Anchor My Faith

Title: The True Light (John 1:9-10)

After introducing John, the Baptist, John, the author of the gospel, now returns to a discussion of the light that Jesus has. “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9 ESV). When you see the phrase “The true light” one might think that other light is “false light,” but I don’t think that is what John had in mind. Jesus is the true light as he is the source. As believers, that light exists within us, because we have been given the gift of spiritual life, but we have a sin nature and as a result the light that shines forth from us may have some impurity in it as our interpretation of the Scriptures may be flawed at times. A false light, on the other hand, is one that leads one to danger or to error and may even be intentional. The true light reveals that which is true and sets one free, but false light removes freedom, resulting in bondage. If the true light comes to dwell within a person, it would be at work to remove spiritual darkness, error, and ignorance from the heart and mind.

John tells us that the true light gives light to everyone, but for a person to receive the light one must accept the life that provides the light. If a person is not willing to believe in Jesus Christ and humble themselves before him, they will not receive eternal life and thus they will not have the true light. I believe this true light is available to everyone, but I don’t believe everyone actually receives it. We will consider this further when we cover verse 12.

The phrase, “was coming into the world” is somewhat ambiguous in the original, so for the sake of our lesson I will say that Jesus has entered this world, but has not yet started his public ministry in which he explains how one can receive the life he has and the light it produces.

John continues by saying: “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him” (John 1:10 ESV). It was through a virgin birth that Jesus came into the world; a world that he originally created. Even though he created the world, the world was not willing to love or approve of him, but instead rejected him and put him to a shameful death on a cross. There will be many lessons on how this all played out.

Prayer

Father, humans were created in the image of God, placed in a perfect environment with all necessary provisions and given a simple test of obedience. We failed by rejecting your instructions. Father, you sent your only Son in the person of Jesus to build a bridge for us to come to you, but again we turned away and nailed Jesus to a cross to die, but out of that death the plan of salvation was made secure. Father, thank you for providing the only way of salvation through Jesus.