Light Breaks Through the Darkness at CreationBible World
1:5John 1:5
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
The light is the life in Christ shining into a world darkened by sin and separation from God, and the darkness neither understood nor received it. He is the pre-existent Word who was with God and was God, by whom all things were made, who became flesh full of grace and truth as the only Mediator between God and humanity. That shining was His coming nearly two thousand years ago as Creator yet humble Man of Nazareth, whose teachings, miracles, perfect obedience and acts of mercy manifested God's character, yet His own world knew Him not and rose against Him. That rejection came chiefly from proud leaders and people clinging to self-righteousness, ambition and earthly concerns, too proud to admit error and need of repentance, blinded so they could not discern Him. Not being comprehended also means not being overcome, for human refusal does not extinguish the light, it still shines to convict of sin and call to repentance, and those who receive Him by faith are given power to become children of God while those who refuse it choose darkness and condemnation.
Light Darkness and Comprehension
The light is the life in Christ, in whom life is found, shining as the light of humanity amid spiritual and moral darkness. That shining means the darkness neither understood nor apprehended it, neither recognized nor knew Him, neither received nor welcomed Him. His coming into the world is the setting of this truth, for the world made by Him did not know Him and His own people did not receive Him. He is also the true light that gives light to every person, and His own testimony about Himself is wholly true and not misleading.
That life in Him is original, unborrowed, underived and immortal. It existed before the worlds were made and never ends, unlike human life which is brief and dependent. The darkness therefore did not see divinity in the humble Man of Nazareth and did not know in His true character the only-begotten Son of the infinite God.
The darkness is the guilty world covered by sin and separated from God. It involves loss of the knowledge of God, ignorance, false ideas about His character and attributes, and error set against truth. It covered the earth and the people, including the Lord's chosen people, when Jewish priests taught the commandments of men for doctrine and Jewish rulers, wise in their own conceit and claiming to know the law, refused His words. Many refuse to accept Christ who would dispel moral darkness, and that same spirit of refusal that rejected light when prophets and apostles came and when Christ Himself came continues undiminished in the present age.
Not comprehending also means not overcoming, for human refusal does not extinguish the light and darkness does not conquer it. The light of truth and righteousness cannot be quenched, and God continually sustains what comes from heaven even when evil, unbelief and ignorance seem to prevail. The light of the Sun of Righteousness continues to shine despite Satan's shadow and opposition. In the conflict with the powers of darkness truth goes forth to break the strongholds of sin and idolatry and awaken people from spiritual death, for the war is against principalities and powers and not merely against people. Left unobstructed the light clears away error, turns minds to God alone and destroys the supremacy of Rome, though the prince of evil watches every advance of truth, grows more vigilant and stirs fear in his agents.
Christ the Eternal Word
John 1:5 belongs to John's portrayal of Christ as the pre-existent Word who was with God and was God in the beginning, by whom all things were made, in whom was life, and whose life was the light of men. That life-giving light is truth come down from heaven in Christ, shining among men, and the darkness not comprehending it means the guilty dark world made by Him did not know Him, did not understand or receive the light, did not fall down and worship, but rose up against Him who is truth itself and rejected Him. He is God's beloved Son to be heard, the way, the truth, and the life, the only-begotten Son and living light for people, active in a dark world that fails to grasp Him. To know God the Creator and Jesus Christ whom He sent in this way is true education, which ennobles the intellect and expands the mind, and minds are to be drawn to this word and fed by His teaching.
He is the Creator of all things who became flesh and dwelt among humans full of grace and truth, revealing the Father's glory. In Him life is found, and that life is the light given to humanity, shining amid darkness like light from the sun and revealing precious truth, yet the darkness does not comprehend, recognize, or receive it. He came into the world He had made as the one Mediator between God and humanity, and He stands preeminent through the ages as the Faithful and True Witness, the fullness for both Jew and Gentile. Those who receive Him and believe on His name are given power to become children of God, and from His fullness they receive grace which flows out to others and is returned to God in willing offerings.
Though all lives are in His hands as Creator of the world, in whom was life and that life was the light of men, He took none of the exaltation men put on and exercised no tyrannical power. The darkness not comprehending the light means men do not see Christ or believe in Him, and for that reason take great power to themselves. Accepting Christ is no condescension but raises men to a high position.
These words reveal His divinity and the authority and majesty of the biblical testimony about Him. He is the true light that gives light to every person, the living Word whose life is the light of men shining in darkness that did not grasp Him. The verse belongs to God's words through which the mind gains knowledge of God the Creator and Jesus Christ the only-begotten Son, and Christ is presented as the source of all light and knowledge, from whom true knowledge comes through the Word of God rather than from the world's interpretation of higher education. Reading these words led a careless young man to believe in Christ as the Son of God and begin a religious life.
Neither God nor heaven nor Christ, who is the image of the Father, can be truly represented by human art, and no physical description of Christ was provided. John 1:5 is therefore part of John's inspired verbal presentation of Christ to be held before the mind, showing Him as eternal God with God, Creator of all things, the true Light come into a world made by Him that knew Him not. Though in human form as the Word made flesh dwelling among men, He bore His commission from the Excellent Glory and spoke with the authority of true greatness. He is to be known through this word-picture received inwardly by faith rather than through external pictures, with submissive attention to His words, as God summons the world to listen to Christ speaking and to receive every word He utters as law and life.
First Advent in Darkness
The shining is His coming in the flesh to a guilty, dark world nearly two thousand years ago. God became flesh and lived among humans as the Creator of all things, full of grace and truth, yet appeared as the humble Man of Nazareth whose true character as the only-begotten Son of the infinite God was not seen. The life in Him is immortal, original, unborrowed and underived life given as the light of men, shining amid darkness that fails to grasp it. To claim to believe this while continuing in blind selfishness and perverted ideas contradicts following Him, for true belief requires repentance and conversion so that He joins His power to humanity with strength to live out the principles of God's law.
His light shone through His human life, teachings and example as the clearest light ever given to fallen humanity. His practical lessons gave a flood of light on the prophecies, with miracles of healing the sick and giving sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf, and every word reflecting glory on prophetic promises and illuminating the world with pure light from the brightness of the Father's glory in the person of His Son. In His human life on earth He made manifest the ways of God and His divine perfection toward men by representing the Father perfectly in obedience and in every act of mercy and healing. By that life God's character was made visible and God's character and the laws of His kingdom were made known, yet the world failed to understand or receive that revelation.
Even John the Baptist did not at first clearly discern the spiritual character of that kingdom. He expected Christ to rule over an earthly kingdom and a temporal reign at Jerusalem with deliverance from prison, and did not yet understand the immortal life offered through the Saviour. Unbelief led him in prison to send to ask if Jesus was the Coming One. His work had been dimly represented in the sacrificial shadows, and Christ's practical teaching that illuminated the prophecies was still not fully understood even by John regarding the future immortal life through Him.
The darkness not comprehending means the world made by Him did not know Him and His own did not receive Him. Truth came down from heaven in Him and shone among men, yet men did not fall down and worship, understand, or receive it, but rose up against Him who is truth itself. Even those with great religious privilege and knowledge failed to discern Him as the promised Messiah. This rejection occurred even as He revealed power and mercy in healing the man born blind, when men questioned how He gained wisdom, when He was rejected at Nazareth, and when the privileged failed to recognize Him.
His life, suffering and death revealed that rejection. As humanity's substitute and surety He bore its transgression and sin's penalty so that through faith in Him people could be freed and share in redemption. He came when the world seemed wholly given into the control of the enemy, with the whole agency of evil and the spirit that led to the apostasy in heaven in unceasing activity opposing God. Gathering to His own pure, sinless soul the penalty resting upon the sinful race, He offered Himself as sacrifice, ransom, substitute and surety. His coming thereby gave evidence of the love of God for the fallen race and revealed both that love and the immutability of God's law, not a jot or tittle of which could be changed to meet man in his fallen condition.
Reasons for Rejection
The Light shining in darkness was met by the Jewish leaders, priests, rulers and Pharisees with rejection because His teaching challenged their pride, self-righteousness and accepted errors. Too proud to admit that their ideas were incorrect and that they needed repentance and conversion to obtain salvation, they counted Him an impostor whose teachings were not in harmony with their own. Having abundant evidence of His divine character, they still did not understand through pride and refusal to be taught, a blindness more grievous than physical blindness. They resisted the righteousness and truth He revealed and opposed Him because He exposed their evil works, and their injustice and fraud showed darkness resisting the Light until they rejected and crucified Him.
Many clung to theories that favored their ambition and to expectations of the Messiah that prophecy did not support and He did not meet, refusing to admit that they had misunderstood Scripture. Their hearts were closed against the light and blinded by sin, so they did not discern the light or the power of God though it was truly present and manifested among them. Those who professed to know God's will in this way refused heaven's messages and counsel, persecuted Christ and crucified Him. The same closing of the heart is seen when leaders at the center of the work, not led by the Holy Spirit, raise barriers against truth because they prefer what brings themselves honor.
Darkness that does not discern the Light is the mists and fogs encompassing minds through being wise in their own conceits and wise above a Thus saith the Lord, producing ignorance and misconception of God exactly in proportion to that covering. The Light is from the Father of lights and belongs at the foundation of all true education with the living oracles, where the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the sacred is distinguished from the common, yet as darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people the light is not discerned. For this reason worldly churches cannot read a Thus saith the Lord in regard to the Seventh-day Sabbath, following human invention, self-worship and self-exaltation instead of God's plans. They follow the example of those after Eden who by mental and moral capability worked out human inventions and worshiped the things their hands had made, and of the world before the Flood who perverted God's great gifts, boasted in art and device, sought to improve God's plans, and claimed advancement in knowledge apart from God unto violence and destruction.
Earthly concerns also cloud understanding, for absorption in getting wealth such as farms, real estate, stocks and investments can consume time and attention until eternal life is lost sight of and men are unprepared when death comes. Worldly pleasures, popularity and inducements darken minds and keep men from seeing truth, so that the cross makes truth seem foolish to them. Lesser concerns occupying attention lead many to not value or accept truth even when the gospel with truth set against error is to be preached to all nations. Unbelief, earthly concerns and opposition from religious leaders in this way clouded even the disciples, so they did not grasp that the One among them was sent from God and was greater than Moses and wiser than Solomon.
Darkness is also seen in those with false religious ideas who with sincere but erroneous zeal persecute Christ in the person of His saints, as Saul of Tarsus did. Sincerity does not give understanding but places such persecutors on Satan's side while the light continues before them. The same failure appeared when the Samaritans did not recognize the Majesty of heaven when He came, yet He uses no force, affliction or torture to bring men into subjection for rejecting Him but ever shows mercy to win the soul to surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth, in contrast to Satan and his workers who use falsehood, threats, persecution and compulsion.
The proud and self-sufficient do not comprehend Him or take in His words, while the meek, lowly, brokenhearted, oppressed and suffering understand them, for a humble and contrite heart is receptive to His teaching. Those who refuse to humble themselves keep the light from doing its work in them, whereas when grace renews a person that light reveals personal danger and sinfulness, leading the darkness to recognize the light, fear it, turn toward it, repent and sincerely confess. Some close their eyes to the light because they fear seeing the truth and being changed by it. Those who see the truth without recognizing its importance or living by its claims do not understand its light, and their disobedience leaves them spiritually blind while they mistakenly believe they are right and accepted by God.
Unconquered Continuing Light
Christ, the Light and Life of the world and the light of humanity, continued to shine in a world darkened by sin through His personal coming and still shines amid spiritual and moral darkness to scatter it. That shining met refusal to welcome, recognize, receive, comprehend, and obey, with the world failing to appreciate heaven's gift and disregarding the life and grace offered through His words and works amid widespread sin, hostility toward God, and injustice. The same spirit of refusal and unbelief that rejected light when prophets and apostles came and when Christ Himself came continues undiminished and remains active in the present age. It is found even among those who consider themselves advanced in truth yet follow paths away from Christ the Light, who may still fail to recognize the light and may reject both the message and its messenger, so that God's messengers are to bear witness to the Light and direct affections to Christ, not to themselves.
That same rejection is happening today and will be repeated again and again before the Lord comes in the clouds of heaven. Then the deceptions of Satan will be upon earth-dwellers, and the enemy will claim to be Christ and will deceive all but those who are steadfast and true to God. Those who reject truth are left vulnerable to delusion and to counterfeit claims, including the claim that humanity is divine.
His light penetrates the darkness covering the earth and its people, breaking Satan's hold on minds fixed on earthly things and turning them from earthly things toward the hope and prospect of immortality. The full light of His life enters souls in darkness and confronts sin, and the gospel's power brings many to conversion. When grace renews a person, His life-giving light, shining from the cross of Calvary, reveals the person to himself, showing personal danger and sinfulness to convict of sin and calling for genuine repentance, sincere confession, a radically changed heart, and a change of leaders from Satan to God. Without seeing and understanding oneself in that light no one can build on the Rock or obtain victory over the enemy, for darkness is the condition of being held by Satan while refusing to renounce what God has condemned, and those who refuse to humble themselves keep the light from doing its work in them.
Teachers raised up before Christ to point men to the Source of truth were lights shining in darkness that could not dispel it. Their right principles and witnessing lives gave only a brief check to the current of evil without staying its downward course and made no lasting impression, because the world loved darkness rather than light.
Receiving the Offered Light
The light shining in darkness must be accepted and continued in, by receiving Christ and confessing Him as personal Saviour day by day, kept by divine power in humility of mind. True belief is not continuing in blind selfishness and perverted ideas while claiming to follow, but repentance and conversion so that His power joins humanity with strength to live the principles of law, for such faith is invincible. Receiving Him means eating the Word as the bread of life and not merely contemplating it, bringing every spiritual faculty into healthful action, because the Word comes as prescription and cure for diseased souls and bodies and as life itself. To receive the Word is to receive Christ, and to build upon the principles of law and of the divine nature embodied in His words is to build upon Christ Himself as the Rock of Ages, the only foundation for enduring character. That acceptance rests not on human merits or capabilities but on acceptance of the light, which works with the receiver to regulate conduct toward God in complete sanctification of mind and will by an infallible standard. The light is God's precious treasure of truth to be prized above silver and gold, diamonds and earthly gain, gathered in its rays and spread as saving truth to thousands in their own language, while His authoritative Word finds place on hearts and minds to correct imperfect ideas, supply defects, and replace erroneous principles, traditions, maxims and commandments of men.
Those who receive Him and believe on His name are given power to become children and sons of God. They are freely granted pardon and receive the adoption of sons as members of the royal family, with evidence of divine love in His sacrifice, ransom, substitute and surety work that revealed both love and the immutability of law. From His fullness they receive grace, which flows out to others and is returned to God in willing offerings. Receiving the blessings He gives brings a foretaste of heaven here below.
His light brings life and healing to those dead in sin, and it should not shine without being received. As the Star of Light and humanity's only hope, He provides a golden chain uniting earth and heaven, lifting humanity to a higher plane, bringing people into connection with heaven's light, and making them precious in God's sight. Rejection was not universal, for people sincerely seeking truth and spiritual light received Him gladly when He was revealed to them. Those who earnestly seek light and a better knowledge of God turn toward the light. Reading these very words about life found in Him as the light of humanity shining in uncomprehending darkness, revealing divinity and the authority and majesty of biblical testimony, led a careless young man to believe in Him as the Son of God and begin a religious life.
He sheds His bright rays among those who are spiritually ignorant and depraved, debased and wretched, offering them the greatest blessing possible, yet their failure to comprehend and receive brings sadness to His heart. Darkness that comprehends not means living with disrespect toward Him, rejecting His companionship, walking with God's enemy, having no appreciation of Him, and receiving Him not, a condition which heaven regards as without appreciation. Such are called to accept Him as personal Saviour, to center hope of eternal life in Him, and to give Him the heart's best and holiest affections, for without this they scatter abroad instead of gathering with Him.
Rejecting light after it has come is choosing darkness and brings condemnation. The world's rejection explains why it does not know His followers, so the world's beliefs and practices are no safe guide. The light and invitation to salvation are available and victory is possible, but those who refuse to believe and make excuses rather than accept will have no excuse in the judgment. This applies to refusal of truth made clear, including the Sabbath commandment, and to one who rejects warnings and insists on his own view, walking in darkness by failing to understand or receive the light given him. When His presence and the Spirit's work bring light, some withdraw into darkness instead of coming to the light, while others urgently seek salvation, confess sins, and rejoice in forgiveness, so that failing to understand and accept means losing heavenly blessings. Light is a great privilege, but those who do not walk in it and obey will find that light becomes darkness to them.
Those who see truth without recognizing its importance or living by its claims do not understand its light, and their disobedience leaves them spiritually blind while they mistakenly believe they are right and accepted by God. Disobedience leaves them in spiritual darkness, unaware of their condition and falsely confident of acceptance even while sinning. The Light from heaven shone in a world darkened by sin, but people rejected truth and chose disobedience rather than obedience.
Carrying Light to World
The light of truth shines amid spiritual and moral darkness, and it is to shine through followers as they serve others, do good, and bring comfort and practical help to sufferers. When believers have the life and power of primitive Christianity, those in darkness see the contrast between truth and error and between God's word and superstition. Those who receive that truth are to show its sanctifying power in life and character, making its influence distinct from the influence of error. Christ's light is to dispel the darkness of ignorance and sin as His followers labor for the recovery of the lost, and Christians are to represent Him through lives shaped by His character.
The gospel is to be preached to all nations, with truth set in contrast to error even though many do not value it because lesser concerns occupy their attention. Divine truth stands against prevailing errors, maxims, traditions, superstition and ignorance, and the Lord causes it to shine amid moral darkness. That light shines through humble itinerant workers carrying truth from place to place, and God's Word is to be made clear in the religion practiced in sanitariums where people come under heaven's influence. The light must be kept shining through diligent, persevering work even when it is not understood for a time.
Left unobstructed, the light clears away error, turns minds to God alone, and destroys the supremacy of Rome. The darkness is not passive but actively resists, for the prince of evil watches every effort to advance truth, grows more vigilant, and stirs fear in his agents who see danger to their cause. The verse gives assurance that truth will win the victory.
God's messengers are to bear witness to the Light and direct people's affections to Christ, not to themselves. Christ speaks His Word as one having authority as the Source from which all wisdom flows, without attempting to prove His teachings or vindicate Himself, and His shining is in no way mingled with darkness but clearer, brighter, and far more penetrating than any other light, given to enlighten human understanding. The Holy Spirit's work is to find place for that authoritative Word in hearts and minds, and men must keep their place and let God work without interfering with His work upon human hearts. He waits and watches to correct imperfect ideas, supply what is defective, and put His own truth in place of erroneous principles, traditions, false theories, maxims, and commandments of men that work counter to God's commands, though the enemy strives to hinder that working. That light shining in darkness is the Holy Spirit communicated to human workers, giving them light before which moral darkness must flee away.
In Battle Creek light repeatedly came to students and the church through manifestations of the Spirit, yet many treated it as strange, rejected it, and chose darkness instead, dishonoring God, grieving the Spirit and hindering its work. Light flashing from the throne of God is given to prepare a people for the perils of the last days and fit them to stand in the day of the Lord, so they must walk in the light as Christ is in the light, following Jesus the light of life rather than any man, with present faith that He saves now and with feet planted on the living and eternal promises. That light from the throne, which is the message and the Spirit of truth revealing the mercy and justice and love of God and the operations of the Holy Spirit, is resisted as objectionable and called fanaticism, error, and a dangerous thing to be shunned by those claiming to believe present truth. By refusing to open their hearts to receive it and by hugging false theories and maxims as precious fundamental doctrines for fear the foundations of faith will be destroyed, they gather darkness so dense they cannot discern light, and they become guideposts pointing in the wrong direction, repeating the example of the Jewish people. Workers in the cities carry that light, which is truth, by opening it to those in the darkness of error, and because that work is difficult and trying they must receive every possible encouragement and care and must not be subjected to unkind criticism, while a high standard remains before all.
Knowing God the Creator and Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son, the eternal Word who is God and was with God, by whom everything was made, in whom is life giving light to humanity, is true education, which ennobles the intellect and expands the mind. That knowledge from the Father of lights in the living oracles belongs at the foundation of all true education, where the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the sacred is distinguished from the common, rather than coming from the world's interpretation of higher education. Just to the extent mists and fogs encompass human minds there is ignorance and misconception of God, and being wise above a Thus saith the Lord and wise in human conceit blinds men so that worldly churches cannot read a Thus saith the Lord for the seventh-day Sabbath, following human invention, self-worship and self-exaltation like those near Eden and before the Flood who perverted God's gifts, boasted in art and device, sought to improve God's plans, and claimed advancement apart from God. The light of divine instruction shines clearly in the darkness of ignorance and includes instruction about health reform, so no one need remain ignorant and ignorance does not excuse breaking God's law, but all accountable people are obligated to heed it.
People deprived of access to God's word may fail to recognize the truth, but God regards them with pity and can bring the truth as it is in Jesus to them, leading them to join His people.
The light is the life in Christ shining into a world darkened by sin and separation from God, and the darkness neither understood nor received it. He is the pre-existent Word who was with God and was God, by whom all things were made, who became flesh full of grace and truth as the only Mediator between God and humanity. That shining was His coming nearly two thousand years ago as Creator yet humble Man of Nazareth, whose teachings, miracles, perfect obedience and acts of mercy manifested God's character, yet His own world knew Him not and rose against Him. That rejection came chiefly from proud leaders and people clinging to self-righteousness, ambition and earthly concerns, too proud to admit error and need of repentance, blinded so they could not discern Him. Not being comprehended also means not being overcome, for human refusal does not extinguish the light, it still shines to convict of sin and call to repentance, and those who receive Him by faith are given power to become children of God while those who refuse it choose darkness and condemnation.
Light Darkness and Comprehension
The light is the life in Christ, in whom life is found, shining as the light of humanity amid spiritual and moral darkness. That shining means the darkness neither understood nor apprehended it, neither recognized nor knew Him, neither received nor welcomed Him. His coming into the world is the setting of this truth, for the world made by Him did not know Him and His own people did not receive Him. He is also the true light that gives light to every person, and His own testimony about Himself is wholly true and not misleading.
That life in Him is original, unborrowed, underived and immortal. It existed before the worlds were made and never ends, unlike human life which is brief and dependent. The darkness therefore did not see divinity in the humble Man of Nazareth and did not know in His true character the only-begotten Son of the infinite God.
The darkness is the guilty world covered by sin and separated from God. It involves loss of the knowledge of God, ignorance, false ideas about His character and attributes, and error set against truth. It covered the earth and the people, including the Lord's chosen people, when Jewish priests taught the commandments of men for doctrine and Jewish rulers, wise in their own conceit and claiming to know the law, refused His words. Many refuse to accept Christ who would dispel moral darkness, and that same spirit of refusal that rejected light when prophets and apostles came and when Christ Himself came continues undiminished in the present age.
Not comprehending also means not overcoming, for human refusal does not extinguish the light and darkness does not conquer it. The light of truth and righteousness cannot be quenched, and God continually sustains what comes from heaven even when evil, unbelief and ignorance seem to prevail. The light of the Sun of Righteousness continues to shine despite Satan's shadow and opposition. In the conflict with the powers of darkness truth goes forth to break the strongholds of sin and idolatry and awaken people from spiritual death, for the war is against principalities and powers and not merely against people. Left unobstructed the light clears away error, turns minds to God alone and destroys the supremacy of Rome, though the prince of evil watches every advance of truth, grows more vigilant and stirs fear in his agents.
Christ the Eternal Word
John 1:5 belongs to John's portrayal of Christ as the pre-existent Word who was with God and was God in the beginning, by whom all things were made, in whom was life, and whose life was the light of men. That life-giving light is truth come down from heaven in Christ, shining among men, and the darkness not comprehending it means the guilty dark world made by Him did not know Him, did not understand or receive the light, did not fall down and worship, but rose up against Him who is truth itself and rejected Him. He is God's beloved Son to be heard, the way, the truth, and the life, the only-begotten Son and living light for people, active in a dark world that fails to grasp Him. To know God the Creator and Jesus Christ whom He sent in this way is true education, which ennobles the intellect and expands the mind, and minds are to be drawn to this word and fed by His teaching.
He is the Creator of all things who became flesh and dwelt among humans full of grace and truth, revealing the Father's glory. In Him life is found, and that life is the light given to humanity, shining amid darkness like light from the sun and revealing precious truth, yet the darkness does not comprehend, recognize, or receive it. He came into the world He had made as the one Mediator between God and humanity, and He stands preeminent through the ages as the Faithful and True Witness, the fullness for both Jew and Gentile. Those who receive Him and believe on His name are given power to become children of God, and from His fullness they receive grace which flows out to others and is returned to God in willing offerings.
Though all lives are in His hands as Creator of the world, in whom was life and that life was the light of men, He took none of the exaltation men put on and exercised no tyrannical power. The darkness not comprehending the light means men do not see Christ or believe in Him, and for that reason take great power to themselves. Accepting Christ is no condescension but raises men to a high position.
These words reveal His divinity and the authority and majesty of the biblical testimony about Him. He is the true light that gives light to every person, the living Word whose life is the light of men shining in darkness that did not grasp Him. The verse belongs to God's words through which the mind gains knowledge of God the Creator and Jesus Christ the only-begotten Son, and Christ is presented as the source of all light and knowledge, from whom true knowledge comes through the Word of God rather than from the world's interpretation of higher education. Reading these words led a careless young man to believe in Christ as the Son of God and begin a religious life.
Neither God nor heaven nor Christ, who is the image of the Father, can be truly represented by human art, and no physical description of Christ was provided. John 1:5 is therefore part of John's inspired verbal presentation of Christ to be held before the mind, showing Him as eternal God with God, Creator of all things, the true Light come into a world made by Him that knew Him not. Though in human form as the Word made flesh dwelling among men, He bore His commission from the Excellent Glory and spoke with the authority of true greatness. He is to be known through this word-picture received inwardly by faith rather than through external pictures, with submissive attention to His words, as God summons the world to listen to Christ speaking and to receive every word He utters as law and life.
First Advent in Darkness
The shining is His coming in the flesh to a guilty, dark world nearly two thousand years ago. God became flesh and lived among humans as the Creator of all things, full of grace and truth, yet appeared as the humble Man of Nazareth whose true character as the only-begotten Son of the infinite God was not seen. The life in Him is immortal, original, unborrowed and underived life given as the light of men, shining amid darkness that fails to grasp it. To claim to believe this while continuing in blind selfishness and perverted ideas contradicts following Him, for true belief requires repentance and conversion so that He joins His power to humanity with strength to live out the principles of God's law.
His light shone through His human life, teachings and example as the clearest light ever given to fallen humanity. His practical lessons gave a flood of light on the prophecies, with miracles of healing the sick and giving sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf, and every word reflecting glory on prophetic promises and illuminating the world with pure light from the brightness of the Father's glory in the person of His Son. In His human life on earth He made manifest the ways of God and His divine perfection toward men by representing the Father perfectly in obedience and in every act of mercy and healing. By that life God's character was made visible and God's character and the laws of His kingdom were made known, yet the world failed to understand or receive that revelation.
Even John the Baptist did not at first clearly discern the spiritual character of that kingdom. He expected Christ to rule over an earthly kingdom and a temporal reign at Jerusalem with deliverance from prison, and did not yet understand the immortal life offered through the Saviour. Unbelief led him in prison to send to ask if Jesus was the Coming One. His work had been dimly represented in the sacrificial shadows, and Christ's practical teaching that illuminated the prophecies was still not fully understood even by John regarding the future immortal life through Him.
The darkness not comprehending means the world made by Him did not know Him and His own did not receive Him. Truth came down from heaven in Him and shone among men, yet men did not fall down and worship, understand, or receive it, but rose up against Him who is truth itself. Even those with great religious privilege and knowledge failed to discern Him as the promised Messiah. This rejection occurred even as He revealed power and mercy in healing the man born blind, when men questioned how He gained wisdom, when He was rejected at Nazareth, and when the privileged failed to recognize Him.
His life, suffering and death revealed that rejection. As humanity's substitute and surety He bore its transgression and sin's penalty so that through faith in Him people could be freed and share in redemption. He came when the world seemed wholly given into the control of the enemy, with the whole agency of evil and the spirit that led to the apostasy in heaven in unceasing activity opposing God. Gathering to His own pure, sinless soul the penalty resting upon the sinful race, He offered Himself as sacrifice, ransom, substitute and surety. His coming thereby gave evidence of the love of God for the fallen race and revealed both that love and the immutability of God's law, not a jot or tittle of which could be changed to meet man in his fallen condition.
Reasons for Rejection
The Light shining in darkness was met by the Jewish leaders, priests, rulers and Pharisees with rejection because His teaching challenged their pride, self-righteousness and accepted errors. Too proud to admit that their ideas were incorrect and that they needed repentance and conversion to obtain salvation, they counted Him an impostor whose teachings were not in harmony with their own. Having abundant evidence of His divine character, they still did not understand through pride and refusal to be taught, a blindness more grievous than physical blindness. They resisted the righteousness and truth He revealed and opposed Him because He exposed their evil works, and their injustice and fraud showed darkness resisting the Light until they rejected and crucified Him.
Many clung to theories that favored their ambition and to expectations of the Messiah that prophecy did not support and He did not meet, refusing to admit that they had misunderstood Scripture. Their hearts were closed against the light and blinded by sin, so they did not discern the light or the power of God though it was truly present and manifested among them. Those who professed to know God's will in this way refused heaven's messages and counsel, persecuted Christ and crucified Him. The same closing of the heart is seen when leaders at the center of the work, not led by the Holy Spirit, raise barriers against truth because they prefer what brings themselves honor.
Darkness that does not discern the Light is the mists and fogs encompassing minds through being wise in their own conceits and wise above a Thus saith the Lord, producing ignorance and misconception of God exactly in proportion to that covering. The Light is from the Father of lights and belongs at the foundation of all true education with the living oracles, where the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the sacred is distinguished from the common, yet as darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people the light is not discerned. For this reason worldly churches cannot read a Thus saith the Lord in regard to the Seventh-day Sabbath, following human invention, self-worship and self-exaltation instead of God's plans. They follow the example of those after Eden who by mental and moral capability worked out human inventions and worshiped the things their hands had made, and of the world before the Flood who perverted God's great gifts, boasted in art and device, sought to improve God's plans, and claimed advancement in knowledge apart from God unto violence and destruction.
Earthly concerns also cloud understanding, for absorption in getting wealth such as farms, real estate, stocks and investments can consume time and attention until eternal life is lost sight of and men are unprepared when death comes. Worldly pleasures, popularity and inducements darken minds and keep men from seeing truth, so that the cross makes truth seem foolish to them. Lesser concerns occupying attention lead many to not value or accept truth even when the gospel with truth set against error is to be preached to all nations. Unbelief, earthly concerns and opposition from religious leaders in this way clouded even the disciples, so they did not grasp that the One among them was sent from God and was greater than Moses and wiser than Solomon.
Darkness is also seen in those with false religious ideas who with sincere but erroneous zeal persecute Christ in the person of His saints, as Saul of Tarsus did. Sincerity does not give understanding but places such persecutors on Satan's side while the light continues before them. The same failure appeared when the Samaritans did not recognize the Majesty of heaven when He came, yet He uses no force, affliction or torture to bring men into subjection for rejecting Him but ever shows mercy to win the soul to surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth, in contrast to Satan and his workers who use falsehood, threats, persecution and compulsion.
The proud and self-sufficient do not comprehend Him or take in His words, while the meek, lowly, brokenhearted, oppressed and suffering understand them, for a humble and contrite heart is receptive to His teaching. Those who refuse to humble themselves keep the light from doing its work in them, whereas when grace renews a person that light reveals personal danger and sinfulness, leading the darkness to recognize the light, fear it, turn toward it, repent and sincerely confess. Some close their eyes to the light because they fear seeing the truth and being changed by it. Those who see the truth without recognizing its importance or living by its claims do not understand its light, and their disobedience leaves them spiritually blind while they mistakenly believe they are right and accepted by God.
Unconquered Continuing Light
Christ, the Light and Life of the world and the light of humanity, continued to shine in a world darkened by sin through His personal coming and still shines amid spiritual and moral darkness to scatter it. That shining met refusal to welcome, recognize, receive, comprehend, and obey, with the world failing to appreciate heaven's gift and disregarding the life and grace offered through His words and works amid widespread sin, hostility toward God, and injustice. The same spirit of refusal and unbelief that rejected light when prophets and apostles came and when Christ Himself came continues undiminished and remains active in the present age. It is found even among those who consider themselves advanced in truth yet follow paths away from Christ the Light, who may still fail to recognize the light and may reject both the message and its messenger, so that God's messengers are to bear witness to the Light and direct affections to Christ, not to themselves.
That same rejection is happening today and will be repeated again and again before the Lord comes in the clouds of heaven. Then the deceptions of Satan will be upon earth-dwellers, and the enemy will claim to be Christ and will deceive all but those who are steadfast and true to God. Those who reject truth are left vulnerable to delusion and to counterfeit claims, including the claim that humanity is divine.
His light penetrates the darkness covering the earth and its people, breaking Satan's hold on minds fixed on earthly things and turning them from earthly things toward the hope and prospect of immortality. The full light of His life enters souls in darkness and confronts sin, and the gospel's power brings many to conversion. When grace renews a person, His life-giving light, shining from the cross of Calvary, reveals the person to himself, showing personal danger and sinfulness to convict of sin and calling for genuine repentance, sincere confession, a radically changed heart, and a change of leaders from Satan to God. Without seeing and understanding oneself in that light no one can build on the Rock or obtain victory over the enemy, for darkness is the condition of being held by Satan while refusing to renounce what God has condemned, and those who refuse to humble themselves keep the light from doing its work in them.
Teachers raised up before Christ to point men to the Source of truth were lights shining in darkness that could not dispel it. Their right principles and witnessing lives gave only a brief check to the current of evil without staying its downward course and made no lasting impression, because the world loved darkness rather than light.
Receiving the Offered Light
The light shining in darkness must be accepted and continued in, by receiving Christ and confessing Him as personal Saviour day by day, kept by divine power in humility of mind. True belief is not continuing in blind selfishness and perverted ideas while claiming to follow, but repentance and conversion so that His power joins humanity with strength to live the principles of law, for such faith is invincible. Receiving Him means eating the Word as the bread of life and not merely contemplating it, bringing every spiritual faculty into healthful action, because the Word comes as prescription and cure for diseased souls and bodies and as life itself. To receive the Word is to receive Christ, and to build upon the principles of law and of the divine nature embodied in His words is to build upon Christ Himself as the Rock of Ages, the only foundation for enduring character. That acceptance rests not on human merits or capabilities but on acceptance of the light, which works with the receiver to regulate conduct toward God in complete sanctification of mind and will by an infallible standard. The light is God's precious treasure of truth to be prized above silver and gold, diamonds and earthly gain, gathered in its rays and spread as saving truth to thousands in their own language, while His authoritative Word finds place on hearts and minds to correct imperfect ideas, supply defects, and replace erroneous principles, traditions, maxims and commandments of men.
Those who receive Him and believe on His name are given power to become children and sons of God. They are freely granted pardon and receive the adoption of sons as members of the royal family, with evidence of divine love in His sacrifice, ransom, substitute and surety work that revealed both love and the immutability of law. From His fullness they receive grace, which flows out to others and is returned to God in willing offerings. Receiving the blessings He gives brings a foretaste of heaven here below.
His light brings life and healing to those dead in sin, and it should not shine without being received. As the Star of Light and humanity's only hope, He provides a golden chain uniting earth and heaven, lifting humanity to a higher plane, bringing people into connection with heaven's light, and making them precious in God's sight. Rejection was not universal, for people sincerely seeking truth and spiritual light received Him gladly when He was revealed to them. Those who earnestly seek light and a better knowledge of God turn toward the light. Reading these very words about life found in Him as the light of humanity shining in uncomprehending darkness, revealing divinity and the authority and majesty of biblical testimony, led a careless young man to believe in Him as the Son of God and begin a religious life.
He sheds His bright rays among those who are spiritually ignorant and depraved, debased and wretched, offering them the greatest blessing possible, yet their failure to comprehend and receive brings sadness to His heart. Darkness that comprehends not means living with disrespect toward Him, rejecting His companionship, walking with God's enemy, having no appreciation of Him, and receiving Him not, a condition which heaven regards as without appreciation. Such are called to accept Him as personal Saviour, to center hope of eternal life in Him, and to give Him the heart's best and holiest affections, for without this they scatter abroad instead of gathering with Him.
Rejecting light after it has come is choosing darkness and brings condemnation. The world's rejection explains why it does not know His followers, so the world's beliefs and practices are no safe guide. The light and invitation to salvation are available and victory is possible, but those who refuse to believe and make excuses rather than accept will have no excuse in the judgment. This applies to refusal of truth made clear, including the Sabbath commandment, and to one who rejects warnings and insists on his own view, walking in darkness by failing to understand or receive the light given him. When His presence and the Spirit's work bring light, some withdraw into darkness instead of coming to the light, while others urgently seek salvation, confess sins, and rejoice in forgiveness, so that failing to understand and accept means losing heavenly blessings. Light is a great privilege, but those who do not walk in it and obey will find that light becomes darkness to them.
Those who see truth without recognizing its importance or living by its claims do not understand its light, and their disobedience leaves them spiritually blind while they mistakenly believe they are right and accepted by God. Disobedience leaves them in spiritual darkness, unaware of their condition and falsely confident of acceptance even while sinning. The Light from heaven shone in a world darkened by sin, but people rejected truth and chose disobedience rather than obedience.
Carrying Light to World
The light of truth shines amid spiritual and moral darkness, and it is to shine through followers as they serve others, do good, and bring comfort and practical help to sufferers. When believers have the life and power of primitive Christianity, those in darkness see the contrast between truth and error and between God's word and superstition. Those who receive that truth are to show its sanctifying power in life and character, making its influence distinct from the influence of error. Christ's light is to dispel the darkness of ignorance and sin as His followers labor for the recovery of the lost, and Christians are to represent Him through lives shaped by His character.
The gospel is to be preached to all nations, with truth set in contrast to error even though many do not value it because lesser concerns occupy their attention. Divine truth stands against prevailing errors, maxims, traditions, superstition and ignorance, and the Lord causes it to shine amid moral darkness. That light shines through humble itinerant workers carrying truth from place to place, and God's Word is to be made clear in the religion practiced in sanitariums where people come under heaven's influence. The light must be kept shining through diligent, persevering work even when it is not understood for a time.
Left unobstructed, the light clears away error, turns minds to God alone, and destroys the supremacy of Rome. The darkness is not passive but actively resists, for the prince of evil watches every effort to advance truth, grows more vigilant, and stirs fear in his agents who see danger to their cause. The verse gives assurance that truth will win the victory.
God's messengers are to bear witness to the Light and direct people's affections to Christ, not to themselves. Christ speaks His Word as one having authority as the Source from which all wisdom flows, without attempting to prove His teachings or vindicate Himself, and His shining is in no way mingled with darkness but clearer, brighter, and far more penetrating than any other light, given to enlighten human understanding. The Holy Spirit's work is to find place for that authoritative Word in hearts and minds, and men must keep their place and let God work without interfering with His work upon human hearts. He waits and watches to correct imperfect ideas, supply what is defective, and put His own truth in place of erroneous principles, traditions, false theories, maxims, and commandments of men that work counter to God's commands, though the enemy strives to hinder that working. That light shining in darkness is the Holy Spirit communicated to human workers, giving them light before which moral darkness must flee away.
In Battle Creek light repeatedly came to students and the church through manifestations of the Spirit, yet many treated it as strange, rejected it, and chose darkness instead, dishonoring God, grieving the Spirit and hindering its work. Light flashing from the throne of God is given to prepare a people for the perils of the last days and fit them to stand in the day of the Lord, so they must walk in the light as Christ is in the light, following Jesus the light of life rather than any man, with present faith that He saves now and with feet planted on the living and eternal promises. That light from the throne, which is the message and the Spirit of truth revealing the mercy and justice and love of God and the operations of the Holy Spirit, is resisted as objectionable and called fanaticism, error, and a dangerous thing to be shunned by those claiming to believe present truth. By refusing to open their hearts to receive it and by hugging false theories and maxims as precious fundamental doctrines for fear the foundations of faith will be destroyed, they gather darkness so dense they cannot discern light, and they become guideposts pointing in the wrong direction, repeating the example of the Jewish people. Workers in the cities carry that light, which is truth, by opening it to those in the darkness of error, and because that work is difficult and trying they must receive every possible encouragement and care and must not be subjected to unkind criticism, while a high standard remains before all.
Knowing God the Creator and Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son, the eternal Word who is God and was with God, by whom everything was made, in whom is life giving light to humanity, is true education, which ennobles the intellect and expands the mind. That knowledge from the Father of lights in the living oracles belongs at the foundation of all true education, where the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the sacred is distinguished from the common, rather than coming from the world's interpretation of higher education. Just to the extent mists and fogs encompass human minds there is ignorance and misconception of God, and being wise above a Thus saith the Lord and wise in human conceit blinds men so that worldly churches cannot read a Thus saith the Lord for the seventh-day Sabbath, following human invention, self-worship and self-exaltation like those near Eden and before the Flood who perverted God's gifts, boasted in art and device, sought to improve God's plans, and claimed advancement apart from God. The light of divine instruction shines clearly in the darkness of ignorance and includes instruction about health reform, so no one need remain ignorant and ignorance does not excuse breaking God's law, but all accountable people are obligated to heed it.
People deprived of access to God's word may fail to recognize the truth, but God regards them with pity and can bring the truth as it is in Jesus to them, leading them to join His people.