We’re going through the New Testament looking at the doctrine of the Trinity and wanting to come to a deeper understanding of it. Right now, we are in the incredibly rich prologue of John and we are looking at every verse so that in the end, we can have a beautiful mosaic of what it is that John has been trying to tell us. Tonight, we are going to be looking at John 1:9.
The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
Jesus is described as the true light. Note that this does not mean that there are no other lights. Jesus is unique in his nature as light. We could say that he is the source of all light. A friend of mine has a t-shirt that tells us to be like the moon and reflect the sun. The play on words is obvious and so is the implication. We Christians do not have light on our own, but are simply reflectors and we are to live our lives so that the world sees Christ reflected.
This light lights every man. What does this mean? Christian philosopher Ron Nash relates this to epistemology saying that it is by Christ that all knowledge is possible. In a sense, I would say that is true, but I do not think John had epistemology in mind when he wrote the text. I believe he was speaking more along the lines of a push for salvation.
Does this mean universalism? No. I believe the light is shining in darkness for all to see. The trouble is that we do not respond to the light. We do not want to come into the light lest our evil deeds be exposed and we all know what this is like. There are many sins I believe we all have that will be more fully known when we get to eternity. They are of course, forgiven, but there are those sins still.
Yes. Christ is lighting every man and his light is there for all to respond to, but man is not willing to respond often. If he responds, Christ is there and is willing to offer salvation and forgiveness. We Christians need to remember when we share this with an unbelieving world that that forgiveness is there often as we too often don’t realize the wonder of God’s forgiveness in our lives.
He is also coming into the world. This is spoken of from the perspective of the Baptist. The Baptist was there doing his ministry, but stand back. The true light is about to show up. You thought the Baptist was something? He’s only a prequel. Wait until you see what God has coming next.
That is in fact what happened. Christ came and he came willingly into the world. As we go further into this text, we will see what happened when he came into the word, including when we get to my favorite verse in this passage, which I will let you know about definitely.
For now, the light has come. Respond accordingly.
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