The Light - John 1:9-13
INTRODUCTION:
This morning I would like to begin by reading the last of the questions in Max Lucado’s book God Came Near in the chapter entitled Twenty-Five Question for Mary. We have been reading some of these each Sunday of December just to get us thinking what it must have been like to have the Son of God living in your house. Here are the last 8 questions from this chapter: (Read from Book) “Did you ever catch him pensively looking at the flesh of his own arm while holding a clod of dirt? Did he ever wake up afraid? Who was his best friend? When someone referred to Satan, how did he act? Did you ever accidentally call him Father? What did he and his cousin John talk about as kids? Did his other brothers and sisters understand what was happening? Did you ever think, That’s God eating my soup?”[1]
We have been going through the first chapter of John this month, not a passage that most would consider a Christmas passage, not like Luke 1 and 2, or Matthew 2, or even Isaiah 9:1-7, yet it still has all the elements of the Incarnation in it, which is really what we are celebrating during this time of the year. The first week we looked at the Word, and discovered that Jesus Christ who is the Word is God and John proved that by showing us that He is the Creator of everything and that He is the Life and in Him alone is life, and finally that He is the Light. Last Sunday we looked at the Witness, the one who was sent by God to be a Witness, to testify about the Light, to prepare people for the coming of the Light so that they might receive salvation. This morning we are going to look especially at the Light and at how people respond to the Light. Let’s pray and then read our passage.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to John 1:9-13. Please stand in honor to the Word of God as it is read and follow along as I read.
John 1:9-13,
“There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 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. 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.” (John 1:9–13, NASB95)[2]
THE TRUE LIGHT (John 1:9)
In verse nine John moves from the Witness who he had just written about and he goes back to talking about the Light, the true Light. I like how the ESV translates this verse, I believe it is easier to understand, it says, “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” (John 1:9, ESV)[3] The word that is translated true in this verse is a word in Greek which means “that which has not only the name and resemblance, but the real nature corresponding to the name, in every respect corresponding to the idea signified by the name, real, true, genuine. Opposite of what is fictitious, counterfeit, imaginary, simulated or pretended.”[4] This is the real Light, the genuine Light, anything other than this that is called light is counterfeit, is simulated, is fictitious. Everything about the temple and the feasts and holy days that they celebrated, the sacrifices that the offered, they were simply simulated lights that pointed to the true Light who was about to come into the world. Any other light that you follow will not lead you in the right way, you must follow the true Light. Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” (John 8:12b, NASB95)[5] Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, said in his prophecy that was our Scripture reading this morning in Luke 1:78-79, “Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78–79, NASB95)[6] Jesus Christ, who is the true Light, the “Sunrise from on high” was coming into the world. The apostle John says that the true Light gives light to everyone, Zacharias said the Light was “to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.” These two men are not talking about universal salvation, they both knew that salvation required faith, but what does it mean that the true Light gives light to everyone. Before Jesus came there was no person by whom you could judge holiness or righteousness, because there was no perfect person, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, all have sinned and fall short of the true Light of God. There was One coming that would be the perfection of God, One who would be the standard of holiness, the standard of righteousness and He would give that light to everyone, and all who stand in the light will have their sinfulness exposed. Maybe you are here this morning and you are thinking that this does not apply to you. You think that you are not a great sinner, you haven’t killed anyone, you have stolen anything, you try to live honestly and you don’t swear. You think that you are not a great sinner. Come and stand in the Light, the perfection of God. How does your life compare to His? How do your thoughts, words, and actions compare to Him? Coming into the world was the true Light which would expose our hearts for what they truly are. This true Light requires a response, let’s see how John describes this response.
THE TRUE LIGHT REJECTED (John 1:10-11)
John begins very generally and says that the Light was in the world, and John reminds us that the world that He was in was made by Him, because the true Light is the Word and the Word is God and God is the Creator of all things and the Giver of all life. The author of Hebrews says this about God the Son, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” (Hebrews 1:1–2, NASB95)[7] When the true Light was in the world, the world that was made by Him, John says that the world did not know Him. They did not recognize Him, they did not understand who He was. Notice that John uses the word world three times, we must understand his usage of this word, and in Greek it can mean three different things and John uses all three of those meanings in this verse. When John says that the true Light was in the world, he means that he was physically on this planet that we call earth. When John says that the world was made through Him, world refers to the cosmos, the created heavens and earth described in Genesis 1. When he says that the world did not know Him, the world refers to the inhabitants of the earth. The inhabitants did not recognize who He was, and still do not for the most part. Listen to the words of Jesus concerning those who recognize who He is and those who do not. John 3:16-21, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 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. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” (John 3:16–21, NASB95)[8] Why did the inhabitants of the world not recognize Him, not know Him? Because they did not want to come into the Light for fear that their deeds would be exposed, for fear that it would be clear that they were sinners in need of a Savior.
John goes on narrowing things down and he writes that the true Light came to His own, this word own means His own place, the place where He belonged, the place where the promises had been made that said He would come to this place. So, the true Light came to the place where He belonged, and the people of that place who were His own people did not receive Him. God had promised Abraham 2000 years earlier that One would come from His seed that would bless the whole world, and when He came He was rejected by His own people and sent to be crucified as the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world. Rejected by the world, because they loved darkness instead of the Light, and rejected by His own people, the Jews, because they did not realize He was the promised Messiah, they did not see that He fulfilled all that was written about Him in the Law and Prophets. The nation of Israel as a nation rejected Him, and handed Him over to a foreign government to crucify Him.
THE TRUE LIGHT RECEIVED (John 1:12-13)
Israel, the nation rejected Him, the inhabitants of the world as a whole rejected Him, but individuals received Him. Those who were willing to stand in the true Light and have their sins exposed, and acknowledge before God that they were sinners and could do nothing to change that fact, but received Jesus believing that He came to die for their sins, be buried, and on the third morning burst forth from the grave as the Resurrected Lord. Those who believed were saved, their sins were forgiven, they were made righteous in Christ and could stand before God justified. John writes, “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,” (John 1:12, NASB95)[9] When we receive Jesus Christ as our sacrifice for sin, He gives us the right, the authority, the ability to become children of God, we become a part of God’s family, we become His sons and daughters and because that right, that authority, that privilege to become a child of God is given to us by the One on whom we believed, no one can take it from us. This is a right that is given to each person that believes in His name. What does that mean to believe in His name? It is the same as receiving Him. It is trusting in Him, believing that Jesus Christ died for your sins, paying the price required for your sins to be forgiven, that He was buried and three days later rose form the dead. To believe in His name means to trust in who He is, that He is the perfect Son of God, the only One that is able to pay the penalty for our sins, the only One who loves us enough to die for us, the only One who can give us eternal life, the only One who can give us the privilege to become the children of God. John ends this section by showing us that our becoming children of God is not natural it is completely supernatural. John writes that that we are born into the family of God as God’s children. This birth is not by blood, it does not require us to be a blood relation to someone, it does not matter if we are a Jew or a Gentile, birth into God’s family is not by blood. Next John says this birth is not the will of the flesh, this is not something that our old nature desires, it is the Spirit of God working in us regenerating us that causes us to be born into God’s family. Third, John writes that it is not the will of man, no man can choose to make you a child of God, he may want you to be, he may try to persuade you to be, but ultimately you are born as a child of God by the will of God. You are born a child of God by believing in Jesus Christ, and the birth is not natural it is supernatural.
CONCLUSION:
What does this have to do with the Incarnation, what does this have to do with Christmas. John in this passage tells us the purpose of the Incarnation. The purpose of the true Light coming into the world was to make salvation possible for you and me. If Jesus Christ had chosen not to come into the world more than 2000 years ago, then we would not be here in this building today, then we would not be celebrating Christmas, then we would not be talking about the Incarnation. Salvation, forgiveness of sin, redemption, justification, reconciliation would not be words in our vocabulary because these things would not be available to us and we would still be dead in our trespasses and sins, we would still be condemned to hell and eternal separation from God forever. Who remembers the Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life! In the movie, Jimmy Stewart finds out what life would be like if he had never been born. The place in which he lived and the family that he loved and cared for were much different without him in their lives. Imagine what life on this earth would be like if Jesus Christ was never born, if God had not sent His only begotten Son into the world. This world would be a much different place. But praise God that God is a faithful God and a God who keeps His promises and He did send His Son to be the true Light into the world.
As we celebrate this Christmas, as we get caught up in the lights, and the trappings and trimmings of Christmas and all the gifts and family and all the things that the world makes Christmas out to be; let’s not forget the true meaning of Christmas, stop and ponder what it would be like if Jesus had not been born in a smelly stable in a little village 2000 years ago. “Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78–79, NASB95)[10]
--LET’S PRAY--
[1]Lucado, Max, God Came Near. Nashville, Tenn. : W Publishing Group, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2004
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[3]The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Wheaton, Ill. : Crossway Bibles a division of Good News Pub., 2001
[4]Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship, 1995
[5]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[6]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[7]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[8]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[9]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[10]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995