Joh 1:5-10 | 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 1:5-10

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.

A Witness of the Light

In His goodness God sends one to draw attention to the light. This He does in John. That there must be a witness to testify of the light also shows how men lived in utter darkness and blindness. If it is dark and light is switched on, then it is seen by all who have their eyes open.

Light needs no testimony. It is present and it is seen. For people who are spiritually in darkness, it is necessary that light is pointed to as present. The purpose of John’s mission is to be a witness to the light so that people will believe. The testimony is addressed to “all”, not just to Israel. It is about personal faith in the Son. If someone has no faith, he does not see the light, though it shines as brightly as can be.

John is only an instrument. He does not focus attention on himself, but on the Lord Jesus, the Light. As said, the light is not limited to Israel. It comes “into the world”, just as the sun does not shine only for a particular people. It comes into the world, but it enlightens every man individually. Christ places each person personally in the light. Every man is revealed by Him in what he is, whether it is Peter or Herod, or Nathanael or Caiaphas.

The Reception of the Word

When the Lord Jesus came into the world, He entered His own creation. But the world did not know its Creator when He was present, that much it was estranged from Him by sin. There was a special company in the world, in the midst of whom He wanted to dwell. That was His own people, Israel. However, they did not receive Him. It doesn’t say here, as it is said of the world, that they didn’t know Him. Not being accepted by His own means that they rejected Him, not that they did not accept Him through unfamiliarity or ignorance.

Then we see that a completely new company is formed, consisting of those who did accept Him. If the world does not know Him and His people do not receive Him, it opens the way for the revelation of something new. People are separated from the world and brought into a new and previously unknown relationship with God. They are no better or less evil than others. The great thing that distinguishes them is that those who form this new company are born of God. They have seen and judged themselves in the light of the Word and they have accepted Him.

At the same time God has worked the new life in them. Only those who have accepted Him He has given the right to enter into the position of children. This is not merely an external position of honor, but the sharing of life and of a connection of life. They are born of God and therefore possess the nature of God and are children of God. By the way, the Lord Jesus is never called ‘child of God’. He is the unique, eternal Son, while as Man He is also the Son of God (Lk 1:35). This great privilege to become a child of God is for everyone who believes in His Name. His Name is the basis of faith. His Name is also the content of the Word, in Whom all is manifested what God is.

This new relationship is not based on anything of man. Every human source is excluded:

1. “Not of blood” means that no one becomes a child of God through family ties, through natural kinship. No one becomes a child of God because his parents are.

2. “Nor of the will of the flesh” means that it cannot be obtained by one’s own effort.

3. “Nor of the will of man” means that it cannot be obtained by the effort of others, as if it could be given by a man to someone, for example by baptism. Someone becomes a child of God exclusively by being born of God.

The new life is the life of God and God lets us share in it, He gives it. He begot a new generation. That new generation consists of ordinary people and that they also remain, but they are born again spiritually. They are truly born of God and thereby they have become partakers of the Divine nature, because their new life is the life of God (2Pet 1:4).