02-25-2018 – The Light of God Declared
02-25-2018
The Light of God Declared
John 8:12-20
Read John 8:12... The themes of “life” and “Light” permeate John’s gospel; the
Greek word zoe [English, life] refers to the life Jesus gives His true disciples, spiritual life or eternal life; this is differentiated from the Greek word bios is also translated “life,” but it refers to physical life, also given by God.
Jesus had zoe within Himself, because He is self-existent - He was not created, He is the Creator who is eternally existent, the great “I AM,” (Exodus 3:14).
Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’”
There was a time when the universe did not exist; but there was never a time when God did not exist. Jesus Christ, the Word [Logos], is God, He has always existed.
In Christ was the light and life of God (see John 1:1-4; 11:25; 14:6; 1John 1:1-7). Without the light there is only darkness. John 1:5 says the light shines in the darkness, but darkness cannot understand [lit. overcome] it.
The demons of darkness understand very well the judgment awaiting them in Christ (see Matthew 8:29; Mark 1:34; Luke 4:33-34; James 2:19). They have tried relentlessly to keep the Light and life of God from mankind (see 2Corinthians 4:4-6):
Throughout the OT Satan tried to destroy Israel so that Messiah [the Christ] could not be born.
Satan, through Herod, tried to kill the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:16), by killing al the boys 2 and under in the vicinity of Bethlehem.
Satan used one of Jesus’ Twelve (Judas) to betray Him into the hands of the Jews (Matthew 26:21-25).
Satan thought he had won, when Jesus was nailed to the cross to die, but in reality, Satan brought about his own defeat and signed his own death warrant (see Acts 2:22-24; Colossians 2:15; 1John 3:8).
The Word of God is God’s Son, Lord and Savior.
John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have
seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Everyone who calls on this Jesus, the Word of God, God the Son, to forgive their sins by responding to the Light of God in Christ, receives eternal Life from God, becoming a child of God.
Read John 8:13... By declaring that He is the Light and through that Light He grants eternal life to all who believe, Jesus is clearly saying that He is God!
The Pharisees tried to discount Jesus’ testimony about Himself, for the Old Testament demanded at least two witnesses to establish a valid testimony (cf Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15).
But Jesus was not the only one testifying that He was the one who came from God the Father.
John the Baptist - John 1:6-9, 32-34
The Twelve - John 1:49; Matt. 14:32-33; 16:13-16
Nicodemus - John 3:2
Martha - John 11:27
God The Father - Matthew 3:17; 17:5
The religious leaders of Israel were not going to accept Jesus, no matter how much evidence there was.
John 12:37, “Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in Him.”
Read John 8:14-19... Jesus is the source of all Truth. Repeatedly in the Gospels Jesus declares, “I am telling you the truth!” When Jesus stood before Pilate, Jesus said (John 18:37c, NASB), “For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
See John 10:22-30... The Feast of Dedication (November-December) was about two months after the Feast of Booths, where we are presently reading in chapter 8. Notice that the conflict continues between the religious leaders and Jesus, but Jesus stays on point, He is the Light of God, bringing life from God to all those who repent, believe and follow Him, for He is God in the flesh and the fullness of God is declared in, by and through Him.
Back to John 8:14, Jesus’ testimony about Himself is true, for He is God and God cannot lie. Jesus knows where He came from and where He will return to (John 16:28), “I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father."
The Pharisees don’t know where He came from or where He is going; they are ignorant of God, they judge according to their sinful nature, the flesh (cf John 8:15); their judgement is carnal, self-righteous and wrong, and they weren’t paying attention earlier, when He rebuked them (John 7:24), “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."
It is interesting that Jesus says (John 8:15-16) He isn’t judging anyone, but if He does judge, it is both He and the Father who stand by that judgement. John 3:17 says, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”
But in the future, as He already stated (see John 5:22-27), Jesus will judge everyone and everything.
In John 8:17-18 Jesus confirms that the Old Testament declares the testimony of two men is considered valid; then He validates that He has two witnesses, Himself and the Father. But this doesn’t satisfy the Pharisees, instead they mockingly ask (John 8:19), “Where is your father?”
These guys don’t have a clue who they are dealing with, as Jesus points out,
“You do not know Me or My Father," for "If you knew Me, you would know My Father also."
Matthew 11:27, "All things have been committed to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
On the last night with His disciples, before His arrest and crucifixion Jesus said (John 14:6-7, 9), "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him." “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.”
John 1:18, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made Him known.”
Anyone, everyone, who rejects Jesus Christ as God’s Son, pronounces their own guilt before God the Father, for by rejecting the Son they also reject the Father; and in so doing, they remain in darkness apart from the Light of Christ.
2Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 6, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
Hebrews 1:3, “The Son is the radiance [Greek, apaugasma = effulgence, J brilliance, brightness, illumination] of God's glory.”
In John 8:12 Jesus declares, "I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life,” (John 1:4) “In Him [Jesus] was life, and that life was the Light of men.”
The Light or revelation of God has been clearly displayed and fulfilled in and through the life of Jesus Christ; therefore (1John 5:11-13), “This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
God has clearly revealed His Light through Jesus Christ; therefore no one has a valid excuse to not believe in Him. But all who reject Him remain in darkness apart from Life with God.
Pastor Mike <‘(((><