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In verse three, John attributes every act of creation that has ever existed, to Jesus Christ. John says … “All things were made by Him.” There was no act of creation to which Jesus Christ was not a central part, indeed nothing was made without Him. This key piece of scripture reveals that at our creation, Jesus Christ was one who called us into existence. We are not only the creations of an all-powerful God, we are the creations of the part of the God head that came to our world in person, and to which John is about to give testimony. To those Christians who would seek to replace the act of our creation with a process of evolution, John stands in contrast and points clearly to exactly who created us. When on the seventh day He rested from His work and all that He had made, and blessed the day, it was to Jesus Christ, that John points.
To those Christians who do not understand the character of God is defined in love and that His law is only the beginning of the meaning of love, here stands John, stating that our Creator and author of the law is Jesus Christ. The law he handed to Moses on Mt. Sinai was Christ’s law of love. Christ came to show us more than the beginning of the definition of love; He came to show us its fullness. The law of love written by the finger of Christ, was not crucified on Calvary, rather it was fully affirmed and realized in the sacrifice of Christ. The life that would make our redemption and restoration possible would be lived and performed by He who brought us into existence. And it is He who has the creative power, to remake us, into what He intended for us to be, if we but let Him. Only Christ is able to restore us into harmony with His law, and with the love that stands behind it, and behind our very Genesis. The same loving hands that took dust and formed man, and breathed into him the breath of life, are the same loving hands that can take the disaster we have made of our lives, and transform it into the perfection of service and love that heaven itself is modeled upon. The secret to our salvation is based on the creative power of Christ. It is this characteristic of our Savior that will give us the most hope that our fate is not what we deserve, but what His love longs to bring to us. Our Creator is able to re-create us.
John begins in verse 4 … “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.” Man is not inherently immortal, only God is. The breath of life was breathed into us and we “became” a living soul. The source of life was not inside the lump of clay that our Master fashioned into the form of Adam. The source of life was inside our Creator. It was extended to Adam, and to us. But beyond even this, John is stating that our God is life itself. Everything outside of our God, is the opposite of our God. All things that are good are a part of who Jesus is. He is life. He is love. He is joy. And of a truth, those things that are not of Christ, are His opposite – evil brings pain, evil brings hate, evil brings death. To look outside of Christ, one finds only those things one would wish to avoid. To find life is to find Christ; for there is no life outside of our Creator God.
The sad example of Lucifer stands as an eternal reminder of what happens when we search for an existence outside of Christ. Lucifer questioned the idea of love as service only to others. He wondered at his own beauty and perfection, and attempted to see if pleasing himself instead of others might offer him a better existence than the one he had. He did not heed the counsel of God, that this pursuit could only end badly. He had no historical context of the knowledge of evil for he had only known good and life; he had never seen bad and death. But instead of trusting God in a matter to which he had no knowledge, he decided to trust himself, and pursue his own ideas. All the degeneration of evil that has transpired since has come from that break in trust. All the keen knowledge of bitterness, and evil to which we are all personally familiar started with a simple break in trust with God.
Lucifer chose to trust himself, and in so doing has brought the definition of death itself to the universe. We are faced with the same choice today. Do we trust ourselves to find our redemption, or do we voluntarily submit our wisdom and our choices, and our desires, and the core of who we are, to the Savior who has promised to redeem and remake us? It does not make sense to give up control to Christ, as it did not make sense to Lucifer that such a seemingly small alteration in how he would live, would bring about such horror as to think that killing God would be a good idea. But our sense, and Lucifer’s trust in his own wisdom over Gods, is the same issue we face in our redemption today. Do we trust in our own wisdom, or submit to His? John states plainly, life is only found in Jesus Christ.
John then waxes a bit philosophical and in verse 5 states … “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” How sad that one of the chief symptoms associated with the disease of evil is our inability to perceive truth. Even as a light is held up in darkness, we choose to turn away from it to seek out the darkness we crave. It takes an act of intervention on the part of our God, to clear away the chains of our bondage to evil, to even begin to think clearly enough to make the freewill choice to decide whether to follow our God of love or not. Without this act on our God’s part, our minds would never be clear enough to see the truth of what He offers in contrast to the bondage we are already enslaved to. It would be all too easy to look at this verse, and apply it merely to those who do not believe in Christ, to those who are unfamiliar with our God of love. But sadly, it was not to the unbelievers that Christ appeared.
Our Messiah was not born to Roman parents of noble birth, in the greatest city of his day. He was not found in the personage of the Caesar’s who would have respected power, but would have had little context of the meaning of the coming of a Messiah. It was not to the Chinese scholars, or Germanic barbarian tribes to which Christ was born. No, instead He was born to those people to whom He had personally given His laws and sent to them His prophets. The texts to identify the Messiah were clear, as were the signs offered in the miracles He performed, and the truth to which He gave voice. But his own religious system where every piece of furniture in the temple, and every ordinance ever given with respect to its worship practices pointed to the now present Messiah; was unable to perceive His arrival. The priests who should have heralded the coming of the Messiah failed to do so. Instead it would take a wild man living in the desert to cry out ‘repent’.
The priests who should have been the first to sit at the feet of He who had so brilliantly captured their attention at ripe young age of 12, and taught them truth they had never perceived for 3 full days in the temple at Jerusalem; instead rejected the entirety of His teachings. These priests should have been his most loyal disciples, and most ardent preachers of His words. Instead they plotted to entrap Him with un-answerable questions, and when their plans failed, they eventually took action to kill Him. Christ did not submit Himself to their religious authority. Instead of obtaining power over others, Christ personally served those in need. Instead of hanging out only with those of equal or higher social class, He went to those who were poor, and humble, and willing to receive Him. Instead of ending the political tyranny of Rome, He completely divorced Himself from politics and taught submission – first to God, then to each other. Christ did not hate the Romans; instead He sought to save them, and praised those He found faith in. Christ did not discriminate against Samaritans; instead He broke down prejudicial barriers and welcomed them to the Kingdom of His Salvation. He was everything His priests were not. He was love, without condition, and without restraint, just pure self-less love, incarnate. This was what He intended His religion to be, and those who claimed to serve the One True God should be like. Instead His religious system had been corrupted by the exaltation of self, into a hierarchy only interested in preserving its own power over the people. Selfish gain, and inflated ego’s, had replaced service to those in need, and love to all. And so, His own religious system, sought to kill the Light that had entered their darkened world.
In the cruelest irony the devil could present, those who should have known Him best, were the very ones who sought to end His existence in this world. The Romans hardly had any concern for a pacifist who taught only selfless love. He was literally no threat to their “power”. The priests however, could not stand the brilliant light that illuminated the hypocrisy of self-service against the magnificence of pure self-less love. Today, Christians purport to follow Christ, but I wonder if our “system” of religion would do any better in recognizing the God we claim to know if He were to appear among us? Our expectations of fine clothing would likely not be met. He would not be found in our church board meetings, instead preferring to be in the street with the other “homeless”. For Christ Himself, was a homeless person. He owned nothing. He only had one set of clothing, and it was no Armani suit. He had no jewels to ordain His person. Indeed the creator of gold, sees no more value in it than concrete. He did not eat often without the mercy of someone else providing for Him.
Those who were engaged in the most grievous and public sins were known to be His regular companions. He was found only in the company of the humble, almost never in the company of the rich or the proud. He did not travel alone; to receive Him was to receive 12 other companions of a less than savory sort, and the entourage and crowds that sought Him out everywhere. In our day, we would call Him a hippy, perhaps a cult leader. In our day, we might call Him a bum. In our day, we might call His teachings of unconditional love, even to those who are clearly committing horrific sins, too radical, perhaps too heretical. In our day, His rejection of our political processes, and complete indifference as to who runs our nation, might offend those of strict ideologies who believe it is their responsibility to enforce their moral code on the lives of others. His refusal to answer trick questions like when does life begin, and is cloning wrong, and should we be exploring stem cell research; might anger those who cannot understand the wisdom of teaching that love can remake us from the inside out, removing naturally what should be removed, and replacing hate for love. His ability to heal any disease would rouse the anger of medical and insurance financial establishments and make Him a real threat to profit. I wonder if the Light were to appear in the darkness that is our world today, would we fare any better than our spiritual ancestors, or would we like the Pharisees of old, reject Him entirely? The measure of that answer can be found in the measure of how we love today.
In verses 6 to 8, John makes it clear who he is, and that he is only there to bear witness to the Light, John is not the light himself. How often are those who teach the truth of Christ often elevated by those they teach. Perhaps it is a combination of gratitude for the knowledge imparted, or respect of the wisdom revealed, or just admiration of the effects of transformation, that inspires one man to put another on a pedestal, but it happens. John here makes it clear exactly “who” the Light is, and that John is not it. John begins by disclaiming all elevation, and lifting up only the name of Jesus Christ as the true Light of the world. “Pride”, even in matters of religion, is still the catalyst for downfall and evil. To bear testimony to the Light, is the only ambition John will attempt to achieve in this book of his gospel.
In verses 9 to 11, John restates his opening premise that those who should have known Him best, did not recognize Him at all. This was a heart-rendering truth. The Jewish readers would know that John is calling them to see truth where they previously thrown it away. It would be the same thing as having a homeless man enter your church mid-service and declare that the teachings of your pastor, and your closely held beliefs were all in error. It would be worse, to know beyond all shadow of a doubt, that the homeless person who did this was Christ Himself. Christians might take great offense at the notion they have been “doing it wrong”. Christians might find it hard, to accept this truth, and in humility seek out the very homeless person who called them out on their errors. Christians might find it hard to let go of their dreams of freedom and ease, and embrace servitude and poverty. The Jewish readers in the time of John, had an equally hard time doing these things. Yet this is precisely what John is stating should happen.
He continues in verse 12 and 13 with a summation of salvation itself. He provides the motive and method for acceptance of Christ, and the salvation from self and evil it brings. Verse 12.) “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: 13.) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” To those who receive Jesus Christ, it is to them who submit, it is to them who allow themselves to be completely remade, who can stop relying on their own power, and find instead the power of Christ within them. It is Christ who “gives” the power to become the Sons of God. We do not earn this power, we do not steal it, buy it, or work for it. It comes in ONLY ONE way, as a gift. It comes only to those who believe on His name.
The re-genesis that follows within us, does not happen because of our genetic predisposition. We do not inherit it from our parents, or their value systems we might have been taught. We do not become new creations, or are born again, because of the strength of our own will power and character. Nor can the will of other men be imposed upon us, in order that we are saved from ourselves. There is only ONE way, we can be remade, and that is by God as a gift to us. Our portion is only to accept in humility His gift of recreation. Despite the fact we will never deserve it; we want it anyway. Despite the fact we may never understand why He loves us so much; we will accept the gift that love offers. In the knowledge that there is nothing we can do to remake ourselves, and the humility this must bring; we accept His generous offer to make us into something entirely different than the people we are today. This is how salvation works. And love is the only reason why He offers, and why we would accept.
In verse 14 John once again articulates that Christ is not just an idea, or a belief system, he was a physical person, a physical manifestation of God on earth, in flesh and in blood. Christ was the only begotten of the Father. Our God had only one son. Only Christ could claim with legitimacy that His father was the one true God. Christ had no divine siblings. Men like Moses, or Elijah, or Mohammed, or Buddha, or Gandhi might have lived spectacular lives, and made a great impact on the world; but there would only ever be one “Son” of God. And it is only through Jesus Christ, that we might also be considered a part of the family of God.
John concludes his prologue in verses 15 to 18 repeating now over and over again, that Christ was the fullness of grace and truth. Notice that truth was never used as a weapon by Christ, nor was it ever discarded. It was always grace that would enable us to see the wisdom of His truth. It is grace that allows us to be remade so that we begin to desire His truth. And it is His grace that then enables our lives to adopt His truth as a part of who we are, how we think, and consequently how we live. Truth is never discarded in this process; instead it is fully realized through the mechanism of grace. Truth is not used as a weapon to reveal our guilt; instead it is presented as an aspiration we can attain through the power of His grace. Christ makes no excuse for evil. Instead He offers freedom from it, in heart, mind, body, and soul. It is more than forgiveness that grace offers to us, it is reformation of who we are, and harmony with the truth of who He is. John states that Moses brought the law, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Moses and law of love he relayed had not the power to reform the desires of our hearts, only to show us how far from harmony with this law of love we are. But the grace Christ brings, offers to remake us from the inside out and restore our harmony with His truth, His law, and His love. Again John is restating, our salvation does not come from our perceived ability to keep “the law”. Instead our salvation comes from His grace, that makes His laws engrained on the core of who we are, how we think, what we want, and therefore how we live. For the second time, in his opening prologue, John describes the process of salvation, and again bears testimony to the salvation Jesus Christ alone offers.
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