John 1:9-14 Genuine light

 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

We're continuing in our study of this first chapter of John's gospel.
Whew!
He sure packed a lot into it so far, didn't he? Well, hold on tight, because there's more to come!

This passage starts off with a powerful revelation: "There was the true Light which coming into the world enlightens every person."

In this passage we will see some joy and some sadness. I see this as the joyful part -- John starts off verse nine by stating why he thought that the world should recognize Jesus as the Christ.
For him, it was very simple. Jesus is the true light. His light is the authentic light, the genuine one; it's the real light that is the original. Some people used to say of Jesus, "He's the real thing."
And they were right. Every other light in this world is just a copy. They may flicker with some truth, and they may give small, weak glimpses of reality, but Jesus Christ is the genuine light. 
Mere mortal men can try to answer the deep questions of life, but Jesus is the light that powers forth into the darkness, and tells all men the reason for life, the purpose of life, and the true realities of life.

I guess we could say that all men -- and women; I'm using men in the sense of mankind, OK? Don't fuss at me about that... (Grin)  ....anyway, all mankind has a little light within them. By that I mean that we have a light of reason, or understanding.  I believe that God gave us understanding so that we can realize that we are lost; we can realize our need for salvation when the Spirit calls to us and convicts us of our sin. And that same understanding will help us realize that salvation from those sins is found in Jesus Christ. 
We also have a small portion of light because of the creation of the world and the incredible things within it. 

 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)

Even stronger than the revelation of God in creation is the consciousness of right and wrong which God "built into" all of us.  All of these small lights are nothing compared to the light of Christ. They are not enough to banish the darkness. That requires the true light -- the Light of the world.

And this is why that true light came:

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. II Peter 3:9

Praise Jesus today for being our Light, and let's pray that He will shine forth in our lives!