JOHN, Part 2 – Witnesses to the revelation of Jesus Christ
We are continuing our study into this wonderful revelation of Jesus Christ. John was exploring the Deity of Christ and His preincarnate work.
John 1:1-5 NKJV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Jesus Christ is The Word— the Son of God
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God.
1. Christ was pre-existent.
He was in the beginning with God. He was before all things, even before creation. He has always existed as the eternal Son of God.
2. Christ was not only pre-existent, He was coexistent.
In His eternal position, Jesus was and is face to face with God forever. That means Jesus is equal with God eternally in an ideal and perfect relationship with God the Father.
3. Christ is God.
In our text, John 1:1-5 we see the revelation that Jesus Christ is God. Not only was the Word with God, the Word was God. John was saying, “The Word,” is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Living Word of God. He possesses the very nature and character of God the Father. Although Jesus Christ is a distinct person from God the Father, He possesses the very being and essence of perfection as God the Father.
Jesus Christ is the Creator.
John 1:3 NKJV All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
Every single detail of creation was created by Him. “All things were made by Him.” “Without Him was not anything made that was made.” It is difficult for us to comprehend the wisdom and knowledge of God that was necessary to speak and all things come into being in the magnitude of their details.
Colossians 1:16 NKJV For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
We briefly considered that every minute molecule was brought into existence by the Word of God.
In Jesus Christ was the life and light of men.
John 1:4-5 NKJV In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
In Him was life.
This does not simply mean that He possessed life, but He was and is the essence and source of life. God did not create life; it was existent in Christ. Later John says, “As the Father has life in Himself, so has He granted the Son to have life in Himself,” (John 5:26). The concept here is almost beyond comprehension.
Life is dependent on its source.
Consider this in relation to every created thing. There are around 37 trillion cells in a person’s body. The science of cell reproduction is the basics of life. We have been made so uniquely that our body’s tissues and organs continue to reproduce. There are 2 trillion cell divisions in your body every day. Cells gather nutrients and energy and go through a process of reproduction. This life is a result of God’s creative power.
“In Christ was life.”
Think about this on three levels.
First, He possesses life within Himself.
He does not need an external source to sustain the LIFE that is within Him. He is not enriched or improved by external stimuli or sources. He is the substance and originator of life.
“In Him was life.”
Second, from that resource of life that is within Him, He created all things, both spiritual and physical.
He is the source of all other life. Dead matter does not generate life. More is being said here than that. He is the Originator or Creator of matter on every level. By the power of His Word, He brought matter into existence and created living things. Not only did He create matter, He gave life to matter.
Third, nothing that exists remains without Him.
He is the life force and life source of all things physical and spiritual. The concept and truth of this is immense. Whether the life form is physical or spiritual, it remains because Jesus Christ sustains life.
Psalm 33:6 NKJV By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
John 1:3 NKJV All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
These words take us back to Genesis 1, when God spoke and all things came into being.
- God said, “Let there be light” — and there was light.
- God said, “Let there be a firmament” — and it was so.
- God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, herbs, fruit trees…” — and it was so.
- God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens” — and it was so.
- God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth” — and it was so.
- God said, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas and let birds multiply on the earth.”
- God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature, cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth according to its kind” — and it was so.
Think about the depth of what this means.
God did not just create by the word of His mouth, He also sustains. Whatever God created, He is able also to keep. Our life physically and spiritually depends on God’s sustaining power.
Jeremiah 32:17 NKJV Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.
If God is the source and sustainer of life, “There is nothing too hard for Him.” This impacts and influences everything from time through eternity. Death and darkness flee when the Life and Light enter.
John 1:4-5 gives an introduction to the hope that we have in Christ that death will be swallowed up with life. This will be developed as we continue our search through John’s Gospel.
Christ came into this world to offer the only solution to the condemnation that came as a result of sin.
Romans 5:12 tells us, “Death came through sin.”
Genesis 2:16-17 NKJV And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Rebellion against God involved the forfeiting of life and the embracing of death. The ultimate victory over death was made possible through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This victory will be made manifest in believers.
1 Corinthians 15:54-57 NIV84 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 6:23 NIV84 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 1:4-5 NKJV In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
“The Life [Christ] was the Light of men.”
Light is seen here in contrast with darkness. Life, light, goodness, and righteousness are connected in the same way as death, darkness, sin, wickedness are connected.
From the very beginning, God’s plan for man was to know and experience that life.
This life is not just the generation of life that occurred in Genesis 1. This life is the result of personal and intimate fellowship with God. Man was created to dwell in God’s presence and enjoy that Life and Light. Sin broke fellowship with the Light and the Life and brought darkness and death into mankind. Sin plunged the world into that darkness and death. The consequences of that judgment was inescapable until Christ. Into that darkness, Christ Jesus came as a shining light and brought life to all who receive Him.
The knowledge of Christ is the Light of men.
His Life and Light gives real abundant and eternal life to man. That Life is restorative and is infused with the energy of Christ’s Life.
There is another way to say this.
The Life (or Christ) is the Light of men.
- Quality of being comes from Him. Without Christ, we are “dead in trespasses and sins.” Christ gives hope, joy, peace and love.
- Essence or substance of being comes from Him. Without Christ, we are dead in sins. In Christ, we live and move and have our being.
- Power of being, or life force comes from Him. Without Christ, we are dead. Vitality and vigor of being comes from Him.
- Principle of being, or the way things function, comes from Him.
What does this mean? Death and sin ruled until Jesus Christ conquered, and brought life and light.
All that is in us, that is TRUE LIGHT/LIFE, has its foundation and existence in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ is the answer to darkness.
Psalm 36:9 NKJV For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.
Through sin, man brought darkness into the world. That darkness was pervasive and inescapable until Christ came. Christ’s life shined in the darkness.
2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
This refers us back to Genesis 1:2. Everything was covered and shrouded in darkness, until God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God divided the light from the darkness. God made a distinction between light and darkness.
In the same way, the life of Christ was the light of man.
His life was the beam that showed man the way, the truth, and the life. Christ showed us the way God wants us to live. Christ showed us the truth of life. Christ showed the truth about God and man. Christ showed the truth about the world. Christ showed us what life is.
John 8:12 NKJV Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
John 12:46 NKJV I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.
1 Peter 2:9-10 NKJV But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Christ’s Life (the Light) cannot be overcome.
It is important to hear that Jesus is the Light of the world. His Light dispels the darkness and conquers death. Where His Light shines, darkness must flee. The impact of Christ’s Life and Light is amazing. Death is swallowed up in victory. Darkness is conquered by light. When we let Christ into our lives, the darkness of our past is overcome. Regardless of the depth of the darkness, His Life and Light conquers all.
1 John 1:5–7 NKJV This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
This is amazing grace that is brought to everyone who puts their trust and hope in Christ.
