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Name: mr. c
Location:San Lorenzo, California, United States

I'm currently a Senior pursuing an undergraduate degree in Biblical Studies.

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Life & Light - John 1:4-5

John 1:4-5
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.



I was musing on this and was thinking about the life that was in Christ: the abundant life. The life found within Him is the Light that shines in the darkness but not comprehended.

First this life is something that is granted through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was who empowered Christ to do His ministry and He is the life and light in our lives.

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit we are a source of life to all who are around us. Since we are in a world of darkness the life we share is like light to them.

Imagine being put in a room with no light for your whole life like the Morloks from the movie Time Machine, and then one day you see light shining. You wouldn’t know what it was, but you could see its effects. You could see the filth and squalor of your own life and of the lives of others you know. Before you knew this light, life was much more comfortable. There was plenty of pain and heartache, but it was a place you knew, a place you felt at home at. Now with this light around you are forced to see the truth of your life as it is. In addition, being unaccustomed to light it would hurt your eyes. This would further the uncomfortableness of being in the presence of the light.

Now bring this analogy back to the verse. The darkness is the sinful state of man and the light comes to them through the ministry of born again believers. The unregenerate man has not known the goodness of God, His whole life, and when he comes in contact with the light of God through the believer’s ministry, he becomes uncomfortable because his sin is laid bare. He also is afraid because he does not understand that God is doing this for his own good. Therefore as we minister the life of Christ through bringing the light of the Holy Spirit into the lives of unregenerate men, we must pray that God would open their minds and grant to them the comprehension of the gift of life presented to them through faith in Jesus Christ.

Another way to read the term the darkness is to see it as the devil and his minions. By taking that road of interpretation, the inability of the darkness to comprehend the light is demonstrated by their being defeated by their own actions of crucifying Christ (the devil possessing Judas to betray Jesus).

posted by mr. c at 4:49 PM


[ back home ]

To me light represents knowledge. It not only brings warmth but enlightens us as well.

The idea that this "knowledge" hurts the onlookers doesn't sit well with me. Why? I guess I believe in the basic goodness of man. A Socratic view if you will, in which man desires to make the right choices in life.

Not sure but did you suggest in the writing that we should try and convince others of their errored way?

The light doesn't hurt the onlookers but rather shows them their curt state of existence for what it is, affording them the opportunity for change. The onlookers usually look at this as an uncomfortable, almost painful experience because they were ignorant of their circumstances before hand.

I did suggest that those of the light should try to show those in the dark the path of light. As a Christian I am urged by scripture to tell non-believers the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This Gospel is exclusive in nature and requires an actively responsive faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins in order one (anyone) to enter heaven. The alternative to heaven is condemnation to hell, a state that Jesus tells us all who hate the light are in (John 3:16-20)



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