Title: Two Reactions to the Light
Contents
Word: John 1:1-13 (Modern Translation)
1) Before the universe existed, there was Christ speaking.
He was with God, and He was God.
2) Christ was with God from the beginning
3) All things were created through Him, and without Him there is nothing made.
4) There was life in Christ, and this life was the light of mankind.
5) This light was shining in the darkness, but the darkness did not understand this light.
6) There was a man named John whom God had sent.
7) He came to testify of this light so that people might believe through him.
8) He was not a light, but only came to testify of this light.
9) There was a true light that came into the world and illuminated everyone.
10) He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, but the world did not know Him.
11) His land came, but even his people did not receive him.
12) But he gave the privilege of becoming children of God to those who accepted and believed in him.
13) These people became children of God, neither by blood nor by carnal desire.
It was not by the will of man, but by the will of God.
Ⅰ.Where did life begin?
Where did all life on this earth come from? Some scientists say that the universe was created when matter in the universe gathered and exploded without being able to withstand the hot temperature and pressure. However, the Bible tells us that there was an eternal spiritual world in the beginning before material things existed. God was with us as a community. Among them was the Word (λο?ο?). This Word is God who was with God the Father. Everything in this world came into existence through that very word. Therefore, the Word becomes the source of all life on this earth. There is life in the Word, and all life comes from the Word. However, the one who is being spoken has appeared as the ‘light’ (φο?) that gives life to this world that he has made. Before the light of life came, there was a man who was sent before God to spread the light to the world so that people might know and believe. He is John the Baptist. He was a man who cried out to people to believe in and receive the “light of life.” But when the light came, people reacted differently.
Ⅱ. Two reactions of people to light
There were those who refused when the ‘light of life’ shone on each person. The world did not know him and rejected him. The people of the world who were blind because of sin did not notice the light of that life. “The world was made by its true light” and “to his own people, whom he made” (verse 11), they did not receive. For what? Why did they not recognize the light and not receive it? Because people have chosen to dwell in darkness because they love sin under Satan's control. They are spiritually paralyzed to such an extent that they cannot perceive the true light. And he was crucified to put out the light that pointed out their sins.
However, those who welcome and receive the light first receive eternal life. Second, it becomes the authority to become a child of God. That authority is the absolute authority and power that Jesus has bestowed upon us, and it is the power to set us free from the world of sin and darkness. It is not a life dominated by “guilt and guilt” and “anxiety and fear” because of the pain caused by sin. It is not a life filled with ‘anger and frustration’, ‘worry and anxiety’, and ‘pride and inferiority complex’. Rather, it is a free life that rules and dominates them.
Receiving Jesus means fully accepting Jesus in your heart, completely possessing Jesus, and filling the world of Jesus within you. It does not mean accepting faith in Jesus as an accessory of life, but accepting Jesus as the source of my life. Accepting Jesus means that Jesus Christ becomes my life, not the one who comes into my heart and makes my life better. And the evidence that I have accepted Jesus is living as a people led and governed by Jesus in the reign of Jesus. It is manifested entirely in the life of a disciple who follows Jesus.
We come from Jesus, who is life. And he came in his own things. However, people were deceived by Satan's sinful drugs and rejected Him who came to me. It is like a child whose parents have come to find their daughter who has fallen into the abyss, but cannot get out of the bog of sin. Jesus came to me and gave me eternal life and asked me to live together forever. Please sense Jesus, who is the light, and open your heart to receive Jesus. I hope that the saints who have received the light will overcome the power of darkness and live the life of a disciple who fully follows Christ.