LIFE AND LIGHT
Day 4 of Jesus, I Need You – Part 2, a study of Thistlebend Ministries
Scripture Reading: John 1:1-28
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.[b]
6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light.
John 1:1-8 NLT
Observation: What’s the Message?
The message could just be that Jesus is the Word, that He was with God in the beginning, or that He was involved in all of creation. Certainly, before today when I thought about John chapter one that is the message I would have repeated. However reading it again today I was reminded that there is perhaps an even deeper more pertinent message – and that is that “life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. His was a light that could not be overcome by the darkness – a light that God sent so that all might believe and be saved through Him. A light that never goes out and is never overcome by the darkness. His is the light that guides our path and leads us to God.
Application: How Then Should We Live?
Day after day the Scriptures we have been going through point us to our need for Jesus. The one John the Baptist was sent to announce and prepare the way for. The One who is The Vine, our source of life enabling us to bear fruit. The One who is our Hope. The One who saves us from being alienated from God. The One who “became human and made His home among us … and who revealed God to us. The One who is both life and light to those living in darkness, dead in their trespasses and sins.
These truths, that in one way or another led us all to Christ, are the truths we are meant to cling to, motivation to seek Him daily and that remind us – we are to be lights for Him – the One true Light! We are messengers sent by God into all the world to bear witness of Him and testify of Him so that all will be believe and be saved.
Prayer: Response to God’s Word
Father, thank You for shining the Light of Jesus into the world, and especially – into my life so that I might be saved!. Thank You for those You sent to share the message with me, to testify about Jesus so that I might hear the good news and know who Jesus is! Father, may I be Your messenger and testify of Your goodness so that others might believe and be saved – In Jesus’ name –
Your Turn:
- What’s your take away from today’s message?
- How can you be a messenger?
- What can you testify about Jesus?
- What do you believe you were sent from God to do?
Want More?
Go deeper with…
- Thistlebend’s devotional
- What does John 1:7 mean? John the Baptist’s role as a witness is central to verse 7. He is sent to tell other people about the coming Messiah, which is Jesus. “Light” was the ultimate standard for Israel. Everything good was said to be “light,” evil was “darkness.” This not only implies good and evil, but knowledge and darkness. Just as Moses, the Old Testament law, and the temple were small lights pointing to Jesus, John the Baptist is a tiny light leading people to the One True Light. And, not just so that they would see, but so that they would believe. John’s ministry heavily revolved around baptism, which was already known to Jews of that time. Jews would sometimes baptize a person who wanted to convert to Judaism. But the Baptist was “converting” Jews! This is one reason he was interrogated by local religious leaders: why would God’s chosen people need to repent and convert? Bibleref.com