{"id":12886,"date":"2016-08-17T01:39:16","date_gmt":"2016-08-17T06:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/the-light-of-men\/"},"modified":"2016-08-17T01:39:16","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T06:39:16","slug":"the-light-of-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/the-light-of-men\/","title":{"rendered":"THE LIGHT OF MEN"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal'><b>JOHN 1:4\u20135<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal'><i>In Him was life, and the life was the light of men<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal'><i>(John 1:4)<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: 18.0pt;line-height:normal'>Once again, John uses three abstract terms to describe Christ and our relation to Him: life, light, and darkness.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: 18.0pt;line-height:normal'>What was John\u2019s intention in using these terms? Does life, for instance, merely describe our existence in Christ? From the passage, we find that it means much more than that, for this <i>life<\/i> is the \u201clight of men.\u201d The life we receive from Christ, while it certainly encompasses our physical existence, is spiritual life. He alone is the light of men because He illumines our hearts and minds to the truth of God. He alone gives us life and opens our eyes so that we can see the light\u2014the revelation of grace.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: 18.0pt;line-height:normal'>Hendriksen writes, \u201cBasically the term (<i>life<\/i>) refers to the fullness of God\u2019s essence, His glorious attributes: holiness, truth (knowledge, wisdom, veracity), love, omnipotence, sovereignty. This full blessed life of God is said to have been present in the Word, and this from all eternity and throughout the entire old dispensation: \u2018In Him was life.\u2026 Here in the present context (John\u2019s Prologue) the life of God in Christ to which all things and all men owe their existence (creation and preservation), is represented as the source of men\u2019s illumination regarding spiritual matters and of the everlasting salvation of God\u2019s children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: 18.0pt;line-height:normal'>Christ as the light illumines every man. This was true in the old dispensation, and it is still true today. Only in Christ can we see God. Only in Him can we come into His most holy presence and apprehend the many spiritual realities hidden from those blinded by sin. Mankind is fallen and dead in its sins. While the message of Christ\u2019s glorious work on the cross is proclaimed throughout the world, the world refuses to listen because it suppresses the truth, preferring sinful ignorance to the enlightenment of Christ\u2019s revelation.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: 18.0pt;line-height:normal'>The darkness does not appropriate, apprehend, or comprehend the light. There is more going on here than just a lack of understanding. Fallen man hates the light. Unbelievers oppose the truth with all their might. Darkness is active and personal. As Christians, we must remember that the world hates Christ\u2014and because it hates Him it will hate us. Therefore, we must be on our guard against those who oppose the light.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;   text-align:center;line-height:normal'><b>CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;   text-align:center;line-height:normal'>Genesis 18\u201319<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;   text-align:center;line-height:normal'>Matthew 6<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:   18.0pt;line-height:normal'>If Jesus is the only way to know God, the   fountainhead of wisdom, why do Christians so often look to the world for   answers? Are you guilty of doing this? Is your understanding of the world and   yourself informed by the Word and guided by the Spirit? If not, repent of   this today and rely on Christ.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:   normal'><i>For   further study: John 14:1\u20136 \u2022 Rom. 1:18\u201332 \u2022 Eph. 6:10\u201320<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal'>wednesday<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal'>january<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>JOHN 1:4\u20135 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:4). Once again, John uses three abstract terms to describe Christ and our relation to Him: life, light, and darkness. What was John\u2019s intention in using these terms? Does life, for instance, merely describe our existence in Christ? From the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/the-light-of-men\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;THE LIGHT OF MEN&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12886\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}