After mentioning the Word which was in the beginning with God, and which was God, by whom everything was created, the apostle continues: "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world." (John 1:4-9)
The Life of the Word
Christ is the Word, and "[He] is our life." (Colossians 3:4)
His life is the life of God, for "The Word was God." (John 1:1)
And, "[God is] from everlasting to everlasting." (Psalm 90:2)
So Christ's power as Priest is "the power of an endless life." (Hebrews 7:16)
On earth He was simply the manifestation of the life of God. "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us)." (1 John 1:1-2)
Life in the Word
We have previously seen by comparing Deuteronomy 30:1120 and Romans 10:6-10, that Christ is in all the Scriptures, so that they are indeed the Word of God. (See the article, The Life of the Word) Whoever reads the Scriptures without finding Christ in them, reads them in vain; he gets only the outward form, or shell. But he who takes the Scriptures for what they are in truth, the Word of God, finds that they have the very life of Christ. "The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63)
To feed upon the Word, is to eat the flesh and blood of Christ.
Life from the Word
Christ, who is the Word of Life, said: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) "He that has the Son has the life, and he that has not the Son of God has not the life." (1 John 5:19,RV)
In the love of God for the world, Christ was sent, "that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
He that rejects Christ has eternal death for his portion. To say that a man may live forever without Christ, even though it be in misery, is to deny the necessity of Christ's sacrifice for man.
It may be said that the claim that men who reject Christ may live forever does not deny the necessity for His sacrifice, since that was necessary in order that men might have righteousness. But, "the Spirit is life because of righteousness." (Romans 8:10)
Christ gives righteousness only in giving His life. "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him." (Romans 6:6-8)
The Life of Faith
"The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17)
No Christian will deny that righteousness comes from Christ alone. "By the obedience of One shall many be made righteous." (Romans 5:19)
But this obedience of Christ, by which we are made righteous, is the obedience of Christ's own life in us. "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
Righteousness by faith is nothing but life by faith. "Conditional immortality" is only conditional righteousness, that is, conditional on faith in the crucified and risen Saviour.
The Life of Righteousness
Life and righteousness come from Christ; but since Christ is in the Word which the prophets and apostles wrote, it follows that life and righteousness come through obedience to what is written. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4)
God's Word is the truth, (John 17:17) and the Apostle Peter says to the saints of God, "You have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit." (1 Peter 1:22)
Every word of God is life, and a single word is sufficient to give life, if that is all one has; but the very fact that every word is life, shows that the willful neglect or rejection of one word of God is the rejection of His life.
The Reality of This Life
This is shown in the resurrection of Lazarus, and of all the others who were brought to life by the word of Christ. When the poor palsied man, whose life was almost gone, was brought to Jesus, the Lord gave him righteousness by His word, saying, "Your sins be forgiven you." (Matthew 9:2)
And then, in order to show the reality of the new life which was conveyed to the man in those words, Jesus caused him to rise and walk in perfect health. "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through His name." (John 20:30-31)
Hearing and Living
Jesus calls and says, "Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live." (Isaiah 55:3)
When the dead hear the voice of the Son of God, they live. (See John 5:25, 28-29) So it was with Lazarus and the others. The moment they heard the word, life was theirs. They obeyed the voice that told them to arise. It was impossible that they should hear the word and not arise.
So hearing, in the Scripture sense, is obeying. He who really hears the word of God, obeys it. Not to obey, is to refuse to hear. So whoever does not turn away his ears from hearing the law, but who listens to God's words all the time, and who is careful not to let one of them escape his notice, will inevitably possess the life and righteousness that is in them. As he lives by them here, so will they be his life in the world to come.
The Life that Creates
"In Him was life." (John 1:4)
So, "In Him were all things created," (Colossians 1:1,RV) and, "in Him all things consist." (John 1:17)
All things are created in Him, because life is in Him. By the power of His life were they created, and do they exist. "In Him we live, and move, and have our being." (Acts 17:28)
Not only are men His offspring, but all the rest of creation as well: "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God." (Psalm 90:2)
Here we read of the mountains having been "brought forth:" literally, as given in some versions, "Before the mountains were born." God's breath is life; and "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." (Psalm 123:6)
Since all things are created in Him, because in Him is life, and it follows that: "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Redemption is a new creation by the power of the life which is given to us on the cross.
The Light of Life
"The life was the light of men." (John 1:4)
This is most literally true, for since all things were created and still exist by His life, the light of the sun, moon, and stars is simply the light of His life. In this, as in the resurrection of the dead, the Lord teaches us by those things that we can see, of those things which we cannot see.
As the light of the sun is not diminished by being shared by hundreds of millions, so Christ's life is not lessened although He gives it to many. As each one gets the full strength of the sun, so each soul gets the fullness of Christ's life. Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world; he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)
Light from the Word
In the Word is light, and since it is the same Word that we find in the Scriptures, it must needs be that: "The opening of your words gives light." (Psalm 119:130,RV)
We do not get light on the Word. That would be like getting light on the sun. The light is there already; all that is needed is to open it, and the light will shine forth. "Your Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105)
Then follow the Word; for: "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)
Light In Darkness
"And the Light shines in darkness." (John 1:5)
When Christ came, then was fulfilled the word of the prophet, "The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up." (Matthew 4:16) "Darkness was upon the face of the deep. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light." (Genesis 1:2)
Just as God commanded the light to shine out of darkness, so He shines in the darkness of our sinful hearts, "To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6)
The place for light to shine is in the darkness. So when darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people, Christians, into whose hearts light has come, are to hold forth the Word of Life and: "shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life." (Philippians 2:15-16)
The Incomprehensible Light
"The darkness comprehended it not." (John 1:5)
Darkness can never comprehend light. There is nothing in common between them. "What communion has light with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14)
Darkness does not become light, but light shines in darkness, and drives it away. But the word "comprehend" means to contain, to enclose, as in Isaiah 40:12, where we read of the dust of the earth comprehended in a measure. Darkness cannot shut in the light. As nothing is hid from the heat of the sun, so "the Sun of Righteousness" shall dispel all the darkness, and bring in the perfect day.
In that day when the darkness is for ever dispersed, those who have loved darkness rather than light, will be scattered with it, so that no place will be found for them; but the children of light will "shine forth as the sun." (Matthew 13:43)
Light for All
Jesus is the Light of the world; so He is the true Light, "which lights every man that comes into the world." (John 1:9)
Or, as some render it, "In coming into the world, He lights every man."
The point is that all do have the light. To them that sit in darkness light is sprung up. That life-giving light has shone upon all, and is still shining. "By the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." (Romans 5:18)
God's love embraces all the world, and every man in it. To all He has given "His unspeakable gift." (2 Corinthians 9:15)
What a sad awakening it will be at last when men realize what was within their grasp, and what they let go. Let all give good heed to the words of Christ: "Yet a little while is the light with you; walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you. ... While you have the light, believe in the light, that you maybe the children of light." (John 12:35-36)--Present Truth, November 21, 1895.