Joh 1:4-5 | KingComments | STEP | The eternal Word, Who is Himself without a beginning – He “was” – has given a beginning to all things. Here we come to the first verse of Genesis 1 ( ). The Word came not into being Himself, but is the origin of all things ( ; ). All things have a beginning, “came into being”, and that beginning is due to “Him”, which is He Who is the Word. To avoid any escape from this fact, the second part of repeats the first part, but in a negative representation of the facts. It is the foolishness of the evolution theory –falsely called “knowledge” ( ) – to try and explain the origin of all things without Him . But the heavens are telling of His glory ( ) and He can be understood through His works ( ). Here we see the utter distinction between everything that has come into being and the Lord Jesus. If anything has come into being or has been made, it is not the Word, for everything that has come into being is made by the Word. This does not mean that He also created evil. God is good and everything that comes out of Him has that character. In Him there is no darkness at all ( ). Nothing can come out of Him that is contrary to Who He is. To assume that He also created evil limits His goodness. He did create beings, angels and men, who were and are capable of doing evil, but He did not create evil itself. The whole creation was created by Him, but in Him was life. He is the source of life ( ). He didn’t receive life from somewhere, but it sprang from Him as the origin. Therefore He is connected with a special part of His creation: men ( ; ; ). All the words used by John under the guidance of the Holy Spirit are short and simple, but clearly possess Divine fullness and meaning. They are like the sword of the cherubim guarding the tree of life ( ). That sword turns in all directions to keep Him, as He is, unblemished in our minds. The life He reveals is also “the Light of men”. It is in this light that the believer walks. Light reveals everything. By coming into the light man can receive life. If a person has light, he only has it in the Word that is life. When life, that is the Lord Jesus, is revealed on earth, the Light shines in the darkness. When God created the light in the darkness in the beginning, and the light shone in the darkness, the darkness disappeared ( ). When life is revealed and the light shines, the darkness does not disappear. There is no other light for men than “life”. God dwells in unapproachable light, Whom no man has seen or can see ( ), but in the Word the light shines in the darkness. It shines, not ‘shone’, for it still shines, but the darkness has not understood it, that is, it is a given fact, that it is unchanging. In summary, in we have the testimony of the Spirit concerning the Word. We see it first in relation to God, then in relation to creation and finally in relation to man.

‏ John 1:4-5

The Creator and the Light of men.

The eternal Word, Who is Himself without a beginning – He “was” – has given a beginning to all things. Here we come to the first verse of Genesis 1 (Gen 1:1). The Word came not into being Himself, but is the origin of all things (Col 1:15-16; Heb 1:2 ; 10). All things have a beginning, “came into being”, and that beginning is due to “Him”, which is He Who is the Word.

To avoid any escape from this fact, the second part of Jn 1:3 repeats the first part, but in a negative representation of the facts. It is the foolishness of the evolution theory –falsely called “knowledge” (1Tim 6:20) – to try and explain the origin of all things without Him. But the heavens are telling of His glory (Psa 19:2) and He can be understood through His works (Rom 1:19-20).

Here we see the utter distinction between everything that has come into being and the Lord Jesus. If anything has come into being or has been made, it is not the Word, for everything that has come into being is made by the Word.

This does not mean that He also created evil. God is good and everything that comes out of Him has that character. In Him there is no darkness at all (1Jn 1:5). Nothing can come out of Him that is contrary to Who He is. To assume that He also created evil limits His goodness. He did create beings, angels and men, who were and are capable of doing evil, but He did not create evil itself.

The whole creation was created by Him, but in Him was life. He is the source of life (Psa 36:9). He didn’t receive life from somewhere, but it sprang from Him as the origin. Therefore He is connected with a special part of His creation: men (Heb 2:16; Pro 8:31; Lk 2:14).

All the words used by John under the guidance of the Holy Spirit are short and simple, but clearly possess Divine fullness and meaning. They are like the sword of the cherubim guarding the tree of life (Gen 3:24). That sword turns in all directions to keep Him, as He is, unblemished in our minds.

The life He reveals is also “the Light of men”. It is in this light that the believer walks. Light reveals everything. By coming into the light man can receive life. If a person has light, he only has it in the Word that is life.

When life, that is the Lord Jesus, is revealed on earth, the Light shines in the darkness. When God created the light in the darkness in the beginning, and the light shone in the darkness, the darkness disappeared (Gen 1:3). When life is revealed and the light shines, the darkness does not disappear. There is no other light for men than “life”.

God dwells in unapproachable light, Whom no man has seen or can see (1Tim 6:16), but in the Word the light shines in the darkness. It shines, not ‘shone’, for it still shines, but the darkness has not understood it, that is, it is a given fact, that it is unchanging.

In summary, in Jn 1:1-5 we have the testimony of the Spirit concerning the Word. We see it first in relation to God, then in relation to creation and finally in relation to man.