(John 1:4)
�In him was life; and the life was the light of men.�
We have seen, in the past several weeks, the unequivocal statements of John as to the Deity of Jesus Christ. Jesus is seen to be not a created being; He is God Almighty. I can not explain this. That the Bible teaches it is so should be without question to any honest reader of the Holy Writ.
How can God be one, single Being, as He is self described in this same Word, and yet present Himself in three distinct and powerful expressions toward man? How can Jesus be with God and yet be God? How can Jesus be on this earth, praying to the Father in heaven, and yet be of the same essence?
I do not know. But, yet, the Bible says that this is so. The only explanation I can even attempt to use to resolve this dilemma is to note that God said it was so. I believe that it was Bob Jones, Sr., who once said that, �God said it. I believe it. That settles it.� I hate to disagree with one superior to me in the faith. But, I must. God said it; that settles it whether I believe it or not. ...Or, even whether I understand it or not.
In the third chapter of this same Book of John, we see Jesus talking with Nicodemus. In verse twelve of that chapter Jesus gives this observation to Nicodemus: �If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?�
The fact is that we understand earthly things only as we conceptualize them into our experiences. We can look at a cow and understand that it is not a dog because we know what is a dog. Still, we can make some extrapolations from our understanding of the dog to begin to understand the cow. The dog is a living, biological, being. So must be the cow. The dog has a temporal life that must end. So must the cow. The dog can not fly so he must walk from place to place on his four legs. So must the cow. We thus begin to understand the phenomena that is a cow because of our understanding of a dog.
At that point we can begin to expand our knowledge of the cow because we have this frame of reference to start to make further observations about the cow that are unlike the dog.
But, when it comes to things spiritual we have no frame of reference with which to understand the things of God. God created us to be physical beings. He, however, is Spirit and stands outside all things physical. As the Creator He can interact with things physical. As the created, we are not able to interact with things spiritual except as He gives us entrance, as is His prerogative as creator, into that realm. We can not begin to understand the spiritual because we are physical and have no frame of reference to begin our examination of those things.
That is why God gave us this Book, the Bible, to explain that which we need to know to prepare our physical selves for the spiritual state which we must all enter into in the next life. Because we have no frame of reference to understand the spiritual, God reaches down to the creation which He has formed and teaches us such things as we need to understand about Him and the spiritual realms.
We do not have a need to understand all that God has said. The need is that we accept what it is that God has spoken. Faith is the medium which bridges the gap between the physical and the spiritual. Hebrews 11:6 is in the great �Hall of Fame� chapter of the Old Testament saints. This verse says that, �But without faith it is impossible to please him...�
Before we go on, I�d like you to notice something important about this chapter in Hebrews. Each of these persons so honored was flawed in some way. Noah was a drunkard at one point in his life. Abraham lied about the status of his wife because of fear of others. Rahab, an ancestor - humanly speaking - of our Lord, was a harlot. On and on goes the litany. Moses was, at the first, afraid to return to Egypt to speak with the Pharaoh.
But, each of these persons had one character trait in common. They each yielded to the will of the Lord. They did not always understand, but they did put aside their unworthiness and accept, in faith, the Word which He delivered unto them.
We can each do the same. There may be many reasons that we can cull from our life experiences to explain that we are unworthy vessels for the majesty and glory of the message of God. But, God has committed that message to us. We may understand that we are, indeed, sinners who stand far beneath His contempt as moral beings. Yet we can also understand, because the Bible says that it is so, that He loves each of us. We may not understand how it will be so that we will leave this life, this plane of existence, and remove ourselves to another plane of existence in the spiritual realms. But, we can know - because of His Message to us - that these things are so.
We can understand these through the medium of faith.
So it is with the concept of the Trinity of God. I don�t even begin to understand the concept. But, God said it. That settles it!
The amazing thing, another thing that I can not understand, which we see in the first part of this first chapter of John, is that Deity - in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, came to this earth to interact with mankind and effect our salvation. II Corinthians 5:21 goes so far as to say, �For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.�
To borrow a phrase from the unlamented 1960's, �that is one mind blowing statement!� God, in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, came to this earth to become sin in our place that He might give us an honest relationship with God.
I can�t begin to understand either the �how� or the �why� of this statement. But, God said this via inspiration. It is so!
The unmitigated glory of it all!
This verse, John 1:4, says that life and light was �In him.� Here we see the possessive Savior. We have already seen that, �...in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily...� (Colossians 2:9). But there is much more that resides in the Person of Jesus which impacts upon our lives as Christians in this present world.
As we study the New Testament we will see that Jesus holds the way of our salvation. He, of course as is stated in John 14:6, is the Way of our salvation. In this verse Jesus makes the statement that , �...no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.�
That is a very important verse. We live in a time, as has always been the case, when there are many creeds and systems which purport to tell us the way to favor with God. We live in an age, more so than any in my memory of the study of history, when we are instructed to be tolerant of all ways. We are told that it is not only narrow, but wrong, to suggest that our understanding of the Words of God, even when culled from the pages of Scripture, is the only way.
That being the spirit of the day, I�ll not say that Jesus is the only means of a man�s salvation and peace with God. But, God did say that! Jesus did say that! This may be a narrow way that we preach. But, it is the only effective way.
So emphatic was Jesus on this particular point that he said, �I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.� (John 10:9) Jesus is the only means of the salvation of mankind. Other systems may well teach good and valuable moral lessons. These other systems may instruct one in fulfilling a persons potential in this life. But, unless the Door is used to gain entrance, no one will ever be able to enter the halls of heaven and the fellowship of God!
About other ways, Jesus said, �All that every came before me are thieves and robbers...� (John 10:8) He described the efforts of others in their attempts to lead people toward a peace with God in verse ten: �The thief cometh not, but for the steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.�
Jesus possessed the way of salvation because He is The Way!
That means that we do not work, in actuality can not work, for our salvation. But, this also means that we should work in our salvation.
He also shows us the walk for our lives.
We are all familiar with the great salvation verse of Ephesians 2:8 and 9. But, the sad truth of the matter is that most Christians are just proof texters who take the verses that they�ve read in their Sunday School Quartilies and fail to open their Bibles to see those verses in their context.
Yes! It is great that salvation is free from the Cross of Calvary. Yes! It�s great that we do not have to worry about our �good works� in the matter of Salvation because salvation is predicated only upon our acceptance of the great Work of Jesus Christ upon that cross. Yes! It�s great that even our acceptance is only a reaction to His convicting power upon our souls.
But, what does the next verse say? �For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.� (Ephesians 2:10) While I think that it is quite obvious that God does have a sense of humor, He is not a God of frivolous pursuits. He acts for a purpose.
He saved us for the purpose that �...we are witnesses of these things.� (Luke 24:48) The overarching reason that God saved our souls is His unfathomable love. The purpose which He wishes served from our contact with that Love is that we share the reality of that love with others, thereby affording Him the Glory of expanding the scope of that Love even further.
I was at a meeting a few years ago where the speaker made the statement that the word used to describe fundamentalist�s began with M and ended with T. Militant Fundamentalism was his operative phrase. In the context of his talk he was right. Then again, I�ve heard this man speak several times and he seems always right since his entire life shows a dedication to the love of God.
His context in making his statement was that we must stand for the tenets of the �faith which was once delivered unto the saints.� (Jude 3) And, of course, we ought to do so. There is a very good reason for that: If we believe that God has given us a Message in His Book, then we are obliged to either stand by that Message or stand against Him.
We either believe something, or we do not. We are either Christians standing on the promises of God, or we are not. We are either faithful to that which has been entrusted into our care, or we are not.
To change the Gospel Message is to corrupt the gospel message. To corrupt the gospel message is to obscure the Words of God to mankind. To obscure the words of God to mankind is to, humanly speaking, doom the souls of men and women to a Christless eternity.
We do need to be Militant for the Faith.
But, we do not need to be militant toward the faithful. I have seen Christians who have displayed a hostility toward family members of the household of the faith in such an extreme manner as to cast shame upon the name of Christian.
We may, in love - ONLY! - correct a brother in the faith when he is in error. We must, and this should have been listed first!, pray for a brother we believe to be wrong in some area of faith or life. We must oppose, in love - ONLY! - a brother who has slipped into teaching a false doctrine. That is standing up for the faith.
But, we also need to show respect and love for that brother in his devotion to Christ. No person, I honestly believe this, will do something he completely believes to be wrong. He will rationalize his error to himself.
I was watching a boxing match a few weeks ago. Late in the fight, fighter one landed a left cross to the jaw of the fighter two. Fighter two continued on for a short time and then backed away and grabbed the left side (the opposite side from which he was hit) of his head, showing an obvious pain. Fighter one stood back. He seemed concerned that his opponent might have a head injury of some sort. When fighter two returned to the fray, the �left crosser� continued his attack - but, he began to only hit his opponent in the midsection. His concern for his fellow gladiator�s health caused him to change the way he went about his job. Even before he did this he looked toward the referee, hoping, it was obvious, that the fight would be stopped.
That is an example of Christian concern for a brother. We do not lay aside our commitment to the holy task and oracle set before us. We do carry an honest concern and love for the brother which we believe is in error.
To the world at large Christianity is just another brand name among the many religions of the world. It is considered to be as right, or as wrong, as any on the store shelf of ideas.
Our lives must display a love which will be used of the Holy Spirit to show that the tenets of the Scriptural Message are not just another box of soap suds in the grocery aisle. The Salvation offered by Jesus Christ is not sold in any store! It is available only by home delivery from the Holy Spirit in the delivery truck of conviction and faith responding.
Our walk is to follow the example of Jesus. The only people we ever see Him displaying any dissatisfaction toward were those religious leaders who would keep people from Him. He never watered down His principles or doctrine. He also never rained down scorn and abuse on those He sought to reach!
If possible, the love we display toward the unconverted must be even more genuinely displayed. It is not our job to police the world. It is our job to call the lost to repentance.
It is a spiritual warfare in which we are engaged. The enemy will gleefully use our short comings, and our short tempers, to turn the ears of the world away from the rants of the unChristlike Christians.
Jesus also possesses the weapons which we must have to fight in the spiritual battle arena.
Ephesians 6:9-18 gives us a description of the �G. I. issue� of the Christian soldier.
In World War II, the American soldiers were given a set of supplies that they would need in their jobs as soldiers. These were the �Government Issue� of items. From this came the phrase �G. I. issue.� It was a shortening of the description so each individual item would not have to be mentioned every time each individual soldier went through the line to pick up his supplies.
Even the soldiers became known as �G.I.�s.� Part of the reason for this moniker was that the soldiers were not allowed even �civilian� clothing. They had to completely look the part of soldiers. They wore their �G.I.� clothing.
We Christians need to look the part of �H.I.�s.� We have a �Heavenly Issue� of things at our disposal as we enter into the battle as soldier�s of the Cross.
All of these items issued us as Christians are important. Were they not, we would not have them given us. Each must be used. But, there is one that is even more important than all the others. �Above all, taking the shield of faith...� (Ephesians 6:16) All the rest mentioned are secondary to the shield of faith.
Just because one puts on an army uniform does not mean that he is in the army. Many people will wear their old uniforms on some of our more patriotic holidays, like Memorial Day and such. That does not mean that they are in the military. Their enlistment may have expired.
Our �enlistment� will never expire in this Christian �army.� When I was in Viet Nam in the late 60's, we knew that we would serve in that war zone for one year - 365 days. If, however, a soldier from World War II had asked how long he was going to serve, he would have been told, �For the duration.� They were in �as long as it takes!�
We enlist �for the duration� when we become Christians. We are �in� for the duration of the Spiritual War. That is for all of time. Then, as the dawn of the new �time� of eternity beckons, we continue to serve our Lord. That is His reward for our acceptance of His Love.
Think of it! He gives us the free gift of salvation. He exerts conviction upon our souls to convince us to accept that gift of Love. Then He rewards us for the response that He has enabled us to make! Is it any wonder that our response is to praise His Unfathomable Love. Not only can we not understand this Love, we can only stand in amazement at the Glory of His Love.
As we look at the text verse, John 1:4, we see that, �In him was life...� This is the profound solution which Jesus gives to our needs.
One thing which we learn from the life of Jesus is the extreme example of dedication to the task.
One of the most precious verses, to me at least, in the entire Bible is found in Matthew 26:39. Jesus was praying in Gethsemane. He know the fate which was to befall Him. He knew the horror of the crucifixion was about to take place. This was the purpose for which He had come into the world.
Yet, here in Gethsemane, he prayed, �...Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.� I don�t believe that there is another place in the entire Biblical record where we see so clearly the humanity of Jesus. He was able to completely identify with the fears and dread of each of us.
We read these Bible stories and see them as just that - stories. Too often we look at them as a spiritual �Jack and the Beanstalk.� We, somehow, forget that these were not sacred stories told to give us light as we pursue our spiritual paths. We do not always realize that these were real historical events which happened to real historical people. They may give us light; but, that light is shed from the flame of another person�s personal fire.
The humanity of Jesus looked into the near future and saw the horror which was soon to come. The humanity of Jesus said, �I�d really rather not have to go through this. But, I will do it anyway!�
Jesus can understand our sorrow and foreboding; He went through plenty of His Own. Yet, He never took His eyes off His dedication to the task before Him.
Jesus� death on the Cross is also a means of spiritual power to us as well.
On the Cross Jesus defeated Satan and his strangle hold upon mankind. No more do we need to be bound to sin. Jesus has freed us from those chains. We can fly to Him, He calls us to do just that, to gain salvation from that sin nature which has kept us from a relationship with God. Satan no longer has the power to hold us from the loving grasp of the tender arms of God.
On the Cross Jesus destroyed all the hindrances to our spiritual lives. The only thing that can hinder us from success in our spiritual lives is us, ourselves. Even here Jesus stands by ready to lend the assistance to help us to live for him.
As I was typing the above, just a few minutes ago, I heard some screaming from another room. At first I thought that it was just some kids playing. It wasn�t! I went to that room and saw my granddaughter laying on her back, limp, across her mother�s lap. Her mouth was open and she wasn�t breathing. It seems that she had taken some candy and got it lodged in her throat.
Her mother looked panic stricken. I definitely was. I grabbed a phone and called the local 911. They kept asking questions. I said, �Stop the questions until you get someone here. NOW!�
Jacinda had tried the �hiemlich maneuver,� (probably misspelled that one!) and it had not worked. While I was in panic on the phone, the child�s mother put a finger into her daughter�s throat and cleared the passage way. We have been told that this is not the right thing to do. But, it worked. Jacinda saved her daughter�s life.
We did some quick praying. But, we also acted as best we could under the direction of God!
How often have we been told that there is another way to spiritual peace? How often have people said that simple trust in Jesus is not enough? How often have we been misled as to what is needed to �save� our spiritual lives? Too often! We need to do simply what the Bible says: to trust in the Lord.
Jesus gave us the ability to do that with His death on the Cross of Calvary. Why do we wait?
This trust will effect our salvation. But, it will also build up our spiritual selves that we may better equipped to follow Him. Our spiritual journey is a not a trip through an uncharted land. We may not be familiar with that land, or that trip, but our Guide certainly understand the hills of Glory as He guides us when we have the need to walk through the valley�s of despondency.
The writer of Ecclesiastes remarked that, �...the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong...� It is this trust in God, the charismatic gift of faith from God, which enables us to complete a good walk with the Master.
It may sound harsh at first, but it is really a glorious rest given to us. Jesus, at the Cross destroyed the works of our hands.
It seems that every U. S. president, toward the end of his term in office, is interested in the legacy which he will leave behind. Most of us will go out and look over the assortment of headstones to adorn our �resting places� after we pass from this life. Even those cremated will generally consider where their ashes are to be �scattered.�
This isn�t that strange! We want people to be able to remember us. We want people to look at a place and think about what we have done in our lives.
While still considering these as we labor in these bodies of clay, the Christian doesn�t really need those types of remembrances. Our �resting place� is with the Lord Jesus Christ. At our best, we may finally come to the realization that the highest honor we could possibly gain on this earth is that people think of the Lord when they do consider us.
In a boxing match it is said that the best referee is the one you never notice. His highest professional praise is that he allowed the event to continue without allowing himself to overshadow it. We Christians can learn something from this as we contemplate our place in the ageless passing of the Message that Jesus Christ died so that men could live!
We also should note that at the Cross Jesus destroyed our need to work for righteousness.
That is a really good thing! Paul, in Romans 3:10, reminds us that, �...There is none righteous, no, not one.� We may do some seemingly very good things in our lifetime. We may even lead an exemplary life. Others may look up to us and laud us with praise. But, compared to God, even we can understand that we have no righteousness.
Did you ever see one of the �strong man� competitions on T. V? They have one competition where they see who can drag the most poundage the furthest. Suppose one of these men had just completed the best he was ever capable of doing. Then, when finished, he looked over and saw that his opponent was a locomotive.
That is the type of challenge that we would face if we were to ever compare our righteousness to that of God. Only we would be further behind. The sin nature so bogs down the natural man that he has no option of doing any righteous works. His sin nature has taken the drag rope from his hands. Anything, even the best and most altruistic endeavor, would be considered sin because he had performed that while under the dominion of Satan.
We can not work for righteousness. But, Jesus has already done so in our stead. His righteousness, because of His work on the Cross, is accounted to us in the redemptive act.
Even this redemption is not of ourselves. We cannot work for redemption. Jesus offers this free and clear based on what He has already done. To ignore this and attempt to work for redemption is not only prideful on our part, it is also telling God, in effect, that you consider the work of Jesus to be inadequate for your needs.
That sort of attitude can never initiate dialogue between God and man. That is a rejection of the Love of God.
Jesus also gave us illumination toward perfect spiritual sight. �...and the life was the light of man.�
I have a little light that I keep near my bed. When my granddaughter is visiting she likes to sneak over to it and touch it. It is one of those that come on, and off, with just a touch anywhere on the lamp. It�s just a cheap little light but it seems to be one of her favorite toys that grandpa keeps.
I like it for another reason. I don�t like to hurt my toes. Turning on that light in the morning is easy and it allows me to see where I am going. It�s not like there will be anything new that was moved in during the night... Then, again...
When we shine light upon something it allows us to see the room as it is rather than as we might imagine it to be.
Jesus has done that in relation to God. The life of Jesus shows to us the passion of God. God cares! Luke 19:10, another of my favorite verses, says, �For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.�
It was the Love of God which sent Jesus to this earth. It was the Love of God which allowed sinful men to nail Him to a cross. It was the Love of God which took that horrific event and used it as a means to save the souls of sinful creatures who had turned their backs, collectively and individually, on that very Love.
The Person of Jesus allows us to see the passion of God.
In a very real sense that I still do not completely understand, the Person of Jesus allows us to see the Person of God. In John 10:30, Jesus said, �I and my Father are one.� A look at the reaction of the crowd (compare their questions in verse 33) shows that this of which He spoke was not a mere �oneness in pursuit.� They understood that He claimed to be God.
Although He used Scripture to argue that others had made a claim to be �gods� in the sense of doing the work of God on the earth, He never disputed their understanding that He had claimed absolute equality and essence with the Father. He had claimed to be God and stood by that claim.
Had this not been true, then Jesus was a liar or mistaken to the point of mental instability. If either of these two latter would have been true, then every other single thing about His life would also be false and rightfully called into question. He would not have had the moral standing to be considered as a �religious leader.� His high moral teaching would have to be considered the scams of a charlatan, or the rantings of one mentally challenged.
The most important thing that Jesus shows us, however, is the pardon of God.
Without Jesus we are still lost in our sins and without hope for salvation, any afterlife, or even any peace with God while in this life.
Come to Jesus, in faith, on the basis of His work on the Cross of Calvary. You can not save yourself. You can not work for salvation. You can not even live well enough to gain entrance into conversation with God.
Come to Jesus, in faith, on the basis of His work on the Cross of Calvary. Not only is He the only hope you will ever have, He is the only Hope you will ever need.
More than this, He actively wants to be your Savior. He loves you just as you are. Accept Him just as He is - the Great God of Glory and the Humble Savior of Calvary.
Do it today!