? There is going to be a terrible tension and conflict generated. Because if I am truly reflecting the glorious character of Christ, that is being a light that is exposing the sinfulness of the world in which I live. presence of light in the spiritual sense. It manifests the righteous character of God and it manifests the sinful character of man, and you know what happens? People don't want to be around that. Ever notice what happened when you became a believer? All your good friends—they'd do anything with you. They'd drink under the table just like you, they'd do anything with you! All of a sudden they didn't really enjoy being around you. They weren't too comfortable with you. Why? Because if you're really going to give off the character of Christ, if you're going to be a light the darkness does not want to be in the vicinity of the light. Now you need to be careful here. We sometimes want to turn down the light a little bit. Couldn't we dim the lights so there isn't such a glaring contrast? We'll see in the life of Christ there was no attempt to dim the light. The light has to shine brightly. You can expect the darkness isn't going to appreciate the light. But we need to be careful about trying to dim the light so people will accept us more. Because when we try to become acceptable to the darkness, the only way you can do it is to become a little grayer yourself. We're to be lights in the world and that means there's going to be a conflict.

The darkness attempted to overcome the light but was not successful.
Now you come to verse 6. There is a man who comes to bear testimony to Jesus Christ. Back in John 1. Keep in mind, in this prologue through the first 18 verses we're just touching on concepts that will be developed later. In verses 6-8, we come to John the Baptist. When we begin the first main section in the gospel of John in verse 19 of chapter 1, we will start with a discussion of the ministry of John the Baptist. So he is simply introduced to us here. "There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John." A man sent from God. He stands out as a special unique person. He is God's messenger. He comes as God's messenger to carry out God's purpose. What is it? "He came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him." He has a purpose. He is to be a testimony. The word 'witness' is the word we get 'martyr' from. Now as we use the word martyr we talk about a person who died for his testimony. But basically the word means one who gives a testimony. Bears witness. John came to be a witness concerning the light.

In other words, his purpose was to testify 'This is the light. This is the
Messiah.1 Now note the purpose in his testimony—"In order that all might believe through him." I think that’s important. You and I are to be testimonies today. We are not John the Baptists. John the Baptist was a unique person, greatest of all the prophets Jesus said. He alone had the privilege of introducing the Messiah, of introducing the light. In a very real way, you and I are witnesses or testimonies of the light ourselves. And for those who bear testimony of the light, it is for one specific purpose—that men might believe. Now I think that's important. John didn’t bear testimony, period. He bore testimony with a goal or purpose—that men might come to believe about the one I'm testifying to. Sometimes we bear testimony to Jesus Christ in a lifeless disinterested way. These are the facts, take it or leave it. I haven't been a testimony like those appointed by God. He bore testimony so that men might believe. Because men must hear concerning the light if they are to believe in the light. Now they didn't believe the witness of John the Baptist. We know the way he went—he was beheaded! That's sort of an inglorious way to go!
Here you are, talking about the one who was the greatest of all the prophets and he spends his last days in prison just before they cut his head off. Why? The darkness opposed the light, and all associated with the light. Now note, there was a confusion that took place.

Verse 8, "He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light." You know what happened? John the Baptist, as one proclaiming the character of God, with a life that was consistent with the character of God and a message consistent with the character of God, got misunderstood. Some identified him with the light instead of a testimony to the light. I think that's a plus for John the Baptist. That tells you something of the character of his life, that people looked at his life and testimony and said 'Maybe he's the Messiah.' I think that's a plus. You know how it is? Ever had a person you've been witnessing to who has been observing your life and they begin to give you the credit for being so good and wonderful and great? You know they've made a misidentification. You're not so good and wonderful and great! You're just as sinful as they are! You're the one who has the work of God being accomplished in your life. But you know? I think that's a good testimony, that people ought to be looking at us and ought to be identifying us with God. Now in their misunderstanding they may give the credit to the wrong place, but there's something wrong if there's no misunderstanding. If I am really standing in the light with a life that is conformed to the character of Christ, that ought to have an impact. Now the impact there is clarified with John the Baptist. He wasn't the light—He was a testimony to the light. But he was very closely identified with the light. So closely that some misunderstood.
Now I'm not saying we ought to be going out hoping people will misunderstand us for Christ, but in our testimony and in our lives people ought to see us very closely related. They ought to see something markedly different about us. WE ARE LIGHT! You mean we live in a world as light and nobody ever notices? Here I am living in the darkness and nobody ever notices there is light present. And yet we can go on like that throughout this city each day of the week and the darkness isn't impressed that the light is present? Oh, so-and-so? Yeh, I've worked with him, he's one of the guys. Good guy, yeh. Don't see anything. There's no light present. There had better be light wherever we are as representatives of Jesus Christ.

Now with verse 9 he swings to the true light again. "There was the true light..." and note. In contrast to John—John wasn't the true light. He was a witness to the light but there was the true light "which coming into the world enlightens every man." And I think the way the New American Standard has it gives the order. The King James is a little confusing. You might get the idea that He enlightens every man coming into the world. Well, the coming into the world is talking about Jesus Christ. John consistently talks about Jesus Christ as the one coming into the world. Now when the light comes into the world, He provides light. He provides light in two senses—He provides light generally by His very presence. By the very fact that Jesus Christ has come into the world, the world has been enlightened. We saw that in what we read in John chapter 3. Men love darkness rather than light, but they were confronted with the light. So in coming into the world, Jesus Christ brought the revelation of God to mankind. A general revelation came through Him. But there is also the more specific fact—that He enlightens in a special way every one who becomes a believer as we've already eluded to. Those who come to Jesus Christ, come to life and come to light are really those who perceive and understand and see spiritual reality. The very fact that Jesus Christ has come is light in the world. Now people may reject the light, but He has provided light for all mankind, the revelation of God as coming through Him.

"He was the true light which, upon His coming into the world, enlightened every man." Now note verse 10. "He was in the world." Three statements. Secondly, "The world was made through Him." Thirdly, "The world did not know Him." He was in the world. Awesome statement. Here is the one who has created the world and all the universes. Now He is present here, and the world didn't know Him. He was in the world; the world was made through Him, but the world didn't know Him. Lack of recognition. We'd say 'That's to be expected.' But we get even more detailed in verse 11.

"He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him." He came to His own may be a reference to His own possessions, His own things, a neuter here so it could be translated things or possessions. But the second is very clearly talking about the Jewish people. And His own people—masculine reference—His own people did not receive Him, talking about the Jewish nation. The world didn't know Him but the Jews wouldn't receive Him. They said 'No.' So we're building here to the rejection. Now we've seen the contrast and the conflict up in verse 5—the darkness opposing the light. Then John, being a testimony to the light; but the world was unwilling to have the light, particularly the Jews for whom Jesus Christ came in a special way as their Messiah. They were unwilling to receive Him. If you stop there you get the idea that 'Well, mankind in mass said no.' BUT, verse 12. But not all reject Him. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God." There were those who did receive Him and those were given the authority, the right to become the children of God. Not sons of God here, but children. Sons of God denotes position. Children denotes something of the family relationship, sharing in the character of God, becoming part of His family. Sonship denotes primarily a position. Those who had the right to become the children of God were those who received Christ, accepted Him at His coming. They were those who believed in His name. That first expression and the last expression are in grammatical construction in which they are in apposition. They say the same thing. Those who received Him were those who believed in Him. Those who believed in Him were those who received Him. I accept you and receive you and acknowledge you as the Messiah—that was a person who believed in Him. You note. "They believed in His name." Believe in His name. Now His name stands for all that He is. We're coming back full cycle again. It’s believing in His person and His work. His name stands for His entire character and being. That's why a person who believed in Jesus as a human being but not His deity is not saved. They have not received Him. They have received an imitation that they have constructed. But to believe in His name—and interesting the force here that is common in John. Believing in His name carries the idea of casting yourself almost upon something. One of the Greek grammars gave it that force—throwing yourself upon something, relying upon His name. That's the idea. I'm resting upon Him. I've received Him. I become God's child.

Now note—there's a clarification in the last verse. "...These are those who are born not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God." Three negative statements and one positive one. Not of blood, would refer to primarily physical generation. We still use the expression 'bloodline' talking about our physical line. Well, these are not people born of a physical descent, nor of the will of flesh. Most people want to tie this to sexual desire, the desire of the flesh. It would be very closely related to the last statement—nor of the will of man. Human determination. In other words, these who became God’s children who received and believed in Jesus Christ were not those who had a certain physical descent. Now this drives right to the heart of the Jews' problem. They thought that they were going to experience special blessings from God because they were descendants of Abraham.

I have a certain lineage. It had nothing to do with becoming a child of God.
You say 'Well, yes, they weren't really quick in those days.' But we haven't changed a bit today. People think they're going to heaven because they are part of a Roman Catholic family, a Lutheran family or an Episcopalian family, or any religious group. My parents belonged to this church and my grandparents belonged to this church. Meaning what? Nothing as far as salvation is concerned. It had nothing to do with physical lineage. Don't you know both my dad and my grandfather were both preachers? Well, that's nice. We go back far enough, they probably were a saved preacher but it has nothing to do with your lineage. It's an individual matter. Has nothing to do with human descent or human determination. The sole determining factor is the work of God. They were born not of human factors but of God.

This brings us to what is going to be a dominant theme running through the gospel of John—the sovereign work of God in bringing men to salvation through faith in His Son. And the fact that some received Jesus Christ was an indication of the sovereign work of God. We see this when Jesus speaks of such matters as 'All that the Father gives me will come to me,' or 'No man can come to me except the Father who sent me draws him;' 'You have not chosen me, I have chosen you.' The sovereign determination of God. As men and women rejected the Messiah, yet in grace God sovereignly drew some to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

So the second birth is the result of the work of God, not of man. Tragedy is that 2,000 years after this has been written, we still have people who think their salvation depends and is based upon physical human factors. You may come to Indian Hills Church every Sunday morning and think that because you are doing that you are going to be in heaven. No, you must be born of God. You must come to believe that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, died and was raised from the dead because of your sins and paid the penalty for your transgressions. And when you believe that you are born of God and come to understand it was the supernatural work of God that brought you to that.

So what has John done? He’s emphasized the fact that we are dealing with one who is God, the sovereign Creator, the one who Himself is light and life. The one to whom testimony was borne by a man appointed by God, John the Baptist, the one who was rejected by the world and humanity that He had created. But the one who received and believed by those whom God sovereignly saved. Remarkable. Most important message there is to proclaim. Life and light has come. The light continues to shine. The only question is, Have you come into a relationship with life and light? Do you yourself have life and light through Jesus Christ? You can sit in this room in the midst of light and be yourself the child of darkness, rebelling and resisting the One who is life. Who can give meaning and purpose, fullness and completeness to life, one who gives perception and understanding concerning the things that relate to God. And all you have to do is believe that He, God’s Son, came and died for your sins. Let’s pray together.

Father, we praise you for life in Jesus Christ. Father, the fullness of all that is entailed in that we will spend eternity delving into. Lord, what a privilege to have life, to have meaning and purpose; Lord, to fulfill the very meaning for our existence. To know what it means to have a personal relationship with you To know what it means to have light, to perceive and understand and grasp spiritual reality, matters of eternal significance.

Father, I pray for those who may be here this morning who have come and been exposed to the glorious light of the revelation of Jesus Christ and yet they themselves are in darkness. I would ask that the Spirit might work in their heart and mind even now to break down the resistance, to shine through the darkness to draw them to Jesus Christ through faith in Him.

And those of us who have, Father, I pray that we might be shining clear lights in this world in which you’ve placed us. What a privilege to manifest your glorious character, to be vehicles through whom the Spirit works to draw men and women to light and life in Jesus Christ. May our life shine effectively throughout this city, throughout this week, for we pray in Jesus' name.