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Daily Devotions

John

John 
Day 
Day 6

"In Him was life..." John 1:4

Text: John 1:1-18

Jesus was the Living Word! He was also Co-Creator! He was there at the very beginning of everything for He co-existed with God for all eternity! What wondrous statements of faith these were!

John did not stop there. He went on to make further declarations about Jesus. Just as God gave life to all creatures, so Jesus was able to give life. John boldly declared,

“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 (overcome) it.”
John 1:4

John must have borne in mind the many people who came to Jesus laden with sins. All who came to Him humbly were blessed. They went away with salvation and with a new life force in them.

He saw many who were blind healed by Jesus. But he saw beyond their physical blindness. There were many who were spiritually blind. However, whether it was physical or spiritual blindness, Jesus had life and power within Himself and He brought life and light to all who came to Him.

John dealt with many themes in his Gospel. One of them was the theme of “Life”. His focus was Jesus Himself. He was not only the One who brought light to those who dwelt in darkness. He was Himself “The Light”.

IMAGERY IN JOHANNINE LITERATURE

As we read the Gospel of John, we must seek to become familiar with the imagery that John used extensively in his book. The imagery that he used was meant to communicate deep and profound theology.

The imagery of “light and darkness” is just one of many symbols John used to teach deep truths. He used these symbols consistently, not only in his Gospel but also in his epistles.

John used the word “light” to describe the Being of God. He wrote,

“This is the message which we have heard from Him
and declare to you, that God is light
and in Him there is no darkness at all.”
1 John 1:5

When John used the word “light” to refer to Jesus, he wasn’t just talking about how His teachings brought light to the multitudes. He was actually saying that Jesus was truly Deity too. As God is light, so was Jesus light! This was another effort on John’s part to point out that Jesus was truly God!

The imagery of “darkness” was obviously a symbol that John used to represent the Devil. This imagery was also employed in John’s first general epistle. He wrote,

“But he who hates his brother is in darkness
and walks in darkness, and does not know
where he is going, because darkness has blinded his eyes.”
1 John 2:11

Further reading of 1 John reveals that John was indeed talking about how the Devil is involved in getting men to sin against God.

“He who sins is of the devil,
for the devil has sinned from the beginning.

In this the children of God
And the children of the devil are manifest:
Whoever does not practise righteousness
Is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother…”
1 John 3:8, 10

The devil did not co-exist with Jesus from the beginning, for he was but a created, fallen angel. However, he did oppose God from the beginning. The Devil was symbolized by “darkness”. John noted that throughout the ministry of Jesus, the powers of the devil were ranged against Him. However, try as darkness might, it could not conquer or overcome “The Light”.

A BRILLIANT VISION OF JESUS

How did John perceive Jesus?. He had already described Him in a number of ways – all of them wondrous! He was the Word. He was Co-Creator. He was the Light. He was Life! Just who was this Jesus?

God gave a special vision to John concerning who Jesus really was.

“I saw… One like the Son of Man,
clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded
about the chest with a golden band.
His head and hair were white like wool,
As white as snow, and His eyes were like a flame of fire;
His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace,
And His voice as the sound of many waters;
He had in His right hand seven stars,
Out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword,
And His countenance was like the sun in its strength.
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.”
Revelation 1:12-17

No matter how much we know about Jesus, there are always more things to discover about Him. May we discover Jesus as John knew Him!