John 1:1-5: Life and Light
Preacher: Josh Tancordo Series: Various Sermons Scripture: John 1:1–5
John 1:1-5: Life and Light
From now until Christmas, we’ll be working our way through the first chapter of the Gospel of John. And today the specific passage we’ll be looking at is John 1:1-5. It says,
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
May God bless the reading of his Word.
Let’s pray: Father, we know it’s your will that we be conformed to the image of your Son, Jesus. And we also know that the way that happens is by your Spirit and through your Word. So, please, Holy Spirit, take this passage and use it to accomplish your purposes within each one of us. Lead us to Christ and conform us to his image. And it’s in his name that we pray, amen. One of the aspects of Christmas that makes it so special and meaningful for many people is the variety of cherished traditions we often observe during the Christmas season. For example, one of the things my family likes to do is make gingerbread cookies. This is a tradition that goes back to my own childhood. I have wonderful memories from throughout my childhood of making gingerbread cookies every December. My mom and I would begin by making large lumps of gingerbread dough from scratch. Then our family would gather around the dining room table and first use cookie cutters to form the dough into the appropriate shapes and then decorate every one of the cookies in a unique way. No two cookies were alike. And I enjoyed that experience so much growing up that we’ve incorporated that same tradition into our family’s Christmas celebrations today.
Yet, as wonderful as many of our cherished Christmas traditions are, those of us who are Christians understand that the most meaningful aspect of Christmas is, of course, the opportunity it gives us to behold the glory of Christ. That’s far and away the most significant thing that makes Christmas so special.
However, the unfortunate reality is that, many times, our goal of beholding the glory of Christ ends up getting lost—or at least pushed to the side—in the midst of the flurry of activities that often mark the Christmas season. There are decorations to be put up and gifts to be purchased and food to be prepared and various kinds of family and social gatherings we desire to attend. And in the midst of all these things, it can sometimes be difficult to find much time for anything else.
So, if we want to behold the glory of Christ in a meaningful way this Christmas, we’re going to have to be very deliberate about focusing our attention on him. And that’s why, now that we’ve finished our series of sermons going through Galatians, I’d like to spend three Sundays in the Gospel of John, going through the first 18 verses of John chapter 1. My hope is that this will help us to focus our attention on Christ this Christmas and behold his glory.
So, this morning, we’ll be looking at John 1:1-5. In this passage, John introduces us to Jesus and explains what makes Jesus so unique and so glorious. Unfortunately, a lot of people in our society tend to come up with their own ideas about Jesus. Instead of listening to what God’s told us in the Bible about who Jesus is, they create a Jesus in their mind that’s basically a reflection of themselves—kind of like a mirror that just reflects their own values and ideals and preconceived notions. So, what they end up having isn’t Jesus as he is but rather Jesus as they’ve reconfigured him to be. But that’s not the way to see the real Jesus. Instead, in order to see the real Jesus, we have to look to the Bible and let God tell us about Jesus. And that’s the kind of material we find in John 1:1-5.
In addition, before we dive into this passage, I’d like to remind those who are Christians that the primary value of this passage is to lead us into worship. And worship is why we exist. As A. W. Tozer once wrote, “Worship is [our] full reason for existence. Worship is why we are born and why we are born again.”
You know, I think a lot of times we get so busy doing things for God that we neglect to simply enjoy God in worship. It reminds me of this lady I encountered one time who owned her own scrapbooking studio. And I remember her telling me as we conversed about different things that she sometimes wished she’d never opened up her studio because it put a lot of pressure on her and she wasn’t able to simply enjoy scrapbooking the way she once did. She was now working so hard to make sure her business was running smoothly that she was no longer able to enjoy this hobby she once enjoyed.
And in a similar way, I think many Christians are so busy working hard for God that they seldom find time to just enjoy God and rejoice in God and worship God. Of course, God has called us to work for him, and our work for him is actually a very important element of our worship. But nonetheless, we have to be very careful that our work for God doesn’t keep us from our worship of God. That’s never what God desires. He created us and redeemed us first and foremost so that we could worship him.
Not only that, it’s only when we’re worshippers first that our work for the Lord will have real value and make a real impact. It’s only when we’re where we need to be spiritually that we’ll be able to guide others to where they need to be spiritually. We can’t give to others what we ourselves lack. That’s just another reason why we have to make sure we never allow our work for God to displace our worship of God.
So, with that in mind, let me encourage you to allow this passage to lead you to Jesus and stir your heart to worship him. Warm yourself by the fire of John 1:1-5. Maybe your heart has grown rather cold lately and your relationship with Jesus has become rather distant. Maybe you’re even in something of a spiritual deep-freeze. Let this passage of Scripture be the fire by which you warm yourself. Let it lead you into an encounter with Jesus so that you can behold his glory—and all the more so as we approach Christmas.
Now, as we’ll see, the main idea of this passage is as follows. And this is a little wordy, so I’ll say it and repeat it. From the beginning, the Word was with God and was God and now functions as the only source of life and light for all humanity. Again: from the beginning, the Word was with God and was God and now functions as the only source of life and light for all humanity. I know there’s a lot there, but I just didn’t feel like I could leave any of that out. And if you find any part of that difficult to understand, that’s okay. It’ll become clearer as we walk through this passage.
So, let’s begin with a look at verses 1-2. John writes, 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.
That phrase “in the beginning”—used twice in these two verses—alludes to the first three words of the Bible in the book of Genesis. Genesis 1:1 states that “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” So, we’re talking about a Being who never came into existence but instead who has always existed—from the very “beginning” and even before that. He existed literally before time began. We might say he’s outside of time and is, in that sense, eternal.
And John refers to him in this verse in a rather cryptic way. John calls him “the Word.” Now, later on in the passage, we’re going to see that “the Word” is a reference to Jesus. But for now, John simply calls him “the Word.”
The original Greek term used for “Word” is λόγος and is a very broad term that can mean several different things. For example, back in ancient times, a lot of Greek philosophers used λόγος in a very abstract way to refer to a kind of rational principle of the universe. They saw that things were rational and orderly—for example, that the sun would rise and set predictably every day, that the stars moved in a predictable orbit, and that the seasons always arrived in the same order and around the same time every year—and they believed things functioned in that orderly way because of the λόγος. It undergirded everything. It was the force—I guess kind of like in Star Wars or something—that caused the universe to behave in an orderly manner and that made rationality and wisdom possible. And John seems to be alluding to that. However, John’s claiming that, unlike the impersonal force or principle of Greek philosophy, this λόγος or Word is a personal entity. Notice that John describes “the Word” not as “it” but as “he.”
In addition, not only does “the Word” allude to Greek philosophy, it also alludes to the Old Testament concept of God’s words. First of all, God’s words were a creative force—since it was by his words that God created the world. And also, it was by his words that God revealed himself to his people Israel. God used words to communicate to his people various truths about himself and what he desired for their lives. We find many of these words recorded in the Old Testament. Indeed, the Old Testament is—in written form—God’s words to his people.
And just as God communicated truths about himself to his people in the Old Testament through words, he’s now sent his Son Jesus to this earth as the ultimate “Word” that communicates divine truths. Jesus is the ultimate “Word” of God in that he communicates with unparalleled clarity who God is and what God desires. This is perhaps best communicated by Hebrews 1:1-2, which states, 1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…. So, that’s why John refers to Jesus as “the Word.” There’s a connection to Greek philosophy and a connection to the Old Testament.
And continuing on in verse 1, John states that “the Word was with God.” So, from all eternity, the Word has always been “with God.” Interestingly, there’s a consensus among scholars that the phrase “with God” doesn’t quite capture the full meaning of the original Greek text. A richer and more precise translation would be that “the Word was continually oriented toward God.” It’s not just that the two entities happened to exist in the same general vicinity but rather that they had a close relationship with each other and were engaged in intimate fellowship and discourse. By the way, this means that God didn’t create us because he was lonely and needed friends. The Father and the Son already enjoyed perfect fellowship with each other eternally. And we know from other biblical passages, of course, that the Holy Spirit was a part of that perfect divine fellowship as well.
In addition, as we see in verse 1, John says not only that “the Word was with God” but also that “the Word was God.” Notice that it’s not merely that the Word was like God or that the Word was similar to God or even that the Word was almost God. Instead, John says that “the Word was God.” And that’s a tough pill for a lot of people to swallow.
Several years ago, I had a friend named J. B. who I think is typical of many people in our society. J. B. and I’s friendship actually went back to high school, and we tried to keep in touch with each other the best we could after that. And we’d regularly dialogue about a variety of different things, especially things related to Christianity and Christian history. And even though J. B. was pretty skeptical about the church and traditional Christian beliefs, he always expressed profound admiration for Jesus and the morality of Jesus and the moral teachings of Jesus. He loved talking about Jesus. He even had a favorite Bible verse about being “fishers of men” that he would quote to me on occasion. But he didn’t believe that Jesus was—or is—God. He viewed Jesus merely as a great moral teacher—and perhaps the greatest moral teacher—but not as God in the flesh. And I think that’s probably the most common perception of Jesus that exists in our society today.
Yet that understanding of Jesus is fundamentally at odds with the Bible. Here in John 1:1, the Bible clearly teaches that “the Word was God.” Not only that, Jesus himself claimed to be God. We can see that over and over again just in the Gospel of John, not to mention the other books of the Bible that record Jesus’s ministry. In John 5:18, the Jewish religious leaders who were trained in theology conclude that Jesus was making himself “equal with God.” A few chapters later, in John 10:33, the Jews are again ready to execute Jesus because, as they say to him, “you, a mere man, make yourself God.” And in John 20:29, when Thomas comes out of a period of doubt and refers to Jesus as “my Lord and my God,” Jesus actually gently admonishes him for not coming to that conclusion earlier. And that only scratches the surface of the material we find in John about Jesus claiming to be God.
In addition, there are also plenty of other verses in the New Testament that clearly identify Jesus as God as well. In Colossians 2:9, Paul says of Jesus that “in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” In Romans 9:5, Paul states that Jesus is “God over all, blessed forever.” In Titus 2:13, Paul speaks of “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” In 2 Peter 1:1, Peter speaks of “the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” And in 1 John 5:20, John says of Jesus, “He is the true God and eternal life.”
So, the Bible’s quite clear that Jesus was much more than just a great moral teacher. He was, and is, God. And on that note, I can’t help but reference the famous words of C. S. Lewis about this very issue in his book Mere Christianity. Lewis writes, “People often say, ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic…or else He would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a mad-man or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
So, Lewis says, Jesus is either a lunatic who genuinely thought he was God and made that claim in all sincerity, or he was a liar who knew full well that he wasn’t God but made that claim anyway, or he really was and is God. Those are our only three options. Jesus can’t be merely a great moral teacher.
And by the way, the reason I believe this is such a critical issue is that our eternal salvation depends on Jesus being God. The Bible teaches that we’re able to be saved from our sins and inherit eternal life because Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. We had rebelled against a holy God and therefore deserved to be punished for our sinful rebellion forever in hell, but Jesus died on the cross in order to suffer that punishment in our place.
However, if Jesus wasn’t really God, how could his blood have sufficient value to pay for our sins? Let’s say Jesus was just a moral person. How could the blood of a mere human—even an incredibly moral human—pay for the sins of the rest of humanity? You know, if I write a check in order to pay for something, that check will only pay for the thing I’m purchasing if there’s actually money in my checking account. And if there’s not money in my checking account, that’s not good. That’s called writing a bad check, and those checks don’t have any value.
In a similar way, if Jesus wasn’t truly God in the flesh, then the blood he shed on the cross wouldn’t have sufficient value to pay for our sins. So, this isn’t some peripheral issue that doesn’t really matter one way or the other. This is foundational. If Jesus wasn’t God, then we’re not saved.
Thankfully, in our main passage, John assures that Jesus was indeed God. And looking at verses 1-2, I love how the statements John makes about Jesus complement each other. In fact, these statements help us understand the nature of the Trinity. On the one hand, John says that “the Word was with God,” implying that there’s a distinction of Persons in the Trinity. Yet on the other hand, John also says that “the Word was God,” implying that the Persons of the Trinity, though distinct, are nevertheless one in being and essence.
After that, John continues in verse 3. He writes of the Word that, “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” So, the universe in which we live was made by the Father but through the Son. This means that Jesus isn’t a part of creation but is instead the agent of creation—the one by whom all things were made. This means that we owe him everything—even our very existence—and are also rightfully accountable to him for the way we live.
John then writes in verse 4, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Now, when John says that “in him was life,” he’s not just saying that Jesus was alive. That would be so obvious that it wouldn’t even be worth mentioning. Rather, when John says that “in him was life,” he means that Jesus has life intrinsically.
And at this point, I think it’s helpful to bring in Jesus’s own words about himself in John 5:26. Jesus says, “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” So, Jesus claims to have what he calls “life in himself” just like God the Father does. In other words, he’s not dependent on any source outside of himself for life. Instead, Jesus is self-existent and self-sustaining—just like God the Father. Likewise, back in our main passage, that’s what John’s referring to when he says of Jesus “in him was life.” Whereas you and I derive life from outside of ourselves, Jesus derives life from within himself.
However, I also believe John’s communicating even more than that in this phrase. When John says that “in him was life,” I believe he’s also saying that Jesus possesses a fuller and richer kind of life than anyone else. Back when I worked as a hospice chaplain, we’d frequently use the phrase “quality of life” when talking about our patients. If a patient was able to get around pretty well and didn’t have any pain and had the ability to do a lot of things they liked to do, we’d say they had a high “quality of life.” But if they were confined to their bed and suffered uncontrolled pain and had lots of bedsores and felt sad and alone, then we’d say they had a low quality of life. And it was very sad sometimes to see how low a quality of life some patients had. Some of them were so limited and close to a vegetative state that some might even say—figuratively, of course—that they weren’t truly living—at least compared to the way the rest of us are able to live. So, some people have a lower quality of life, while others have a higher quality of life.
Similarly, when John says of Jesus that “in him was life,” he means that Jesus enjoys a life of superior fullness and richness. And understand that the difference between the life Jesus possesses and the life we possess isn’t merely quantitative but also qualitative. That is, Jesus doesn’t just possess more life than we do. He possesses a life that’s of a fundamentally distinct and superior nature. Not only that, he’s unique in that regard. The clear implication of this verse is that Jesus is the only one who possesses this superior kind of life. He’s the only one who’s truly alive in the fullest sense of that word.
Thankfully, though, Jesus offers his unique and vastly superior life to us. That’s why verse 4 states not only that “in him was life” but also that “the life was the light of men.” In other words, the life Jesus possesses functions as a light that’s available for everyone. By the way, the word “men” in this verse refers to both men and women. So, essentially, Jesus offers everyone a quality of existence that’s infinitely higher and better than anything we’re able to imagine. And of course, this “life” Jesus offers culminates in eternal life.
And according to this verse, the life Jesus offers is our light. This metaphor of light communicates several things. First, it communicates understanding. Just as physical light helps us see things we wouldn’t otherwise be able to see, Jesus enables us to see spiritual realities to which we’d otherwise be blind. In addition, light also represents moral purity. Darkness in the Bible is frequently associated with sin, whereas light is often associated with holiness.
But I think the best way to understand what John means by “light” in this verse is to imagine what it would be like to go exploring in an underground network of caves and somehow get lost in those caves and have your flashlight batteries eventually run out. That would be terrible, right? To be lost underground in a cave and not be able to see anything except pitch black darkness all around you. Most people would consider that to be a pretty hopeless situation.
But imagine that, as you slowly groped around and stumbled through the darkness, you suddenly saw a small circle of light. And as you made your way toward that circle of light, it became bigger and bigger. In that scenario, what would that light be for you? It would be everything, right? That light would be your sole source of hope in an otherwise hopeless situation. In that moment, it would represent for you everything good and desirable. Similarly, in the midst of the darkness of this world, the life Jesus offers is our light. It’s our hope in the midst of what would otherwise be hopelessness and is our sole source of all goodness and blessing.
And notice in verse 4 that there aren’t multiple lights. Instead, there’s only one light—and the life Jesus offers is that light. It’s only in Jesus that we have real hope both for this life and for eternity. And perhaps the best part is that no amount of darkness can extinguish the light of life that Jesus offers. As John goes on to say in verse 5, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
So, the most important question for you to answer today is, have you received the “life” Jesus offers? Have you ever put your trust in Jesus to rescue you from your sins on the basis of his death on the cross and subsequent resurrection? You know it’s amazing how often we ignore the life Jesus offers and run after other things as if they could give us true life. We throw ourselves into advancing in our career thinking that maybe that will give us life. Or perhaps we focus our efforts on accumulating lots of material possessions—even going deep into debt to do it—thinking that maybe those possessions will give us the life we seek. Or perhaps it’s a relationship we look to as our source of life. Yet the reality is none of these things ultimately give us the “life” that we’re looking for and that we so desperately need. Instead, true “life” is found in Jesus alone.
And as we consider everything this passage tells us about Jesus, let me encourage you once again to let these truths stir your heart and lead you into worship. You know, the more I study this passage, the more I see the glory of Christ bursting forth from every verse. So, perhaps the most important way in which those of us who are Christians can apply this passage to our lives is to simply behold the glory of Christ. What better way to prepare our hearts for Christmas than to behold the glory of Christ in John chapter 1?
Not only that, keep in mind that it’s as we behold Christ’s glory that we’re transformed into his image. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 3:18, which says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”
As Christians, God’s desire for us and the desire that we should have for ourselves is that we experience ongoing spiritual transformation. We should be in the process of being transformed to be more and more like Jesus. But how does that transformation take place? How can we experience meaningful change in our lives? Perhaps that’s something you’ve been wondering. Maybe you’ve been struggling with some very problematic things in your life or are just eager to grow spiritually, and you want to know how you can experience meaningful change and transformation.
Well, this verse answers that question. It tells us that the way to experience real transformation isn’t by simply trying to whip up a sufficient amount of motivation or willpower to live in a godly way. That might result in a certain degree of behavior modification, but it won’t bring about meaningful or lasting transformation. That kind of transformation begins in our hearts and—as this verse says—happens as we behold the glory of the Lord. It’s as we “[behold] the glory of the Lord” that we’re “transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” So, let that be your goal this Christmas season. In the midst of all the busyness of these next few weeks, behold the glory of Jesus.
other sermons in this series
Dec 29
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John 15:1-7: Abiding in Christ
Preacher: Josh Tancordo Scripture: John 15:1–7 Series: Various Sermons
Dec 22
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John 1:14-18: The Word Became Flesh
Preacher: Josh Tancordo Scripture: John 1:14–18 Series: Various Sermons
Dec 15
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John 1:6-13: That All Might Believe
Preacher: Josh Tancordo Scripture: John 1:6–13 Series: Various Sermons