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Daily Devotion: John 1:4-5

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John 1:4-5    "In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (5) And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."

"In him was life."  At face value, this might seem to be saying, "Yes, Jesus was alive." That is a true statement, but it goes much deeper than that.  To me, this statement says that all life originates in this Living Word, the Lord Jesus. These words expand on the statement just previous to that. "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:3)  Life itself is found in the being of this Word which was with God and was God in the very beginning. There was no life spoken into this universe without the power of this Living Word.

The statement goes deeper than physical life. This statement goes to the very heart of the matter concerning our eternal spiritual life. "In him was life." There is no eternal life outside of Jesus Christ. When speaking to His disciples on the night of betrayal, Jesus did not say that He was a way unto life. He stated He is THE way. "No man cometh unto the Father but by me" were His exact words. This same writer, John, would later speak very plainly in His epistle to the churches: "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (1 John 5:12)  So yes, in HIM was life. Your eternal life and mine has only one source and its the same: The Lord Jesus Christ.

This "life was the light of men." It seems the manner in which Jesus lived His life was the motivating factor in the way He was treated. "The light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." The darkness did not know what to do with Jesus. They had never seen a man as this One. We will see it stated later in the book when guards were sent to take Jesus. When they came back without Him, the priests and elders asked them, "Why did you not bring Him?" Their answer was simply, "Never man spake as this man."  When Jesus calmed the storm as the disciples were trying to cross, even the disciples asked, "What manner of man is this?"  The people were astonished at the teaching of Jesus as He preached the Sermon on the Mount. They said, "He speaks with authority, not as the scribes and Pharisees speak."  The Light shined into darkness and the darkness did not know what to do with it, so they tried to get rid of it.

Again John declares in his 1st Epistle, "For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us." (1 John 1:2)  Has that Light shined into your dark world? Don't be startled by it. Don't be afraid. I suppose it's not a bad thing to be astonished at what the Light reveals, but follow it. That Light leads you through the darkness to the paths of righteousness.  Let that light shine through you. It's then that true joy and contentment can be found.

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