Dear Friends,
Having established Jesus’ identity as the Word (his name), as God, and as the Creator, John continues by describing the nature of his character. Not only is Jesus God, Jesus is good. At the time, this was a radical concept. The gods of the ancient world were deities that people lived in fear of and did not want to upset. These gods could be very cruel and they demanded blood—in many cases, human blood. Even the Jewish religion had been corrupted, altering people’s understanding of who God was and how to please Him. In John 9, for example, the Pharisees became irate when Jesus healed a blind man on the sabbath day. They taught that God was more concerned with superficial rules and regulations of their own making than He was with loving people. Jesus turned these twisted concepts of God on their head, bringing life and light to the world.
Father, give us understanding as we continue to unpack your precious word, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
John 1:4-13
4 In him [Jesus] was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
The opposite of light is darkness and the opposite of life is death. Therefore, the rejection of light and life leads to darkness and death. Not only have anarchists been using guillotines as props for their protests, but recent Project Veritas reports have shown Democrat operative Kris Jacks, member of the Colorado Democratic Party executive and central committees, bragging about how guillotines will be used against people who resist his radical-leftist revolution. (Jacks is also chair of the radical-leftist organization, Our Revolution.) Jacks was suspended by his employer pending and investigation after the Project Veritas report was published, but still no word from the Colorado Democratic Party. This development sheds further light on the report I cited in Civil War Part III, which alleged that a compound facility containing guillotines is being constructed in Colorado.
These dark forces have no comprehension of the light. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. In other words, the reason some people never find God is the same reason some criminals never find a cop. They are not looking for Him.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [John the Baptist]
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
The word light appears several times in Genesis 1. Before God created the sun on day four, there was light on day 1. MIT PhD Walt Brown believes that the light was “a consequence of the instantaneous creation of matter in a much smaller universe.” He may be right, but I believe that Light was Jesus, who John clarifies to be the true Light. The light from the sun is merely a type given to illustrate the real thing. Just as the sun gives light (life) to the earth, Jesus gives life to each of us at conception.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
Genesis 2:7 says And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
Verse 11 is usually applied to the Jews, but it could apply to all of us. Consider the context of the preceding verse. John said the world, not just Israel. Jesus was crucified under Roman (Gentile) law. When Light came into the world, the noblest and best, most altruistic, benevolent, and selfless Person to ever live gave his life to serve us, and what did we do. We crucified Him.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power [Gk exousia] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
There are two words in verse 12 that are of particular interest. Take notice of the word but whenever you find it in the Bible. But is an important word. If it were not for the but we would all be doomed. Though faith in Christ, however, we receive power to represent Christ: Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
We talked about the word exousia (power) in our study in Daniel. It carries with it the idea of divine authority exercised in a godly manner. As children of God, we have authority to be called by God’s name, to represent God on this earth, and to act on his behalf. Not only do we have the exousia power of God’s authority, but we have his dunamis power as well (2 Tim 1:7), from which we get our English word, dynamite. There is power in God’s name. There is power in his blood. There is power in his word. There is power in prayer when we pray in his name. There is power in our testimonies when we share what He has done for us. It is up to us to transform this potential energy into divine power by putting our faith into action.
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:4-13
Verse 13 foreshadows what Jesus will teach us about the new birth in Chapter 3, when He has his tête-à-tête with Nicodemus. Jesus said we must be born again. John tells us that this is not something we can accomplish in our own strength or of our own will. Edgar Cayce said that being born again referred to reincarnation, but John makes it clear that he is not talking about that. This birth is not of blood. The Bible says it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. (Heb 9:27) Jesus said this new birth is of the Spirit. In fact, He said so three times. (John 3:5-8) I recently had a discussion with a follower of Edgar Cayce. I listened while he told me about all of the supernatural feats that Edgar Cayce had performed and about the many people he healed. When he was finished I said, “I believe all of that really happened but Edgar Cayce cannot save you. Only Jesus can save you.”
When I hiked into the mountains of Nepal a few years ago, after two days I arrived in a little village called Yasang where I stayed for a couple of weeks. There was a plaque on the school building there in Yasang that said it was built by the Edgar Cayce Foundation. That was a good thing for them to do, building that school for the people of Yasang. There have been a lot of people throughout history who did ‘good’ things. It has been said that there are going to be a lot of good people in hell, and a lot of bad people in heaven. I’m sure Mother Teresa was a very nice person to have a cup of tea with and I’m sure she did a lot of ‘good’ things. However, it was Mother Teresa who said, “Draw close to the pope. The closer you draw to the pope the closer you will get to Jesus.” That is a lie, especially considering the current pope is looking more and more each day like a likely candidate for the false prophet of Revelation 13. Mother Teresa should have read her Bible, which tells us Jesus is our Mediator. (1 Tim 2:5) We don’t need a mediator for the Mediator. There is only one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
When I told my friend that Edgar Cayce couldn’t save him, only Jesus could, he immediately stood up and walked away. Anytime you follow someone other than Jesus, regardless of how ‘good’ they are, you are on the wrong path. Only Jesus can give you the new birth. If the new birth was something we could achieve on our own or by coming back again for a do-over, Jesus would not have had to go to the cross. But He did go to the cross. He went there for you because it was the only way. What’s more, Jesus rose again. Edgar Cayce is still in his grave, but Jesus is alive. His tomb is empty. Jesus is Life and Light. If you receive this truth, that Jesus died for your sins and rose again from the dead; if you believe this in your heart and are willing to say so, then you will be born of God. You will have your name written in the Lamb’s book of life. You will receive the free gift of everlasting life. You will be forgiven.
Father, thank You for sending your Son to die for me. Thank You for washing away all my sins with the precious blood He shed for me on Calvary. Thank You for inviting us all to your marriage supper. Thank You for providing a way out of this mess we are all in. Thank You Father, in Jesus’ name. Father, we pray for a peaceful election cycle. We pray for your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. There are traitors in our midst, Lord. If there must be violence, please throw confusion into the ranks of the enemy, that they would turn on one another and every man’s weapon would be against his brother. Please bring the criminals to justice. Please strike fear into their hearts that they may turn state’s evidence against one another and incriminate themselves. Please draw back the veil, that people may see the traitors for who they really are. Please cleanse our land, that we may be the City upon a hill that our founders intended for us to be, that fought for us to be, that sacrificed everything for us to be. We do not deserve your mercy. We have shed much innocent blood. We have forsaken your word. We have made sin a virtue. Bring us to repentance Lord, that as a nation we may humble ourselves and pray, that we may seek your face, that we may turn from our wicked ways, that we may be called by your name, and that You may heal our land. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
PS: Election Day is only four days away. There may be people who are planning bad things, but God has plans of his own. In a certain sense, all of the chaos we are seeing is a distraction. It is kind of like the humorous scene in Men in Black when they go into the pawnshop and Will Smith starts interrogating the owner about hot Rolex watches, only to find out he is an alien and his pawnshop is a front for running space weapons. Suddenly, the Rolex watches did not seem so important. Nor will all the political madness seem so important once the rapture of the church takes place. Think about it. When the Antichrist is making his debut on all the major networks, is anyone going to care what was on Hunter Biden’s laptop? Will the people who God has placed in your life be left behind? Will you yourself be ready at the last trump?
