The World and The Light
John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 6 viewsJesus shed God's light into the world and men either accept it or reject it.
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The world and the light John 1:9-13
The world and the light John 1:9-13
The tittle of the message this morning is “the world and the light.” Because that is the subject of this great passage. The true light of Jesus Christ has come into the world and men either accept Him or reject Him. No one can remain neutral.
What happens to people who are raised by unbelievers? An interesting study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life revealed that 14 percent of people raised Catholic and 13 percent of people raised Protestant abandon the faith of their childhood.
At the other extreme, over 50 percent of people raised in “staunchly atheistic or agnostic households” have abandoned the non-faith of their childhood. These people have abandoned disbelief and have embraced faith in God.
But what changed in them? Over half of those surveyed said they realized they had spiritual needs in their lives that were not being met. It was like a light came on and their heart began to change.
We were created to have a relationship with God. If we are open and honest with ourselves, we will all recognize we need Jesus Christ.
In 2003 Brooks and Dunn came out with a great song called “Red Dirt Road.” That song soared up the charts of country music.
One of the lines in the song says, “The path to heaven is full of sinners and believers.” Well, I want to clean up that bad theology for you today.
The path to heaven full of “believers who know they are sinners,” because we are all Sinners. The only difference Is a believer has embraced the Light of Jesus Christ and had their sins forgiven.
God’s shed His light into the world through His Son, and we either accept or reject it, but only those who believe can become the children of God.
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.
Anyone can look at the world we live in and see that it is broken by sin. We are surrounded by hatred and despair, sickness and decease, hell and death. The whole world is covered in darkness.
That is the problem that John deals with in this passage. What we learn is; There is hope in Jesus Christ. He is the true Light, and it’s His light that dispels the darkness.
Today I want to share with you three results of the true light of God coming into the world.
The first result is; The Light was Revealed, Vs. 9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
God revealed the Light of heaven when He sent His Son into the world. Jesus is the true light of God.
The word “true” here comes from a Greek word “Alethinos” which means to be genuine or real. It is the opposite of anything that is false or counterfeit.
In other words, what John is saying is Jesus Christ is the true, the real, the genuine life who came to give light to every man.
John uses the word “light” twenty-one times in his gospel. He calls Jesus the light of men. He calls Him the light of the world. He teaches us we can have this light in us. That we can become children of Light. For example;
John 12:36 ““While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”
John uses the word “light” to describe the very character and nature of Christ. Because light is the symbol of purity and holiness. It is the absence of darkness, sin, and shame.
Jesus is the light that reveals all things for what they really are. He shows us the truth about the world, about ourselves, and about God. He teaches us that God loves us and cares about us and wants us to love and care about Him.
But just the fact that Jesus is referred to as the true light, tells us their are false lights in the world. There are counterfeit truths. People who claim to be light, but are not.
For example; Islam is fastest growing religion in the world and it claims to be a peaceful religion. Yet the Qu’ran teaches that you can murder and rape the infidel, and the infidel is anyone who doesn’t believe what you believe.
The Qu’ran teaches anyone who takes part in Jihad is rewarded in heaven with 72 virgins.
But Jesus teaches us that true peace is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you and to love your neighbor as yourself. To live in humility with God and harmony with others. Anyone can look at these two examples and see what real truth is.
Also there are men and women in the world that claim to be light, that claim they can lead us to truth and solve all our problems. We call them politicians, but they are really all just false lights that are only interested in empowering themselves, at the expense of the people.
The claims they make are defective because they are only man made claims. They are ideas created in their own mind.
Jesus Christ is what other men are not. He alone is the true light from God and the life of man that has been revealed to the world.
John 14:6 “Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
Jesus is the only way to heaven, and He is the only true Light from God.
Notice His light had a purpose. It was to enlighten every man coming into the world.
And by every man John means every person, without any distinction. It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter if you are white, black, red, or brown. It doesn’t matter if you are tall or short, wealthy or poor, All of us have been given some light.
Those who don’t have the written Word of God have what’s called General Revelation, they have creation as a witness to them that there is a God.
Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”
Also, everyone has a Moral conscience that was given to them by God. We know right from wrong, we are born with it, It is woven into our DNA.
That alone points to the fact that there is a Creator of human beings who has revealed Himself to us and in us. He has given us light.
God gave the Jewish people added light. He gave them a covenant, the commandments, and the law. But today, He has given the entire world the Light of Christ.
No one can say God has not made the Light available to them, the Holy Spirit sees to it that every person has an opportunity to know God. God holds us responsible for the light we have.
Romans 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.”
Anyone can look at the world, and know there is a God. I think about the native Americans. They didn’t have the written Word of God, yet they were some of the most spiritual people who existed.
They were able to look at nature and the light came on and they new their was a Creator. (they didn’t know His name was Jesus)
Now, we have the Word of God. We know Jesus Christ has come into the world. The Light of a Savior. The Son of God. Every person can see the truth and know the truth.
So, the first result of the true light of God coming into the world was the Light was revealed.
The second result is: The Light was Rejected, Vs. 10-11.
(Look at) Vs. 10, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.”
John was absolutely stunned that Jesus Christ came into the world and He was rejected by men. But He was more than rejected He was crucified. He was hated.
John was a witness of just how glorious Christ was. He was the glory of God who had come into the world, the light of man and He was tragically despised and rejected.
This verse teaches us the absolute wickedness of the human heart and just how irrational sin is.
If God loves us so much that He sent His Son to pay for our sin and offer us eternal life, it is insane for us to reject it, but so many people do.
The word “world” here is found over and over again in the gospel of John and most of the time it refers to people, who are under the control and influence of Satan.
The Bible refers to Satan as the “ruler of the world,” “The prince of the power of the air” and there will always be hostility toward Christ because of Satan’s influence on the world.
But John is pointing out the irony here, that Jesus made the world and yet the world did not know Him.
This reminds me of the Word of God in the Old Testament. Isaiah 1:3 ““An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.””
The world doesn’t know Jesus, because the world is spiritually blind. Paul teaches us in 2 Corinthians 4:4 “ the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving.
Most of the time people just reject Christ because they are indifferent. They are so immersed in themselves they don’t have the time or the capacity to know Christ.
They don’t see any value in salvation, because they are spiritual dead. And all of us were at one time.
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Each one of us once lived like the rest of the world in rejection of Christ. But because of God’s mercy the light came on and we were saved. And now we embrace the Light. We live in the Light.
Notice John heightens the level of irony in Vs. 11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”
His own people rejected Him. His own here is referring to the nation of Israel. They should have recognized their Messiah. He was promised to them for thousands of years in the scriptures.
But they didn’t because He wasn’t the kind of Messiah they were looking for. They wanted a political Messiah. One who would deliver them from the Romans and lead them to peace and prosperity.
They didn’t want a Messiah that was going to forgive them of their sins and save them for eternity.
There are two important points of application from these verses. 1. Many people today reject Jesus for the very same reason as the Jews. Jesus is not who they thought He was going to be.
They came to Jesus and now the are disappointed in Him. because Jesus didn’t immediately solve their problems. (Dr. Elliot)
Jesus is not a genie in a bottle that you get to rub and get three wishes. The health, wealth, and prosperity gospel you see on TV, is not real.
We serve a suffering Savior who gave His life on a cross so that we could spend eternity with God in heaven. That’s who Jesus is.
2. This verse teaches us that we shouldn’t be surprised when people reject our witness. Jesus was rejected, and we will be rejected as well. People of the world still prefer darkness over the light because their deeds are evil.
What we need to understand is just because the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world and was rejected, that doesn’t mean God’s purpose has been defeated.
In fact it is just the opposite. The will of God is being worked out in your life and mine because we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior. We are the children of God who are overcoming the world.
So, we have seen two results of the true light of God coming in to the world. The Light was revealed and the Light was rejected.
The third result we see in this passage is; The Light was Received, Vs. 12-13.
Here John gives us one of the most inspiring texts in all of scripture and he lays out for us God’s plan of salvation for mankind.
Notice the word “But” at the beginning of Vs. 12. The word “But” acts like a hinge on the door of eternity. It says, He came to His own and His own did not receive Him, “But.” Thank God for the Buts of the Bible!
By the time John writes this Christianity was spreading throughout the world. Millions had been born again And what John gives us here is the formula for the new birth.
John 1:12 “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,”
These are three powerful verbs that must be put in their proper order for a person to be born again. Notice; we believe, we receive , and we become.
First, we must believe on His name. The name is not mentioned here but there is no doubt John is talking about Jesus. John uses the name Jesus more than any other gospel writer.
Mathew used it 151 times, Mark only 13 times, Luke 88 times but John, uses the name Jesus, 247 times. And in using the name of Jesus John never lets us forget he is talking about the Son of God.
So, we are to believe on His name. But why His name? because it is the key to our salvation. When Jesus was born God sent a messenger to Joseph with a command.
Matthew 1:21 ““She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.””
To believe on His name is to believe in what that name stands for. It is to believe that Jesus can save you from your sins. That is the first step in the New Birth. It is to believe in His name and what that name represents.
But that is not enough for me to become a child of God. The second part of the process is “I have to receive Him.” It’s not enough for me to believe He is the Savior, He has to become my Savior.
The only way that can happen is if I receive Him. That means I invite the one who saves people, and forgives people into my heart and make Him the Savior of my life.
But, how does believing and receiving make a person a child of God?
Well, those are the things we do. We believe and receive and when we do our part, God performs the miracle. He says, “Become,” and we become, He imparts the life giving power of the Holy Spirit inside of us.
He regenerates our heart, and we are born again. We become the children of God which means we share in the divine nature of Christ.
John 1:13 “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
This teaches us that the new birth is a supernatural birth. We don’t become the children of God by wishful thinking. We don’t become the children of God because my parents were children of God and I was baptized as a baby.
We don’t become the children of God in our own strength; by being a good person, or going to church, or giving to the poor. We become the children of God by a move of the Spirit in our heart when we believe and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Give examples from the audience; Gary, where were you born? How come? Rex, were your parents rich when you were growing up? Why not?
In the same way we didn’t get to choose being born into the world we don’t get to choose when we are born again. The new birth is a miracle God performs in our heart when we put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
We have talked about three results of the true light of God coming into the world. The Light was revealed, the light was rejected, and the light was recieved.
But what is truly important is what have you done with the Light?
Because Jesus Christ demands a verdict from each one of our lives. Throughout history men have either accepted or rejected Jesus. They have chosen to either live in darkness or embrace the Light.
The fact that you are here speaks of a desire to believe and receive. I pray and I ask you to pray with me, that God would impart spiritual life unto you.
