The world is a very different place in the 21st century than it was in the days of our parents.  But I am not talking about the obvious advancements in technology and science and so forth.  The difference in our day from our father’s day is that at least in western civilization,  man has become more egocentric rather than theocentric.

A good illustration of that is that in our father’s day, young men cheerfully signed up  to fight the Nazis, risking and even losing their lives for the sake of God and country.  Not that everyone was a Christian in those days of course, but there was instilled in people the sense that there were higher ideals worth living for than simply self gratification.  Consequently, we look back in history with a sense of awe at what previous generations suffered through, and hopefully we realize that their sacrifices provided the security and prosperity that our nation now enjoys but too often take for granted.

On the other hand,  when the pendulum started swinging in the opposite direction after WW2, during a time of  prosperity, we see that society lost that sense of chivalry and became increasingly narcissistic and egocentric.  That attitude has fostered a philosophy of secular humanism which is now the pervasive view of society. 

As a result, politicians pander to such self-aggrandizing attitudes, producing a society that increasingly depends upon government entitlements and consequently is contributing to what I think marks the beginning of the end of this great nation.  John F. Kennedy’s quote made 50 years ago that we should “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” no longer gets traction in today’s “Me First” culture that demands special rights for every possible special interest group at the expense of the greater good. 

But what is more disconcerting than that trend in the political arena is that the church is pandering to the egocentric trends of the culture as well.  The whole focus of the relevant church movement is to find out what appeals to the congregation, and then format the church to meet the desires of the people.  So we end up with messages geared to such topics as fixing your marriage, or straightening out your finances.  There is even a popular sermon series out there based on dieting.  It’s called the Daniel Plan.  Not that there is anything wrong with dieting.  Some of us could probably benefit from it, but it is not the ministry of the church to provide a health club or social club or self help classes. 

The Apostle John said in vs. 6 that “There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.” So what was the testimony of John the Baptist who was sent by God to give a message to the Jews? Did he come to preach feel good messages about how to live your best life now? Did he come to preach messages on how to resolve family issues? Did he come to preach messages about psychotherapy? I’m sure all of that would have been as popular in his day as they are in ours.  But John the Baptist saw that the need of his people was much more fundamental than that. Israel had left her first love. Israel had become apostate. Israel was a nation who needed to repent and  receive forgiveness from God.  So John the Baptist preached repentance.  He didn’t think that repentance was impractical, old fashioned, or irrelevant. He didn’t tickle their ears and give them what they wanted to hear, but he preached to them sound doctrine.

The great thing about the ministry of John the Baptist was that he didn’t pander to the culture.  He didn’t worry about being seeker friendly.  He spoke about what God told him to speak about.  His message was simply repentance, to prepare the people to receive the Messiah, the Son of God.

Sound doctrine is the wisdom that leads to salvation.  Paul told Timothy in 2Tim.3:15 that the scriptures gave him the wisdom which leads to salvation through faith. And once a person is saved sound doctrine produces stability, maturity and spiritual fruit.

Now I would remind you that Jesus said about John the Baptist that among men born of women, there was none greater than John the Baptist.  So if we are going to pattern our ministry after someone, then I suggest patterning our ministry after John the Baptist.  I for one can identify with a voice crying out in the wilderness. And like John, I believe that the primary message of the gospel is repentance and pointing people to Jesus Christ.  I guess I also identify with the idea of a no frills, open air ministry.  Of not really having a permanent location, especially when we meet out here on the beach. 

So I want to look at the testimony of John the Baptist that is presented here, and take some points from his ministry which we should apply to our own.  And we are going to divide this passage by looking at three points; first what John says he is not, and second, what John says he is, and third, who he says Jesus is.  What he is not, what he is, and who Jesus is.

Now to introduce this section let me remind you that the Apostle John in this first chapter has presented a masterful theological treatise, much like the opening statement in a court of law, presenting the facts concerning Christ.  Now John brings forth his first witness to corroborate those facts, and to illustrate that theology.  And the star witness the apostle brings forth is John the Baptist.

So vs.19 says that “This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’”   Now for most of us, there is no more favorite subject matter that we prefer to talk about than ourselves.  Isn’t that so?  If the average pastor was asked that question today, he would probably launch into a biographical essay in which he ends up giving a glowing testimony of his achievements.  But not John the Baptist.  This was a humble man.  And let me tell you something; humility is the hallmark of a true servant of God.  Not where you went to seminary, or how many degrees you have, or how big your church might be.  But even as Jesus humbled himself, taking the form of a servant.  And if we are truly servants, then we should remember that no servant is greater than his master.  We need to be humble, to practice humility if we are going to minister as Christ’s representatives.

And we see that humility illustrated in the answers that John gives to the questions of the religious leaders.  As my outline illustrates, he starts out by saying what he is not.  What he is not.  That is the mark of humility.  Peter admonished the men of the church in 1Peter 5:5-6 “You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.”  All of you, that is all of the church, clothe yourselves with humility.

You know there was another famous prophet who was singled out as being one of the greatest, and that was none other than Moses.  And notice what it says about Moses in Numbers 12:3, “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.”  Humility is the hallmark of a man or woman of God.  Not how charismatic or talented or knowledgeable they may be, but how humble they are.  That is what God cares about. And that is the person that God will use. He will not share His glory with man.

So what John was not.  He answers their question of “Who are you?” with “I am not the Christ.”  I believe it was Luke that tells us in his gospel that the religious leaders had been asking, along with many of the multitudes that were coming out to hear him, if John the Baptist could be the Messiah, or in the Greek, the Christ.  And so he answers that question; “I am not the Christ.”

Then they ask him, ““What then? Are you Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”  The last verses of the OT prophesied that Elijah would come before the Messiah.  And so they wondered if he was Elijah. John said he wasn’t Elijah, but an angel had prophesied that John would come in the spirit and power of Elijah. They asked if he was the Prophet. It’s likely that Prophet they spoke of was the Messiah that Moses had said would come after him. And John disavows being that prophet as well.

So John says he is not the Messiah, he is not Elijah, he is not the Prophet, and back in verse 8 we see that he was not the Light.  Furthermore, in vs.27, John says “He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”  He is saying that he doesn’t even consider himself worthy of being the lowest household servant in the kingdom of God, so that he is not worthy of even untying the sandals of Christ.  So not only is he not the Christ, he is not even worthy to untie Christ’s sandals.  Now that is humility.  And yet Jesus says about him that John the Baptist is the greatest among men. That’s an illustration of the verse I quoted from Peter a minute ago; “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God and He will exalt you at the proper time.” 

Jesus said in Matt. 20:26-28 “It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,  and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;  just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Now then let’s look at what John testifies about himself.  Who John says he is and what he is doing. Vs.22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

First of all, note the contrast John the Baptist makes between himself and Christ.  He is not the Word, but he is a voice. The Word exists before him.  The word exists in the mind before the voice articulates it.  The Word remains once the voice is silent. He just speaks the words of God as God gives him utterance.  John would later say “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  He understood that it was not his voice that had any power to save.  But John knew that the Word of God who was God was the only power unto salvation. 

I wish we could get hold of that principle today in our churches.  We exist merely to give voice to the Word of God.  To bear witness of Him.  All of the programs and videos and dancing and singing in the church, if not giving voice to the word of God are just entertainment.  Those things may attract a crowd, but the only power to save is found in giving voice to the Word. 1 Cor. 1:21 says, “it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

John the Baptist says that his mission was to prepare or make ready, the way of the Lord. He quotes from Isaiah 40:3.  He is saying that his ministry is to prepare people’s hearts to receive the Lord, the King. To call people to repentance.

Then notice that the next question they are concerned about is his practice, his baptism.  People are concerned about the externals, aren’t they?  What rituals or ceremonies we practice.  Or what kind of programs do you have. Well, John did indeed practice baptism.  But the priority was not John the Baptist’s baptism, but on the fact that he was a witness. He was pointing people to Christ.  Baptism simply prepares people’s hearts to receive Christ through repentance. Four times other gospel writers spoke of John the Baptist as preaching a baptism of repentance. So John’s emphasis is not on the ceremony of baptism as a means of receiving  salvation, but as a sign of repentance. The focus is not on the outward sign, but on the heart of man.

So they ask him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”  See the problem wasn’t that he was baptizing.  Baptism was already practiced among the Jews as a means of purification.  But it  was actually for Gentiles, not Jews.  It was part of the method by which non Jews could become proselytes.  They could become accepted into the Jewish faith by becoming immersed in water and then going through certain ceremonies and offerings.  But John the Baptist is in effect preaching that Jews had no inherent national right to gain the kingdom of God because of their race, and they needed repentance and cleansing just like the Gentiles. 

But again, John deflects attention from his ministry and points to Jesus. Vs. 26 John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know.  It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”  What John was saying was that his baptism was a sign.  He did not have power to cleanse or forgive sins.  All he could do was use earthly means to point to a heavenly purpose that would be fulfilled in Christ.  It was a sign in the flesh, much the same as the sign in the flesh of circumcision which was given through Moses.  So John the Baptist comes with the sign of baptism, and this sign points to Jesus Christ.  First by showing their need for a Savior, and then when John baptizes Jesus it points to Him as being the Son of God.  So in all  aspects, John’s ministry points to Jesus and Jesus alone.  Never does it magnify John the Baptist.

Now then the last point, who John testifies that Jesus is. Who John says Jesus is.  Vs. 28 These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.  The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  John says Jesus is the Lamb of God. Now that goes back to what I just said about John’s baptism.  The first purpose of baptism is to show us our need for repentance, for forgiveness of sin.  And as he is baptizing, which has no power to forgive sin in and of itself, he sees Jesus coming to him and says “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”  Baptism then has no power to take away sin, but the Lamb of God does take away sin.

Now any Jew would understand the imagery that John is referring to when he says the Lamb of God.  First of all, hearing that a Jew would naturally be reminded of their father Abraham when he offered up Isaac on the altar, and was about to slay him as a sacrifice, and God stopped him and provided a ram that was caught in a thorn bush behind him.  God provided a substitute.  God provided a lamb. That is the first lesson of the Lamb of God.  He is our substitute.  God placed our sins, our punishment upon Him, so that He died for us, so that we might be made righteous by His righteousness and live. 

And that brings up a second point of the Lamb of God that every Jew would think of.  And that would have been the Passover Lamb that was slain on the night when God caused all the first born male children in Egypt to die because of the hardness of the Egyptian’s hearts and their refusal to let Israel worship the Lord.  So God told His people to take a lamb for every household and slay it and put the blood on the doorposts of their houses so that the angel of death would not strike them.  And as they obeyed God’s command and sacrificed the lamb and put the blood on the doorpost of their house, the angel of the Lord passed by and they were saved from death.  Now that illustrates the second principle of the Lamb of God, He saves us from death, eternal death. 

So first who John says Jesus is – He is the Lamb of God that takes away sin. Secondly, John says Christ is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. As opposed to his baptism with water, Christ will baptize in the Holy Spirit. So John says in Vs. 30 “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’  I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water. John testified saying, ‘I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’”

Now there is a lot in those verses and we don’t have time to unpack everything there.  But one thing I want to emphasize is that John says it was necessary for him to baptize in order that the Christ might be made known. Now certainly John knew of Jesus before this time. He was Jesus’ cousin.  And though they may not have lived near one another as they were growing up we must imagine that John knew of Him, and perhaps even had met Him or known Him all his life.  That is certainly possible but I don’t think that is what John is saying here.  What he is saying is that I did not know Him as the Christ, as the Messiah, as the Son of God until it was divinely revealed to me in the baptism.  God had spoken to John previously and said He who the Spirit descends upon is the Christ. 

So John knew who Jesus was not by sight, not by human intellect or knowledge, but by divine revelation from the Holy Spirit.  And this illustrates an important principle of salvation.  God has to open men’s eyes to see that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.  Remember the famous situation with Peter when Jesus asks, “who do men say that I am?”  And Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” And what did Jesus say to that?  “Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you Peter, but my Father who is in heaven.  (Matt. 16)  It takes  divine intervention to open a blind man’s eyes, and we that are in our sins are blind.  Jesus said in John 6:44  “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

But it also reveals the two fold nature of salvation; on the one hand there must be a removal of sin, but also a filling of the Holy Spirit. Both are necessary for salvation.  One sanctifies you, the other makes you a temple of the Holy Spirit and empowers you to live as a witness to the world in obedience to God.  You must be born again by the Spirit of God if you will have the life of God in you.

Then the last statement that John the Baptist testifies as to who Jesus is, is found in vs. 34 “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”  This is the ultimate witness of John the Baptist.  That Jesus is the Christ, that is the Messiah, and He is also the Son of God.  He is God in the flesh, the Word made flesh.  And John saw the Spirit of God descend and remain on Him just as God said, and he heard the proclamation of God as recorded by Luke in Luke 3:22  when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” This was the witness of John, and this is his testimony, that Jesus is the Son of God.

And of course that testimony correlates perfectly with the Apostle John’s stated purpose for writing this book in John 20:31,  “but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”

Now there are two quick applications that I would point out that makes the believing in Christ efficacious for you. One is to recognize the One whom you do not know. Notice vs.26, John says, “among you stands One whom you do not know.” Some have decided that they do not want to know Him.  They have rejected the idea of God and Lord, and so they have rejected the Savior of the world.  To know God is to believe in God, which is a decision that everyone must make for themselves.  To believe the truth about God. That He was manifested in the flesh as Jesus Christ, and that He is Lord of all. 

And then the second point of application is that you must receive Him as your Lord and Savior. It is not enough to just believe in God, or even believe that Jesus lived on earth 2000 years ago.  It’s necessary to receive Him as your Lord and Savior.  You must accept Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice on your behalf, for forgiveness of your sins, that you may be born again by the Holy Spirit.  If Jesus is truly the Son of God, then there is no alternative but to bow down before Him and plead for His mercy.  And Jesus said that to them that call upon Him He will surely save them.  In vs. 12 of our text, John says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.”

Today we have heard the testimony of the Apostle John here in this passage before us, who lived with and followed Jesus for 3 years of his life.  We have heard the testimony of John the Baptist who heard the voice from heaven declaring that Jesus is the Son of God and saw the Spirit descend in the form of a dove upon Him as was prophesied.  We have heard the testimony of the Old Testament Scriptures which present the Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  We see around us the testimony of creation which reveals His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, so that we are without excuse.  But most importantly, we have the witness of the Holy Spirit inside us, convicting us, drawing us to Christ, opening our eyes that we might see Him and believe in Him and be saved.  I hope if you are here today, and you do not know Him, that you will not reject these faithful witnesses.  Jesus came to earth to save those that are lost.  All that is necessary is for you to believe in Him and receive Him as your Lord and Savior, and you will be given the right to become children of God and have everlasting life.  I urge you to repent of your sins and receive Him as your Savior and Lord, that you might be saved.

I for one am happy that the Apostle John does not dwell on sentimentalism, as he writes of the coming of Christ, but he focuses on theology.  Although most people may think theology and doctrine are dull and uninteresting, I believe that a proper understanding and belief of the truth is the path to true salvation.

I passed a Universalist Church in Rehoboth the other day, and they had a sign out front on which was written, “We believe that there is not just one way.” While I knew that they believed that, I was amazed that they would come out and say it so matter of factly, even advertise it.  They obviously don’t believe in the Bible at all.  If you don’t believe the Bible is true, then you will believe anything that appeals to your sensibilities. But simply believing in something, even believing fervently in something, does not make it true. We believe that God’s word is true, that it is authoritative, that it is  God breathed.  And thus what we believe about the Lord Jesus Christ who John calls the Word is efficacious in our salvation.

But in John’s sparse literary style he is giving an account of the coming of Christ and it’s possible due to his approach to miss the fact that this is the greatest love story ever told.  In preparing this message, I thought of trying to find an example of a great love story in order to illustrate this passage, but I ended up discarding every possibility because they could not come close to the magnificence of the story of Jesus coming to earth in human form.  One of the most famous love stories in literature is Romeo and Juliet.  But even though that story is often called the greatest love story of all time, it pales in comparison to the story we have in front of us.

In addition to being a great love story though, vs. 14 represents one of the greatest theological statements in the Bible. “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” This entire prologue of John’s gospel is one magnificent presentation  of the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ.  So far in this first chapter, we have seen that the Word was God, the Word was Light, and now today the Word became Flesh. 

Now I want to try to explain why this passage can be called the greatest love story of all time.  But to do that we must go back once again to Genesis, to the creation account.  In chapter 1, God said “let us make man in Our image, in Our likeness.”  So God made man in the image and likeness of God.  He made man spirit, soul and body, a triune being like God Himself.  And then in John chapter 1, we see God making Himself in the image of man.  “The Word, who was God, became flesh and dwelt among us.” 

That in and of itself is a stunning thought.  That the eternal God who existed in the form of the Word, who was life, and was Light, who made all that was made in the universe, became a man. He didn’t just appear in the form of a man, but He became man. I believe that God appeared in pre-incarnate form in the appearance of a man at various times in the Old Testament period. But those pre-incarnate appearances were different than being born as a man. But the immediate question is why would the eternal, creator God stoop to become one of His creation?

Well, the answer I would suggest is illustrated in chapter 2 of Genesis. After God had made man, He declared that it was not good for man to be alone.  But after God made that statement, He did something interesting. He didn’t immediately create woman. But God caused all the animals of the creation to parade before Adam so that Adam could name them. And in the process, something was discovered by Adam.  Gen.2:20 says, “but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.”  Once Adam realized that fact, then God put him to sleep and took a rib from his side and made woman for man. 

And I think that scene illustrates a great truth.  I think that it illustrates why God made man to begin with.  God existed from eternity past before creating the heavens and the earth.  And we don’t know what He created in eternity past, other than that He created the angels. But it’s certain that He created other galaxies. I was watching a renowned physicist by the name of Brian Cox on YouTube recently, and he was speaking about the wonders of the cosmos. He said that there are 2 trillion galaxies in the piece of space that we can see. I guess there is space that we can’t see. Not 2 trillion stars, but 2 trillion galaxies.  And that each galaxy has an average of 400 billion stars in it. He also said that light takes 100,000 years to travel across a galaxy. He also said it seemed that the universe was infinite. And yet that our solar system was special. The way it had formed, and the way that Earth was positioned in relation to the sun and other planets set it apart from other similar solar systems.  He seemed to think that the science suggests that we are the only civilization in the milky way. Now I don’t know how much of that to believe. I am skeptical of modern science. But it would seem that it appears that there are trillions of galaxies beyond our own. And I don’t know what to make of that. But I believe that there is one God, who made everything that is made.  John said in vs 3, All things came into being through Him, that is through the Word, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

As Christian Creationists, we believe that the Bible indicates that life on this planet is just over six thousand years old. That doesn’t square with science. The geological matter may of this planet may have existed for millions of years, even billions of years, but it was without form and void. But day one of creation was about six thousand years ago.  Genesis says that God created light on the first day of creation.  We can’t square that with modern science either. And we know that God created man on the sixth day.  We can’t square that with evolutionary science either.  But we also know that the angels were already in existence when God made man. How much longer before man they were made we do not know.

And by the way, the Bible doesn’t teach that all angels look alike. We do see that different types of angels were created for many different purposes.  So we could speculate on what God might have created beyond what the Bible tells us, but I’m not sure that it would be profitable.  However, suffice it to say that when God made trees He did not make just one type of tree, but thousands of types.  When God made birds, He made thousands of different types of birds.  And the same with all types of His creation; there is great variety in each thing that God made.  Even with people, there is great variety within the species.  So we can assume that though we call them “angels” there is great variety in that type of being.  But contrary to popular images of angels, it’s not likely that they all look identical.  However, the Bible does indicate that the number of angels correlates with the number of stars.  Possibly billions or even trillions of different types of angelic beings. But beyond that we do not know what else God might have created in eternity past. 

But what I think God is illustrating with Adam naming the animals is that God viewed everything that He had created in eternity past, and there was not found any creature suitable to be a help mate for Him.  And in a manner of speaking, God had decided that it was not good for Him to be alone. So God created man in His image, in His likeness.  Another indication of this desire of God for a help mate is that in all of the rest of creation, He merely spoke and that thing came into being.  But with man God bent down and formed man out of the ground with His hands.  And then God put His mouth on man’s lips and breathed into him, and man became a living soul. 

So creation itself was no less than a great act of love.  Now the Bible has much to say about the church being the bride of Christ, and Christ being the bridegroom.  In chapter 3 of John, John the Baptist refers to Jesus as the bridegroom and the church as His bride.  Jesus Himself talks about the kingdom of God as culminating with the marriage supper of the Lamb.  In Revelation 21 the angel shows John what is called the bride of Christ, which is the church, spotless, having no spot or wrinkle, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.  

But probably the best passage that illustrates this principle is Ephesians 5, which talks about the way a husband must love his wife, and says in vs. 25-32, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,  so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,  that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.  So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;  for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church,  because we are members of His body.  FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.  This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.” So Paul is saying that human marriage is a picture of Christ’s marriage to the church, the bride of Christ.  We are made from His body to be united with Him as one body, joined together with Him for eternity.

But looking back at Genesis again, we see that Adam and Eve enjoyed walking with the Lord and communing with God, having fellowship with God.  But not long afterwards, they sinned by eating of the forbidden tree.  And as God had promised, their spirit died.  That part of their being that was in communion with God, that divine spark that they were created with was extinguished and the now sinful bride of God was removed from His holy presence.  They were banned from the garden and they no longer were able to be in the light of His glory.  Consequently, as their spirit died, their flesh soon followed after. And every offspring of Adam thereafter not only inherited his sinful nature, but he also inherited his mortality. But thank God for 1Cor. 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”

Now that brings us back to our text.  Because God did still love the world. Specifically, He loved the human race.  And He loved the human race so much that though His holiness and justice requires that man suffers the penalty of his sin by separation from the Life of God, yet His love found a way to satisfy that requirement.  And God satisfies His judgment  by the most incredible means possible.  He became one of us.  Man could not come to God, he could not bridge the chasm between God and man.  He could not ascend to God, so God came down to man. Phl. 2:6-8 “[Jesus] who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

So because God so loved the world, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  As we were first made in the image of God, so God must be made in man’s image in order to be the representative man who would be able to become man’s substitute, Savior and high priest, dying in our place. Now that is love.  We cannot imagine a love story to equal that story.  If we were to imagine a king relinquishing his throne to become a peasant so he could marry a peasant girl that would not come close to Christ’s love for the church. If we were to imagine a man blinding himself in order to be married to a blind bride that still would not rival this story.  There is no greater story of love than to consider that the eternal God created man to be like Him, to be His mate, His companion, and then that mate rebelled and sinned against Him, and was expelled from His presence, only to have the same Holy God humble himself to take on human flesh so that He might die for His bride in her place as her substitute. It’s beyond our comprehension.

So the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Even so He remains fully man and fully God. The deity of Christ is not diminished by His humanity, nor is His humanity overpowered by His deity. It is what is known in theological terms as the hypostatic union. The combination of the divine and human nature in the person of Christ.  Fully man, and yet fully God.  Because as John says, even though we beheld Him in human form, He retained His glory as God, and He was seen in His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

We need to explain that word glory.  What is glory? When I was a kid growing up in an old country church, I used to hear sometimes one of the old timers yell out “glory!” when the preacher would really get them riled up or some singer would sing a rousing song.  Never knew what it meant, but  it usually managed to snap me awake. Well, I’ll tell you what it means.  There is a hint right there in the verse; it’s the word “dwelt”, or skenoo in the Greek.  And it means tabernacled.  You will remember that the tabernacle was the tent that God designed to house His glory when the children of Israel set out for the Promised Land.  God dwelled in the tabernacle, and His shekinah glory indwelled the tent so that it lit up in the nighttime with the light of His presence.

So what John is saying here is that the Word was Light, the Light of the world, and He came into the world, becoming human, one of us, and His shekinah glory tabernacled among us in the human form of Jesus.  Now John says we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  And one explanation for that statement would be that he was speaking about the transfiguration, when Jesus’ glory began to shine out of Him and the Father God rebuked Peter by saying “this is My beloved Son, listen to Him.”

But for even more insight into His glory we need to go back to Exodus 33 and 34, when Moses asked to see God’s glory.  And God told Moses in Exo. 33:19-22 “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”  But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”  Then the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.”

So in the next chapter we see the Lord put Moses in the cleft of the rock as His glory passed by, but listen how God describes that glory.  Not by describing the passing of God as a blinding light, but with words describing His attributes. Exo. 34:6-7 Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;  who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

Now that’s incredible isn’t it?  We know that there was also a great light because Moses came down from the mountain with a veil over his face because it shone so much the reflected glory of God that the people could not look at him.  But when God describes passing His glory by Moses, He doesn’t describe the light, but with words describing His attributes.  And what two attributes do we see on parade above all others?  Grace and truth.  The very same attributes John ascribes here in John 1:14, “and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

So how did John and the disciples primarily see the glory of God revealed in Jesus?  By His attributes.  He was holy and righteous, full of grace and truth. Though He was fully man, yet He was fully God and manifested the character of God in all that He did. Hebrews 1:3 says of Christ, “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.”  So Christ’s attributes attested to His divinity as clearly as a  blazing light from heaven.

Then in vs.15, the apostle also includes the testimony of John the Baptist as to Christ’s divinity.  Listen to vs.15: John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’”  You will remember the in the story of Jesus’ birth, Mary His mother visited Elizabeth who was already pregnant with John.  So John was about 6 months older than Jesus.  He was born before Jesus, and yet John is saying that Jesus existed before Him. That means that He was preexistent.  Eternal.  And immortality is another attribute of divinity.  And John the Baptist adds that Christ had a higher rank than him.  Jesus then was more than a great prophet, He is the Son of God.  John was the herald going before the king, but Jesus was the King.

John continues this great love story in vs16. The eternal God became human flesh and we beheld His glory.  So that His bride might receive that same glory. Vs.16, “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.”  Now what does this mean?  Well let’s start with the word “fullness.” It is really referring back once again to His attributes, all the attributes of God, epitomized by grace and truth.  John is saying Christ was fully God. 

Paul says the same thing in Col. 2:9, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”  So Christ is fully God in human form.  But then John says we received that fullness.  We received God’s fullness?  How does that work? It works because Christ died in our place to satisfy the justice of God, effectively purchasing us to become His bride, the church.  That divine spark that was extinguished in the fall of the first Adam, was rekindled in the Light of the second Adam, when we believed on Him and received Him as our Savior, and we were given the fullness of His righteousness, so that now the Spirit of God tabernacles within us.  His Light in us gives us the Light of life so that our divine spark in reignited.  The Word became flesh so that the glory of God might tabernacle in us.  So that we might be like Him.

Eph. 1:22-23 says about the exalted Christ “And He (God) put all things in subjection under His (Christ’s) feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”  We don’t receive a piece of the Holy Spirit, or a part of the Holy Spirit.  But we receive the fullness of deity in the Spirit of Christ who dwells in us.  Christ fills us with the fullness of the Spirit of God that we might exhibit the attributes of God to the world and so that we might be conformed to His image, made once more in the likeness of God.  That we might become suitable unto Him as a help mate. That we might become His spotless bride.

So John says not only did we receive His fullness, but we received grace upon grace.  Never ending grace is certainly one interpretation of that.  Grace that never runs out. Grace that is greater than all our sins. But even more to the point, I think it means we not only receive the gift of our salvation, but the gifts of the Spirit, and then we receive the gift of our inheritance; that we shall rule and reign with Christ – as the bride of Christ we will sit on the throne next to Him and share in His glory.  That shekinah glory of God that man could not look on and live, one day we shall share with Him. We will receive glory, glory like the glory that He has. 1John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”  That is the essence of the beatific vision, is it not? When we shall live forever in the light of His glory, so that His glory becomes our glory.  That is the fullness of joy.  And that is our inheritance. That is our future.

John says in vs 17, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Someone greater than Moses has come.  The law given through Moses was a tutor to show us our need for Christ.  But when Christ came, He fulfilled the law, and we received grace and truth.

Up until that time, John says, “No one has seen God at any time.”  God cannot be seen by any man while he is in sinful flesh. But we have seen Jesus, and if we have seen Jesus, we have seen the Father. Jesus said to Philip in John 14:9, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”  Vs.18, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”  The Greek word is exēgeomai, which means to unfold, or explain.  It’s the word we get exegete from, which is the term we use to explain the style of preaching that I use.  I attempt to unfold the word of God, explain it, expand it, unpack it.  And that is what John says Jesus has done by coming in the flesh.  First in vs.17 John says Jesus manifested the attributes of God. Then in vs.18, Jesus explains God. The Word made flesh and dwelt among us, and then we beheld the glory of God in Him and through Him as He exhibited the attributes of God. And all of that is so that we might become like Him, to be united with Him as the church, the bride of Christ.

Well, that is enough for today.  But let me leave you with this thought. I want to leave you this morning looking forward to the coming of Christ for His church, for His bride.  That was the purpose of Christ coming to earth the first time, to prepare a bride for HIs return.  To become tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin and then to die for our sins so that we might become the children of God, the body of Christ, even His church.  Jesus is coming again for His bride.  This time He comes not as a baby in a manger but in the fullness of His glory as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. This time He is coming not in secret, but at the sound of trumpets.  In the fullness of His glory. He is coming for His bride.  I hope that He finds you ready to meet Him.

As we are still in the prologue of the book of John, I think it would help us to realize that John is not interested in merely presenting a biography of Jesus.  We are all, I’m sure, more or less familiar with the history of Jesus Christ.  So to simply retell the story of Christ’s life on earth would have limited benefit, especially in light of the fact that the synoptic gospels had already been written quite some time before.  But what John is presenting in his gospel is doctrine:  the facts about Jesus which according to John’s stated purpose in chapter 20:31, “these things have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” 

So as we pointed out last time, John doesn’t start his gospel as a biography might begin – with the birth of Jesus – but he starts with the theology of Jesus; that He was in the beginning with God, and He was God.  So in the first five verses, John establishes that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and in Him was life and the life  was the Light of men.

Now last time we spent a lot of time talking about the significance of Jesus being called the Word.  Today I would like to focus on the statement that Jesus, or the Word, was Light.  I believe John as well as many other Bible writers give great emphasis to the fact that Christ is the personification of Light.  In fact, Jesus Himself frequently applied that designation to Himself.  For instance, in John 8:12, “Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.’” 

Interestingly, Jesus there presents the Light as being integral to life, which is exactly how John presents it in vs4: “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”  Now in order to understand the connection between life and light which both Jesus and John were speaking of, it’s necessary to once again go back to Genesis chapter one.  In the creation account, we have not only the historical, factual record of the beginning of creation, but I believe there is incorporated in the story of creation an allegory which illustrates certain themes of salvation.  

So look at Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.”  So God was in the beginning, before time, existing in three persons who were one God.  And we see all three in this passage; God the Father, the Spirit of God and the Word of God. 

God created the heavens and the earth, and they were formless and void, and the Spirit of God moved over them, and God said, or we could say the Word said, “let there be light.”  And there was light in the darkness, and the light was good.  God doesn’t say the darkness was good, but that the light was good. 

But if you look down at day four, in vs.14, you notice that God made the sun and the moon and the stars.  So the light that God made in the first day was not light which came from the sun, moon or stars, but light that emanated from somewhere else.    And to add even more mystery,  in day three, God made plants and seeds and trees, which sprouted even though there was no sun created at that time. 

So what we can discern from this passage is that God existed in three persons, and the Word was life, creating the heavens and the earth, and the Word became Light, which was the light of the world, and it was a real light emanating from life which caused plants to sprout and life to exist.  Science tells us that light is simply a visible form of energy. So you cannot have light without a source of energy, and what the Bible is teaching is that the energy of all life and producing light is none other than the Word of God who was with God and who was God.

So now we can better understand the relationship of life and light as John said in vs. 4, “in Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”  Because He was the life, nothing came into being without Him, nothing had life without Him.  He is the source of life as Paul said in Acts 17:28, “for in Him we live and move and exist.” 

John then is saying that the Word was life, He was the source of all life, He is spiritual life and physical life and God manifested that life as Light.  First in creation, and secondly in the Word, and thirdly in salvation. 

You don’t need to turn to it, as I’m sure you are all familiar with it, but in the third chapter of Genesis there is recorded the fall of man.  God said if you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will surely die.  But we don’t see Adam and Eve fall down dead after biting into the fruit.  But what we do see is God removing them from the Garden of Eden.  He removed them from His presence and when man was removed from the source of life, the light went out and man died spiritually.  That divine spark that man was made with – made in the image and likeness of God – was extinguished.  And man surely died.  I liken it to a potted plant that sits on your porch which flourishes when it is in the sun, but if you were to put it in your closet it would surely die.  It may still look somewhat alive a few days later perhaps, but eventually it would shrivel up and die.  And so with man, when he was cut off from the Light of life, his spirit died. 

That is why God describes the world without Christ as darkness.  The scriptures use that description over and over again in both the Old and New Testaments to describe the world that we live in. For example, in the book of Job the world is pictured repeatedly as being in darkness, without understanding, without hope.  And that lack of divine understanding is what darkness illustrates. We live in darkness, separated from God and from the life of God.  We are lifeless, formless and void, without the light of God.  But then God spoke, and said “let there be light, and the light shone in the darkness and separated the darkness, and it was good.” 

Now last week we said about vs. 5 that some manuscripts translate the phrase as the darkness could not overpower it, rather than the KJV translation which says the darkness could not comprehend it.  And there are merits to the first translation, as I pointed out last week.  Light triumphs over darkness.  Christ triumphs over darkness, ie, sin, the world, death and Satan.  But there is also merit in translating it as comprehend.  The darkness does not comprehend it, or apprehend it.  And today we want to lean more in that direction because that is the idea presented it the following verses.  The Light appears, shines in the darkness, but the world in darkness does not receive the Light, does not understand the Light, and ultimately rejects the Light.

This idea of comprehending the Light is evidenced further by John in vs. 10 and 11; “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”  See, that is saying that the world did not comprehend Him.  They saw the Creator of the universe, the source of all life in human form, and did not understand Him, and ultimately rejected Him.  Man was in darkness, and though the Light appeared, he did not accept it, did not understand it, and so rejected the light and returned to the darkness.

Now man’s lack of comprehension results in God’s compassionate desire to help men to believe in the Light.  And to do that He raises up men to testify of the Light.  Vs. 6. “There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.”  Were it not for the fact that the apostle John had just said the world did not comprehend the Light, we might wonder at the abruptness of the introduction of John the Baptist.  But now we can understand that God sent John in order to bear witness of the Light.  To explain the Light. 

I think it was Matthew Henry who said, “That is indicative of the severity of the darkness and blindness of men that they needed a witness to the light.”  And I agree that man’s depravity has blinded him to be able to see the Light.  But I also think his depravity is so great that he rejects the Light because He doesn’t want to be ruled by the light.  Back in Genesis 1 God said about the lights of heaven that they were to govern the day and govern the night.  And I believe that indicates the contrary nature of man’s fall and of his rebellion.  He wants to govern himself.  He wants to decide what is right and what is wrong.  God said the light is good.  Man says I will decide what is good. 

In John 3:19-20 Jesus said, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”  See, man loves evil, so he loves the darkness.  He doesn’t want anyone to be a ruler over him.

That love of darkness reminds me of an old song by Simon and Garfunkel, “The Sound of Silence.” The apostle Paul quoted Greek poets so I guess it’s ok if I quote modern poets. Now  I doubt that Simon and Garfunkel intended their song to be meant in the way I understand it, but it’s interesting that the songwriter says, “Hello darkness my old friend…” Man loves darkness. He prefers it, welcomes it.  And it’s even more interesting that Paul Simon correlates the sound of silence, the lack of speech as resulting in a darkness of life in which people lived without life, without words.  It’s ironic that the great theologian John Calvin translated the Word in John 1 as Speech.  Paul Simon describes this darkness as silence where words do not penetrate, though prophets warn of the peril of rejecting it.  But the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they made.  His last two stanzas say; “Fools,” said I, “You do not know. Silence like a cancer grows. Hear my words that I might teach you. Take my arms that I might reach you.” But my words like silent raindrops fell And echoed in the wells of silence.  And the people bowed and prayed To the neon god they made. And the sign flashed out its warning In the words that it was forming. And the sign said, “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls And tenement halls And whispered in the sounds of silence.”

Man rejects the light because he loves the deeds of darkness. I was talking with someone the other day about society and how the rejection of God’s law produces anarchy. The depravity of man is fully revealed when there is no fear of detection or punishment.  That’s why when law and order breaks down there is chaos and rioting and looting.  When people can act out their basest desires without fear of retribution society can quickly become a terrifying thing.  And that is why the scriptures refer to us Christians as being salt and light in the world.  The law of God stifles corruption, it acts as guard against anarchy.  The light of God’s word drives back the darkness and keeps it from overpowering the creation. 

So John was to be a witness of the Light; to testify of the Light.  He was the first prophet to appear on the scene in 400 years.  He was to prepare the people’s heart to receive the Light.  And how did John do that? By preaching, “repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”   Man needed to repent of his evil deeds, his rebellion, his sin in order to receive the Light which leads to life.

Notice though the apostle John makes a point of saying John the Baptist was not the Light, but he was sent to bear witness of the Light.  In other words, John the Baptist was one of the lights of heaven, bearing witness of the Light of God, reflecting the Light of God to the world by word and deed.  John was like the light of the moon in relation to the sun.  He reflected the Light.  He was not the source of light, but he reflected the Light of Christ to the world.

And I want to point out another word in vs.6 that bears mentioning.  And that is the word sent.  John the Baptist was sent by God to bear witness.  John is a model preacher.  He was by all accounts a prophet of God.  He did not tailor his message to the world’s agenda. He did not survey the interests of society and then tailor his message to their perceived desires. He wasn’t seeker friendly.  But he preached the message from God to the world.  He did not try to be popular.  He did not rise to great prominence in order to build a huge church and exalt himself.  But he said about Jesus; “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  He simply preached the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I was talking with someone the other day about pastoring.  And the conversation eventually ran the gamut from sizes of churches, to denominations, to what seminary someone had graduated from, and I said as far as I’m concerned, and I think I can safely say that as far as God is concerned, there are only two characteristics that are important when it comes to pastors. One you have to be born again.  I think that eliminates about half of the pastors in churches across America right there.  And at least half of the other half would be eliminated by the second requirement, which is that you have to be called by God.  Or to use the apostle John’s words, you must be “sent by God.” 

 I’m afraid there are a lot of people in pulpits today that are not sent by God. And it’s apparent because they don’t preach the gospel. If God calls you, then He will equip you.  He is the one that gives us the Spirit to empower the message, He is the source of  wisdom and discernment.  You can have all the charisma and all the charm and all the degrees and a huge building and the acclaim of men but if you have not been called by God to preach the gospel then all those things are not going to be of any benefit to fulfilling the purpose of God.  And furthermore, I cannot understand why Christians would want to sit under those pastors, but I guess it goes back to the principle that we love darkness rather than light, because the light exposes our evil deeds.

But whether or not you are called to be a pastor, all Christians are sent to be witnesses of the gospel. Jesus said in Matt. 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

All of us are to bear witness and testify to the Light of the gospel.  Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, he commissioned his followers in Acts 1:8 saying, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Now though John introduces John the Baptist here, the emphasis is not really on him but on the Light.  And so he goes on to say about the Light in vs. 9, “There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.”  Now just as John the Baptist was a minor light, a reflection of Christ, so all the prophets of old were reflections of the light of heaven.  And I believe that there was light that came through the word given through the prophets, which became the Old Testament scriptures.  I also believe that even as Genesis 1 illustrated, there was the light of creation which Paul said in Romans 1 was enough to teach man that there was an eternal God. Paul said in Rom. 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” That was the Light of the world seen through creation that enlightens every man.

But in the next verse Paul says that though they recognized that it was divine light, they rejected it and were plunged into even greater darkness. Rom. 1:21 “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

In Matthew’s gospel he quotes from the prophet Isaiah referencing the advent of Christ as being like a great light coming to a people living in darkness.  Matt. 4:15-16  “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI,BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES– “THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT,AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH,UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”  This great light spoken of by the prophet Isaiah was none other than the Light of the world.  The Light of Life.  Jesus Christ.

But as vs.10 and 11 tell us, the Light came into the world that existed through Him, and yet it did not receive Him. “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”  Paul said virtually the same thing in 1Cor. 2:14, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”

Actually, that’s what I think Genesis 1 is indicating when it says after the heavens and the earth were created and still  in darkness, that the Spirit of God moved upon the waters and then the Light appeared.  Though the Light has come into the world, it is necessary for the Spirit of God to move on the hearts of men if they are going to receive Christ.  Jesus said in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”  Now God draws people in many ways, but one way is through the witness and testimony of His people, particularly His preachers.  God has ordained that by the foolishness of preaching men would be saved. 1Cor. 1:21 “For since in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

And that leads us to the conclusion of this paragraph concerning the Light of the world, in vs.12-13. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”  Man is rebellious and depraved, rejecting the rule of his Lord, rejecting the Light of the truth for the sake of loving his own sin and wickedness.  But the Light of God persists, piercing the darkness, the Spirit of God moves upon his heart in conjunction with the preaching of the gospel by the witnesses of the Light, and some believe and receive Him and are saved.

There is on the one hand the responsibility of man to respond and receive the Light, and on the other hand the necessity for God to extend unto man the grace to believe the gospel.  And the outcome is that when man believes and receives Christ he is born again, moved from darkness into light, from death to life, reborn spiritually whereas he was previously dead in his trespasses and sins.  When we receive the Light, the Light produces life, spiritual life, eternal life.  We are made alive with Christ.  We are made a new creation.  We walk no more in darkness but in life. Eph. 5:8 “for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light.”  And Col. 1:13 says, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”

To those who receive the Light, we are now made children of Light, even children of God.  Not by blood, that is we are not saved on the basis of human lineage.  Not by heredity.  Not by the will of the flesh.  We are not saved by self effort, or works, in order to become righteous.  Nor by the will of man, not by the decree of man, not by the decree of a priest or church or institution.  But by the will of God. 

God is the giver of life, and He gives it to whoever believes in the Son of God, whoever receives Him.  To receive Christ as our  Savior and our Lord, and as our God.  That’s what it means to receive Christ.  To know Him, to accept Him and trust Him and to bow to His rule over our life.  To know all that He is, and all that He is to be, to believe it, and then to trust Him.  To trust in His atonement for our sin. To trust Him to raise us from the dead. To know that Christ is good, even as God said the light was good. And we must submit our lives completely  to the very source of life and then walk in the Light, even as He is in the Light.  1John 1:7, “if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

I will just close by asking one question;  have you received the Light of the world? Have you been born again to spiritual life as a child of God?  As many as receive Christ, to them God gives the right to be the children of God.  That is a promise of life that lies waiting for you to receive, if you will just believe who He is and trust Him with your life.  Don’t reject him and stay in the darkness.  Come to the Light, and receive life.