John 1:5 - The light shines in the darkness

The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

In the opening verses of John's Gospel, the Apostle has taught us that Jesus Christ is eternal and divine (vv. 1-2), He has created all things (v. 3), and He is the source of all life (v. 4). Now, the writer goes on to make a comment or two about Christian salvation. In verse 4, John described how Jesus "was the light of men." Now in verse 5, he says that while Jesus' light shines in the darkness, the darkness has not understood it.

"The darkness" here is another way of saying "those who are not Christians." If the only light of men is found in Jesus Christ, then there is no way to escape darkness without Him.

While other religions and philosophies may have a lot to offer, they cannot offer the light that leads to salvation; that is only offered through the Son of God. And, because of the simplicity of that, those who are not Christians cannot understand it apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit (John 3:6-8; Titus 3:5-7).

Today's commentary by:
Jeremy Cagle, Pastor
Middletown Bible Church, Middletown, IL www.justthesimpletruth.com

John 1:4 - In Him was life

In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

There is a very old Latin law of science that goes like this: ex nihilo nihil fit. "Out of nothing, nothing comes."

In other words, nothing does not produce something. Yet, every theory of creation except the Biblical one violates this simple law.

In the Big Bang Theory, everything came from hydrogen. But since hydrogen is not believed to be eternal, the most scientific guess for evolutionists as to its origin is that it just "appeared" out of thin air.

In the Hindu view of creation, the world came to being on top of a gigantic elephant, which rests on top of a gigantic turtle. That turtle rests on top of another turtle and on and on to infinity until one turtle just "appears." In both theories of creation, nothing produced something.

In the Biblical view of creation, everything that exists originally came from God. All life originated in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here in John 1:4, the Apostle tells us that life came from Jesus Christ. And Jesus used His life here on earth to serve as a light to men, teaching them about salvation (see John 8:12).

Today's commentary by:
Jeremy Cagle, Pastor
Middletown Bible Church, Middletown, IL www.justthesimpletruth.com