During His time on earth, was Jesus the “Light of the world”? Or were His Words the “Light of the world”? According to the Apostle John, the answer to both questions is “Yes.” Impossible? Could John have gotten it wrong? Let us remember that John was so close to the Messiah that he was known as “the apostle whom Jesus loved.” Of the twelve men chosen to spread the Lord’s Gospel throughout the world, John was the closest to Jesus physically and spiritually. The other apostles recognized this unique relationship. Recall that he was so close to their Master that Peter asked Him what would happen to John following His (Jesus’) death (Jn. 21:22). A rumor spread that he would live until Christ’s Second Advent. John knew not only what Jesus said, but also the mental and emotional workings behind His Words. He knew that Jesus had a particularly negative attitude toward hypocrisy on the part of those who claimed to follow Him.
In the third chapter of his first epistle John provides the most raw, graphic description of God’s attitude toward those who call themselves by His name (vss 6-10) but do not obey His Words. John knew both His Word and His thoughts. He knew Christ’s innermost feelings because He had shared them with him. Therefore, when John “speaks” I pay close attention, which brings us to the subject of this series. Let us now turn to chapter one of his Gospel.
In verses one through three the apostle tells us that the Word–one-half of the Godhead–was not only present at the beginning of creation, but actually created everything that was created. John states that “without Him was not anything made that was made.” Read Psalm 39:6-9 for confirmation. of this statement.
In verse four John tells us that THE LIFE was WITHIN the Word (Who became Jesus Christ), and that THE LIFE was THE LIGHT of men. This Holy Spirit-empowered statement reveals that WITHIN Jesus of Nazareth was THE LIGHT THAT GAVE LIFE TO MEN. Verse five confirms this Truth by noting that THE LIGHT SHINES (present tense–90 A.D.) IN DARKNESS. When writing about Christ’s time on earth that had ended some 60 years earlier, John noted that while Jesus was on earth, the LIGHT that was WITHIN HIM illuminated those who saw and heard Him (the Jews), for they were in fact seeing the Father Whose WORD was being manifested IN Him (Christ) for the world to see. However, the LIGHT IN HIM was rejected by the Jews.
Throughout the Scriptures we are reminded that believing IN Jesus does not guarantee that one BELIEVES Jesus. True belief (faith) must be proven by WORKS (OBEDIENCE) as John notes in 2:10,14,17,18,20,24,26. Note in John’s Gospel that many people “believed in Him,” then turned on Him because of His message, eventually putting Him to death because of what He said. This included most of His early disciples who, after hearing what He preached in the synagogue, left Him and went back into the world (Jn. 6:59,60,66). Note that when Jesus asked the 12 if they would also leave Him, Peter’s reply perfectly addresses the LIGHT question: “To whom should we go, YOU HAVE the WORDS of eternal LIFE” (vs 68). Notice that Peter said Jesus HAD within Him the WORDS of LIFE. As is known by readers of this website, His LIGHT is still rejected by all but a minutely few believers. As He said, few would enter His strait (difficult) gate and walk His narrow (restricted) way to eternal LIFE (Mat. 7:13,14) because, though they believe IN HIM, they do not BELIEVE HIM as proved by their refusal to OBEY HIM. Their mindset is the same as those who cried out “crucify Him,” “crucify Him.”
In the book by His name the prophet Isaiah, operating under the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21), wrote to and about the Jews (tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi)–42:1. However, as verses two through four tell us, his message was not to and about the Jews, but was also to and about the other nine tribes who had been scattered throughout the world because of their rebellion against the Law (WORDS) of God. Isaiah quoted God in verses two and three. Noted that He is in fact writing to the entire “NATION” of “ISRAEL,” whom He referred to as “MY PEOPLE,” meaning all 12 tribes. By this we know that Isaiah’s Words were to be read not only by the Jews, but by the other 95% of the Israelites at some time in the future when his book would be made available to them. In 60:20 Isaiah tells those scattered, rebellious Israelites that one day they would return to their Creator and that then the LORD would be their everlasting LIGHT. These would prove to be the Israelites who embraced His Words and became His New Testament Church. As this series will prove, He is both the LIGHT and the LORD of those Israelites who comprise the Lord’s true church today who have, believe and obey the WORDS of His prophets and apostles. The WORDS of all of the prophets have been preserved for those in God’s end-time church (1 Cor. 10:11) which was built on the foundation of the writings of both the prophets and the apostles (Eph. 2:20). Another example of this transferal of Truth from the ancient prophets to today’s true saints is the writing of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah was directed by God to write to the Jews who, at the time of his ministry, were enslaved in Babylon. Nevertheless, God told him that, in writing to the Jews, he would also be writing to the other Israelite tribes who, a century and a half earlier, had been scattered throughout the world because of their rebellion toward Him. How would Jeremiah’s writings get to those Israelites? The same way the Words of all of the prophets are now in the hands of those in the New Testament Church. The printing press, along with world travel and mass communication systems, have made the words of all the prophets and apostles available to practically everyone on earth. Soon the entire world will have access to the Holy Bible and, through global information channels, watch it come to life in real time. Jesus guaranteed this in Matthew 24:14 where He said that the Gospel of the kingdom would go forth into all nations as a witness. Then He would return. He promised that what He did publicly while on earth will be done publicly again, and even greater things than those would be done (Jn. 14:12). The printing press, world travel, television and the internet have made the global reach of His Gospel (Word/Law) possible today. Now back to John chapter one.
The LIGHT, which was the LIFE, was IN Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus confirmed this in John 9:5 where He said that as long as He was in the world, HE would be the LIGHT OF THE WORLD. Then in John 8:12 He told His disciples that THEY were the LIGHT OF THE WORLD. How is this possible? Jesus and His disciples were 13 very different people. Yet He said that they, individually and corporately, were all the same in one respect–all 13 of them were the LIGHT that affords LIFE to the world’s people. Jesus said something else in that regard that is equally “impossible.” Jesus asked His Father to make the 12 disciples ONE. Both scenarios are impossible in the physical realm. However, in the spiritual realm all 13 of them were ONE. just as Jesus and His Father–two distinct personages–were then and still are ONE (Jn. 17:22).
Each of the disciples was physically, mentally, emotionally different from each of the other 12. Each had his own distinct personality, likes, dislikes, etc. So how was oneness among them possible? Oneness takes place within several venues. The premier verse concerning the oneness of all saints is Romans 8:14 where we are told that all of God’s true children are one in that they all obey the one and only Holy Spirit: “As MANY as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Rom. 8:14). In Ephesians 4:4-6 we are reminded that there are several ways in which true saints are one. They comprise one body (church), are of one Spirit, have one Lord, and one Father, are of one faith, having undergone one baptism. Though located in many areas of the world, they comprise one spiritual congregation and have one Head–Jesus Christ–and one mission statement: THE WORD OF GOD. This is what makes them spiritually ONE.
Though the above is an extensive list of how all true saints are one, there is another way in which they are unified: ALL WHO ARE ONE WITH ALL OTHER BRETHREN AND WITH THE FATHER AND THE SON ARE ALSO INDIVIDUALLY AND CORPORATELY THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. Obviously, they are all different. But there is one thing that they possess that makes them not only ONE, but also the LIGHT AND THE LIFE OF THE WORLD. That one thing is GOD’S HOLY WORD. God and His WORD are inseparable, indivisable, unchangeable and eternal.
All that we know about God, His will, Jesus, etc. is found in God’s Word. Jesus was His Word made flesh. God’s true saints are also God’s Word made flesh. God’s Word was Christ’s walk. His spiritual brethren also walk God’s Word. They are the walking, talking, thinking, acting Word. Like their Master and Model, they are the Word made flesh as they live (walk) the Word that abides in them. The Word is their Walk, their pattern, their template, their standard by which they live their lives. It is what they think, say and do. It is why they get up in the morning. It is the first thing and the last thing they think about each day. This is why their words are calculated and Bible-based. This is why they redeem their allotted time by not wasting it in front of a screen or some worldly reading material. This is why they, like the Apostle Paul, go through their day in a prayerful mode. This is why they do not go where the world goes, read what the world reads, hear what the world hears, watch what the world watches, wear what the world wears, etc. They are in the world but not of the world. They are THE LORD’S CHURCH–His “called out ones.” THEY ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD BECAUSE OF THE WORD OF GOD IN THEM THAT REVEALS THE WALK THAT IS NECESSARY IN ORDER TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE.
In summary, Jesus was the WORD made flesh because He lived His Father’s will in His every thought, word and act. God’s Word was His WILL in printed form, and still is. Jesus was His will in human form, as are his true saints. Man becomes what man consumes. Man thinks about what He consumes. “As (what) a man thinks (about), in his heart (mind), so he is (becomes)”–Proverbs 23:7. WE ARE WHAT WE THINK ABOUT. As Paul tells us, whatsoever is holy, pure, righteous, profitable, etc.–THINK ON THESE THINGS. Man decides what goes into His mind. Therefore, man decides what he is. Like Jesus of Nazareth, true saints consume the Word of God. Like their Savior, when men see them they see God. And as was the case with Jesus and His true disciples and apostles anciently, modern religious people reject what they see in His disciples and apostles because Satan has deceived them just as he deceived Adam and Eve–by telling them what they want to hear and turning them away from what God wants them to hear–HIS LIGHT/GOSPEL/WORD/WILL/TRUTH. As with Adam and Eve, church people want to hear that they can make the “Christian walk” whatever they want it to be. And so they have, which is why we have hundreds of different churches having different gods, christs, truths, etc., which is the end result of man having it his way. IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN RELIGIOUS MAN TOOK TO HIMSELF THE AUTHORITY TO DETERMINE GOOD AND EVIL. NOTHING HAS CHANGED. As God tells us in His Word, with the exception of His tiny remnant, “Satan has deceived the whole world” (Rev. 12:9). L.J.
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