The first two parts of this trilogy of posts were written some time ago.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
salvation
All might believe… (1:6)
Here the salvation theme comes to the fore. The Word of ‘life’ and ‘light’ has come to enliven and enlighten and to do so spiritually. He comes to rescue. He comes that he may be believed and make sinful men alienated from God, ‘children of God’. It is when the Word (of light and life) is believed that we become children of God.
In this tightly packed passage John introduces Jesus as the Word, God’s Word, the Word in whom resides divine life and divine light, then he quickly ties this revelation to the imperative of faith. The Word came to he trusted. The Life came to give life. The Light came to enlighten. All Jesus is in himself should command faith. It should have commanded faith in those who met him on earth and should command faith for those of us who meet him through Scripture and his name preached. John tells us that he selected from all the true and trustworthy things he could have told us about Jesus ones a representative would engender faith.
salvation is for ALL (who believe)
John is emphatic about the universality of Jesus and the salvation he bestows. He is the Word for the world. The light is not exclusive to the Jews or any other privileged group. The light shines for all to see… it is for ‘everyone’ (v9). Life as a child of God is available for ‘as many‘ as ‘receive him’. God intends to bless all with salvation. He comes in Jesus as the true light firstly to Jews, for that is God’s order, but ultimately his salvation is for all. God so loved ‘the world’ he gave his Son (Jn 3:16). The Son is ‘the light of the world‘. He is ‘the Lamb of God who bears away the sin of the world’. Jesus is for all… hallelujah… for all, that is, who believe (v12; cf. Jn 3:16). He is a baby at Bethlehem but he is so much more.
salvation is rejected
The Light was for the world but the world (because it loves darkness rather than light as John will later reveal) did not grasp who he was. The ‘world’ for John is essentially fallen humanity opposed to God. It never embraces the light. It always belongs to the darkness. Any who believe in Jesus, embracing the light, no longer belong to the world but become ‘children of God’ or later, ‘his own‘. They are in the world but do not belong to it. Cf John 17. They have a unique and precious relationship with God and Christ; God is their Father and Christ is their Lord. For John, as others point out, perhaps the most amazing thing about God in his Son reaching out to the world is not that the world is so big but it is so bad. The world hates God yet God loves the world. The world ought to embrace Jesus for he is its Creator, but he was ‘in the world, and the world was made by him, yet the world knew him not’.
The Jewish nation seem to have less excuse for its rejection of Jesus than the world at large. Their rejection is more calculated and culpable. They had great privilege. They had among other things the OT Scriptures that ought to have prepared them to recognise and embrace their Messiah. Indeed they prided themselves in their ‘light‘ (Roms 2:18-22. Cf. John 9:40,41; Matt 23:16). However, as Jesus says, ‘if the light that is in you is darkness how great is that darkness’ (Matt 6:23). And so they reject him. Throughout the gospel John will show there was no good reason for this rejection. Ultimately they reject him because they love darkness rather than light. By refusing him, they reveal they are no different from the world.
salvation embraced
As many as received him… believed in his name…
Salvation is for all (indiscriminately) who receive him. It transcends all human categories, in particular it moves beyond the privileged Jewish nation to all nations…to the world which as we’ve observed is not only about scope but also spiritual condition.
salvation defined
… the authority to become the children of God.’ Paul speaks of believers as both ‘sons‘ (by adoption) and ‘children of God’. John reserves the title ‘son’ exclusively for Christ in his gospel and epistles. His intent is to guard Jesus’ unique relationship with God. Believers are always children. Cf Jn 12:36.
However, this title expresses dignity and privilege. We become children of God. What this means is of course developed throughout the gospel. We are told it is nothing natural about this birth. We are not born Christians. It is a supernatural birth. We are born ‘of God’. In Ch 3 John will show how this is the mysterious and sovereign work of God’s Spirit. We won’t get into what comes first, believing or the new birth. In our text Jesus authorises those who believe to become children of God. Other Scriptures show the divine initiative in the new birth (the Spirit blows where it wills). Both are true and to be believed even when not fully understood. John will go on to reveal that birth into God’s family means sharing in the fellowship life of the Trinity itself (we do not, of course, become God). It is the gift of eternal life which means knowing the Father and Son. It means being with the Son where he is beholding his glory. Christians know God and share in his life.
salvation’s witnesses
John is a witness and sent. He is of course a key witness but there are other witnesses. They like him are ‘sent’. In fact, in the gospel, Jesus is ‘the Sent one’ (cf. God’s word Isa 55:11) who then ‘sends’ his followers. This is the message of life we who have been born of God have to share when given appropriate opportunity. It is the true message of Christmas.
Cave Adullam 