The Light.
“In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” John 1:4.
When referring to Jesus’s human life, John used the Greek noun “Zoe” and made it the central subject of his account of the Good News. The Good News is Jesus Christ. Jesus came into this world to give fallen humankind his indestructible human life, the “Zoe.” Thus, self-surrendered believers have Zoe here and now by trusting Jesus and God the Father. “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my words and believes in him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24). The Zoe, the new and perfect human life of Jesus Christ, is not merely biological life but a new human spirit that God gave to humankind at the conception of Jesus. “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63).
Jesus entered the world with a new human spirit, bringing new life to humankind. The human spirit that God gave to humankind in the first man, Adam, sinned in the Garden of Eden and had to die a second death—there was no way out. Jesus Christ now has our new human life. He is the life-giving representative of the new humankind that God created in Jesus Christ. “So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.” 1 Corinthians 15:45. The life-giving new human spirit in Jesus Christ is also the light of men. Because the human spirit that God placed in Adam at creation sinned in the Garden of Eden, the first or old humankind could not see God as a loving Father. Sin caused darkness between sinful humankind and God, and led humankind to lose the true knowledge of God.
Jesus came to dispel darkness and reveal the true nature of God, the Creator. “See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the people, but the Lord rises upon you, and his glory appears over you.” (Isaiah 60:2). Jesus, as the exact and complete representation of God the Father, illuminated the dark world with the full glory of God, his selfless love. As long as time lasts, the Cross of Christ will remain the most important witness to the truth that God is love. Because God is with us forever, there will never be darkness again (1 John 1:5). The Light with us gives us strong confidence that the Zoe, the eternal human life of Jesus Christ, is ours here and now and forever (1 John 5:11, 12). Born-again believers are in the Light—Jesus Christ—and therefore have freedom. They always reflect the glory of the Lord, his selfless love, and are being transformed into his likeness (2 Corinthians 3:17, 18).
The Light, the eternal life of the new humankind that God created in Jesus Christ, shone brightly, yet the dark world did not recognize it as the promised Savior. “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” (John 1:11). Although the people of his time did not accept him, Jesus Christ offered an unearned and unbelievable gift to God’s enemies, the sinners (Romans 5:10). “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12, 13). Additionally, as God’s children, we have full inheritance rights in the Kingdom of God. Yet God’s love did not end with this gift; it continued to give even more. “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.” (John 1:16).
Clearing the temple. Read the next blog.