The Vitality of the Light

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

JOHN 1:4

 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 1 JOHN 5:11

John 1:4 says of Jesus, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.” Here is the vitality of the light. Light and life are inextricably interwoven. You cannot have life without light. When God wanted to bring life out of chaos in creation, He said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). When the light appeared, the seas began to swarm with life. The seeds of earth began to bud and blossom. 

I’ve always loved natural science. I can remember that the first big word I ever really locked in on was photosynthesis. I remember being enthralled as my teacher explained the meaning and process of photosynthesis. She told us, “The word photo means ‘light,’ and the word synthesis means ‘to put together.’ Green plants produce food by putting chemicals together with light.” It is light that causes these plants to produce food, and the whole life chain of animals and humans depends on this process.

 Life itself is built on sunlight. Without sunlight, our world would become cold and dark and dead. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He came to give us life. When the Holy Spirit shined the light of the gospel into our hearts, a divine photosynthesis took place producing life where before there was only death. “The entrance of Your words gives light,” says the psalmist (Psalm 119:130). 

Jesus is the Light. Do you know that life followed Jesus everywhere He went during His earthly  ministry? Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). 

No matter how cold and dark your world may seem, it can be brought back to life when the glorious light of the Son of God shines into your heart. There is no life without light. The life and the light went out of Adam’s race when he sinned in the Garden of Eden. But when we come to Christ, the Lord comes back in, turns on the light, and life begins again. Jesus is the Light of the world. That little Babe in Bethlehem turned on the light and gave us eternal life.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers