THE LIGHT OF HUMANITY

“In Him was LIFE, and the LIFE was the LIGHT of MEN” – John 1:4

John the Beloved described Jesus Christ as Source of the LIGHT of HUMANITY:  “In Him was LIFE, and the LIFE was the LIGHT of MEN” (Jh.1:4). The light of men means the Light of all Mankind or of Humanity. God is the Source, Fountain, and Sustainer of all Life. And these attributes of self-contained, eternally existent life also describe the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Foundation and Personification of true Life – physical, moral, and eternal life (Jh.14:6). Christ is also the Source of Pure Light. Because of His Life, people who walked in darkness encounter great light (Mt.4:16). John distinguished Jesus from any other person when He wrote: “That was the TRUE LIGHT which GIVES LIGHT TO EVERY MAN coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him” (vv.9-10).

“The Life was the Light of men” – Life is light! Life brings light. The spiritually dead are known mainly by spiritual blindness. They are blind to spiritual realities. They don’t see Jesus as supremely worthy or His sacrifice as precious. They don’t see His fellowship as their greatest treasure. It takes the possession of Life to be able to see these greatest of realities and receive them. New life brings light. When you receive Jesus, you receive life. And when you receive life, you receive light.

Jesus came into the darkness of this world as Light. Humanity was dead and blind until Christ came. The Light of Life came into the world, and the darkness could not overcome – comprehend, understand, grasp, snatch or remove – the Light. The Light ultimately triumphs in a world of blindness and death: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (vv.12). Those who believe in Him have passed from death to life (Jh.5:24). The New Birth is the answer to the deadness, blindness, and darkness of the world: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot SEE the kingdom of God” (Jh.3:3). No seeing, no receiving, no entering!

The unbelieving world is drowning in darkness. An entire system of spiritual darkness, spearheaded by Satan himself, implemented by hordes of demons, and influencing every corner of earth, rages right below the surface of our everyday lives. But God is not afraid of the Dark; and as a Believer in Christ you must never be afraid of or tremble before darkness. You’re not meant to bow to or drown in the darkness, but “that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Phil.2:15).

Jesus wants us to see the Light, believe in the Light, walk in the Light, and have our hearts shine with the Light: “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2Cor.4:6). With Christ as Fountain of Life, in His Light we receive and reflect light (Psa.36:9). John Piper writes that “The light of Christ is the brightness of God shining on the retina of the human soul.” Jesus shines light into the cracks of our hearts that harbour sin. Once revealed, the conviction of the Holy Spirit guides us to repent; and have our hearts sanctified to reflect His light.

Through every Believer manifesting as light of the world, Jesus is bringing light to the far corners of neighbourhoods and nations, thus becoming the Light of Humanity (Mt.5:14). We live to reflect and manifest the Light by allowing others to see Christ’s love. It’s not merely what the shining people do that matters, but why they do it and how they do it. We are called to share the gospel by words, but more importantly than what we say is how we live – our walk and works!