The True Light that Divides Humanity

Some news is so shocking, so incomprehensible that our first instinct is to ignore it. For as often as we're confronted with breaking news, much of the breaking news is trivial and meaningless. But once in a rare moment, we do get news where life and death are at stake. And this is exactly the kind of news that John delivers to us in our passage this morning.

It's the news that we can't afford to ignore. The true light has come into the world. I mean, that in itself is mind-blowing news that God himself... would come through and in the word to dwell among the humanity he created in the world that he created. And if that weren't enough,

Just as striking in our passage is the startling news that the world did not know him. The tragedy isn't. Because of distance, even in close proximity, the world did not know its creator. The true light appeared before the world and they turned away. We turned away. Because of the light that is in the word. exposed what the world was clinging to. Just this tragedy, the fact that light would come and there wouldn't be a glad reception.

The tragedy reminds me of the true story of Cheryl Jennings. Cheryl was blind for most of his life. He was unable to see colors, faces, objects, but he was able to distinguish light and dark. And so he had learned to navigate life with his hands and with his ears. With his mind. The darkness had become in some ways predictable and safe. And yet at the age of 51.

Cheryl had surgery to remove cataracts. And as a result of this surgery, he was given partial sight. 51 years into his life, for the first time, colors clashed. in disorienting ways. The sunlight was painful to his eyes. The brightness of this world, which promised freedom and clarity, at first felt threatening and disorienting to him. The darkness that he had known so long was suddenly uncomfortable.

precisely because the light revealed what he had never truly seen. I think John makes the same point this morning in our passage. The true light comes, and the true light doesn't merely illuminate. The true light also exposes. And instead of leaning into the true light, many recoil from him.

But glory upon glory, John does tell us that some lean in and some receive him. Some welcome the light and some trust in his name. And when they do, they are given the right to become children of God. And so the question before us this morning is not, well, has the true light come? He has. The question before us is, will we receive him or will we reject him? This passage isn't primarily concerned with what you think about Jesus.

It's concerned with what you're doing with Jesus. And there are only two options. Either reject him or receive him.

John chapter 1 verses 9 through 13 makes that clear. Let's hear the reading of his word and then we'll consider three truths in our passage. This is the word of the Lord. There was the true light which coming into the world enlightens every man. He was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him. He came to his own and those who were his own did not receive him.

But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God. Even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. but of God. The true light, this is the word of the Lord. First.

truth in our passage this morning. The true light came into the world. The true light came into the world. We see this in verse 9. The other two points, second one is that the true light was rejected. The third is that the true light was received.

And so I missed the opportunity to add an R. I was thinking about this before I came up here. So if that's going to bother you, you can just say point one, the true light was revealed. Revealed, rejected, and received. But I believe it's a better point. Why make it shorter when you can make it longer? The true light came into the world. Since John 1, verse 4, John has described the word.

who we know is Jesus the Messiah. And he's described this word as the light. But here in verse 9, he's referred to as the true light. Most of the time throughout the Bible when... true is used it's often delineating between something that's true and something that's false and yet a few times when the word true is used it means more than that it means ultimate. Right? So think about John chapter 6. There has been the feeding. And what does Jesus say? John chapter 6.

Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you bread out of heaven, but it is my father who gives you the true bread out of heaven, the ultimate expression of that bread. Or John chapter 15 throughout. The Bible, Israel, the people of God are referred to as the vine. But in John chapter 15, we hear Jesus say, I am the true vine. Not delineating between false vines, but I am the ultimate expression.

of the vine. And so Jesus is both different from the counterfeit lights Just think of the counterfeit lights that many people are flocking to in our day. The counterfeit light of sex, of power, of riches, of reputation, of political saviors, anything else that's compelling you to build your life upon that. This coming one, this Christ, is not a counterfeit. He is the true light. But he's also the fullest expression of light ever to enter into the world.

This true light came into the world and it enlightened every man. It's a reminder that the world here can mean cosmos. But in John's gospel, it usually means this system of rebellion against God. And so when we read the true light which coming into the world... Sometimes we can read that and just think world is somehow neutral. But that's not what the gospel of John is seeking to convince us of. John is laboring to convince us.

That this world is a system that is in rebellion against God. I believe this highlights even the stunning grace behind... the incarnation, the coming of Christ. The word invades our brokenness. He enters into our mess. The mess of our rebellion against God himself. We'll see next week in verse 14 that the incarnation... God made flesh coming to dwell with us. It is spelled out forcefully in John 1, verse 14. But I believe in John 1, verse 9, it is very plain as well. True light.

comes into the world. I'm helped by what DA Carson says in his commentary on the Gospel of John. He says few could read John's gospel for the second time without recognizing that the coming of this word into the world.

that's described in John's prologue is nothing other than the sending of the Son into the world that's described in the rest of the book. If you and I were to sit down and read the Gospel of John, What we would find is that this one who seems to come, this word, this light, the gospel of John makes clear over and over and over again, this is Jesus the Christ.

And so the true light who spun galaxies into motion, who set the oceans in their place, entered creation. But he didn't enter creation in some abstract or untouchable way. No, he came and he dwelt among us. And he came to enlighten every man. You say, wait a minute. To enlighten every man? So the fact that there is a Christmas means that everyone has been enlightened with the truth?

Is John saying that all are going to be saved because all have been enlightened? Well, again, the best way to interpret Scripture is with Scripture. And what's clear, even in these few verses, verse 5 says that there is darkness. And the darkness did not comprehend it, which means... Not everyone has received some type of spiritual illumination. In verse 10, it says that some will reject him. And so when we read that the light has come.

And enlightens every man. That's not speaking of some spiritual illumination. Some internal or eventual universal belief. Some believe that it refers to the general revelation that has been revealed to all in God's creation. Some would say that when the light has come... Or when the light came, there would be this general revelation, similar to what Paul mentions in Romans chapter 1, verses 18 through 24.

And I think even if you believe this that the light coming into the world meant that there was general awareness that there is a God. I think we have to be clear. That that general revelation gives us enough evidence to be condemned, but not enough evidence to have salvation. It requires something more. I believe John is driving towards not just general revelation, but towards salvation. I believe what John is saying here in John chapter 1 verse 9 is that the true light has been made visible.

And with that visibility, the human race is now divided. You begin to see what people do with Jesus. There are those who reject him. And there are those who receive him. The stark contrast between these two choices and the fact that there are only two choices, I'm sure will offend many people in our day. I just imagine you going into your office tomorrow. Sitting around the lunchroom, wherever your recreation takes you, your neighborhood.

And having conversations with your coworkers and your classmates and other family members, your neighbors, and them being offended by the fact that we would so, so boldly declare. That there's really only two responses to Jesus. You either reject him or you receive him. And while Christians shouldn't aim to be offensive, The message of the true light entering his creation will always offend. Maybe you're here this morning and you find yourself in a dark place.

in your life. Feeling as though the light of the pleasure of God has never seemed to shine upon you. Or at least it's not at this moment. John chapter 1 verse 9 ought to be really good news for you. Because the light of the world was born to bring you up out of the gloom of your guilt. And into the radiance of his good pleasure. What does light do? Light scatters the darkness. And the coming of the true light means that our fears can be scattered.

Our doubts can be scattered. And this true light directs us in the way of hope and rest. It's no understatement to put it this way. God made flesh and coming to dwell among us is the hinge upon the whole worldview of the Christian faith. Either God did become man and that changes everything or it simply didn't happen. Which brings us to our second point.

Which is the first of the two responses. Secondly, the true light was rejected. The true light was rejected. We see this in verses 10 and 11. Really after we've covered what we have in these first nine verses, any rejection of this coming one is absolutely dumbfounding. If you were to go back and just sit, literally verse after verse, and just seek to unpack all of the riches and all of the glories.

That John is trying to put human language to so that we can just have a taste. We can't understand it fully. But so that we can get true understanding, just a taste. of the glories of the word, of this true light. When you begin to think about that, verse after verse, just meditating on it, day and night, you get to... Verse 10, and it's absolutely astounding. How in the world could anyone not receive the light? In fact, it's criminal.

It's almost scandalous. It's cosmic treason. The world who owes its existence to him would not even know him. And so long before your unwelcomed holiday guests arrive in a few weeks, Jesus himself... was the original unwelcomed Christmas guest. He came and the world did not know him. I want to be clear at the outset of this point. If you reject Jesus, it is a more serious offense than you can imagine.

John tells us in verse 10 that he was in the world. Remember, verse 1, the word existed before there ever was a world. And now he is... in the world. And he's in the world by taking on human nature, being born of a virgin who would wrap him in swaddling cloths and would lay him in a manger. The fact that God would put on flesh and come among us and do so in such an unassuming way. This Christmas season, don't miss the humility of the word.

of the true light. John continues that he was not just in the world, but that the world was made through him. You just begin to think if there was ever anyone who was deserving of adoration, of our adulation, of our praise, it was this one. Colossians 1.17 reminds us he wasn't just glorious in creating it all. Colossians 1.17.

He is before all things and in him all things hold together. The only reason that the entire universe continues to exist and doesn't vaporize at this moment is owing to nothing. But this word, the son of God who is preserving this universe by his own power. And so instead of bowing before this true light, the creator, the one. Who made all things. The world spits in his face. With the hands that he fashioned. The world balls their hands up into fist.

forcefully seeking to remove him from his rightful place. Verse 10 ends with this sobering assessment. The world did not know him. He was in the world. The world was made through him.

And the world did not know him. Throughout John's gospel, know, believe, receive. These are major things. And it's helpful for us to rightly understand John's concern. John isn't commenting on the fact that there was some intellectual barrier. that kept the world from knowing about Jesus. No, John is saying that this world willfully chose not to know him. They stiff-armed the one who even gave them arms. No is not merely an intellectual word, though it can be.

Throughout John's gospel, know is a volitional word. Not knowing about Jesus, but rather not embracing Jesus. They didn't welcome Jesus as God in the flesh. And so when we hear that the world did not know him, we shouldn't think, ah, if only someone who had been there could have told him. No, they knew, but they did not receive. Many in our day seek to just outright dismiss Jesus. He's a myth. I simply want nothing to do with him. And perhaps that's where you are this morning.

You don't even have a category that that could possibly be true, that Jesus is God in the flesh, come to dwell among us. Can I ask you? If that's you, would you do what every Christian in this room has already done? Would you humble yourself? And would you... Open your heart and your mind to what it is that John is saying. Would you even for a moment doubt your own doubts?

Would you question your own assumptions? Would you hear with new ears this truth that John is speaking of? Because at the end of everyday unbelief... is never only an issue of the mind. It always is entangled with the will. You may have really good intellectual doubts and you may have really good intelligent questions that need to be traced out. And you may be the kind of person that just can't simply embrace anything until you've answered everything.

And if I could just plead with you this morning, there are 2,000 years worth of Christian philosophy and apologetics that can give an answer to your intellectual questions. That can speak to your doubts. But the reason that you persist at the end of the day in unbelief is not because you lack knowledge. It's because there is an unwillingness of your heart to believe.

You just say, I don't want this to be true. I don't want to deal with the implications of this being true. Friend, I just want to invite you to doubt your doubts. Jesus makes this really clear. John 3, verse 19. This is the judgment. Most people... Don't reject Jesus because they've done a detailed study about Jesus. No, they reject Jesus because they don't want Jesus. Because they don't want to obey and be told how to live. People would rather be their own God. Reminds me of...

A clip in one of my favorite movies, Lord of the Rings. Just kidding. I've never seen it. But it reminds me of a clip in one of my favorite movies, Remember the Titans. The setting takes place in 1970s Virginia. T.C. Williams High School has integrated. The school and particularly the football team are really working through it, but the city is having no part of it. And so after winning their first football game, the players go out onto the town to celebrate. Sunshine, the...

The rescue quarterback from California takes them into a restaurant, or he wants to. Sunshine is a white player. Petey, an African-American player, says, no, this is Virginia. And they don't want us in that restaurant. And Blue, the lineman, chimes in and says, yeah, man, they don't want us in there. And Sunshine says, no, come on, guys, that's just history. Like, come on, we can go in. And so they go in and...

If you haven't watched the movie, what is wrong with you? It's a great movie. But not to spoil this scene, but they get kicked out. And as they exit, Petey is hot. I mean, he looks and he's talking to Blue and he's like, I told him this is what was going to happen. I told him this was what's going to happen. And Blue comes to his defense and he's like, Petey, man, he didn't know.

And Petey looks at Blue and he says, no, the issue is that he didn't want to know. We told him and he didn't want to know. Regardless of the witnesses. Sunshine was blinded to the reality that segregation in Virginia existed. And Petey says, I told you. I told you, and yet you didn't want to know. Can I suggest that the world and its systems are like sunshine when it comes to Jesus? They don't want to know.

And John 3.19 says the reason they don't want to know is because they love their sin. They love the darkness. The sadness of this Christmas season is that millions will celebrate it, but they will reject the Savior. Wine and drink will flow forever. freely but the living water will go untouched. Many continue to live in darkness and they refuse to come into the light. And really the tragedy of this rejection only deepens in verse 11.

When we read that it's not just this generic world rejection. The world didn't know him. But verse 11. He came to his own. And those who were his own did not receive him. The know in verse 10 is further explained by the receive in verse 11. So when someone says, hey, do you know Jesus? We're using biblical language. That is, hey, have you received Jesus? Again, this volitional, not just mere knowledge, but this act of the will. What have you done with him?

His own. That could mean his own people like all humanity. But I agree with the overwhelming majority of scholarship that this is referring to the Jewish people to whom Jesus belonged. The Old Testament was written and it's awaiting the coming of the Messiah. And his own people missed him. I mean, you read Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6, for a child will be born to us.

A son will be given to us and the government will rest on his shoulders and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. You just think, how did they miss him? Like they were his treasured possession. They were his chosen people and yet they did not receive him. Isaiah 9-2 tells us why. Because they were a people who walk in darkness. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.

Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine upon them. God's people rejected Jesus when he came and shined his light.

Into their darkness. And just think about the account of the gospel. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, wherever you pick up, what do you find? You find the Pharisees despising Jesus. You find the scribes always wanting to debate Jesus. You find the Sadducees loathing Jesus. You find the chief priests accusing Jesus. You find the disciples doubting Jesus. Judas betraying Jesus. Peter denying Jesus.

Herod harassed Jesus. Pilate washed his hands of Jesus. Soldiers beat Jesus. And the Romans crucified Jesus at the demands of other Jews. These are the good conservative traditional folk. It's not just the world, the system out there that didn't receive him. His own reject him. And if you go back and you just trace with each of those, with the Pharisees and the scribes and the chief priests and the religious leaders.

What you'll find is that the rejection of Jesus is different, where the world can just scoff in unbelief. That's not what the religious folk do. No, what do the religious folk do? They do conditional acceptance. Jesus, we'll believe in you if you do this. Jesus, if you will affirm... all of our man-made rules in order to protect your rule, then we will follow you. Jesus, if you do not doubt and you do not stand at odds with what we're teaching, then you will get our allegiance.

And friends, that's the Messiah that so many even in our day want. It's not immediate rejection. It's eventual rejection. Whenever our conditions for him are not met by him. I will receive you if you do this. I mean, think about... Muslims, they accept Jesus as a great prophet of God, but not as the divine son of God, who is God himself. Think about the Mormons. The Mormons accept Jesus as a created being.

Born as a result of a marital union between God and his goddess wife. The Jehovah's Witnesses accept Jesus as the incarnation of Michael. One of the archangels who never rose bodily from the dead, but only spiritually rose. Christian scientists accept Jesus as an expression. of the true higher self that's present within each one of us. You see, as long as Jesus will meet their fixed conditions and systems, they will accept him.

In John chapter 1, verses 9 through 13, John is clear. You must receive Jesus on his terms. You must receive the light. You don't get to refract the light to fit your demands.

Friends, it's possible to think that we have received Christ when in reality we have not. Maybe a good question. to consider as you're assessing yourself is this, what problem do you believe receiving Jesus solves? What problem do you believe receiving Jesus solves? You could walk into churches all over the world this morning and you could hear something like this. Do you need purpose in your life? Do you need meaning in your life?

Do you feel insecure? Are you feeling lonely? Are you abandoned? Then receive Jesus because he will come into your life and he will give you meaning and he will give you purpose and he will give you friendship. And friends, I just want you to hear it this morning. That is not what the Bible says is why he came. That is not the gospel message. Does Jesus bring...

Meaning and purpose and wholeness and friendship? Of course he does. But the light of the world came into this world to save us from sin and from death and from hell and from the wrath of God. It's in the songs that we sing during this season. And so the need that Jesus comes to meet is our need to be delivered from the wrath of God for our sin.

We need Jesus to come near to us and bear his wrath for us. And that's where the good news of the Christian faith comes in. Not just that the story is pretty cute. When you have a baby in a manger, you begin to see, no, this one who's come has divine, warrior-like purpose. We need Jesus to come and to bear what we deserve. And that's what his perfect life does. His perfect life meets our need for righteousness. A righteousness that you and I could never earn.

And him coming, it's not just that his life matches our need, but his death on the cross, it meets the need that we have for God's wrath for our sin to be absorbed by another. If there's ever any hope for us escaping God's wrath, it's that there will be a wrath absorber. Praise be to God, this one who came, cute baby in a manger. to live a perfect God-honoring life, to die a God-wrath-absorbing death.

And his resurrection then on the third day meets our need to defeat the greatest enemies. And to allow us to do the very thing we were created to. Go back to Genesis. What do you find? God has created man to dwell with God. Our sin keeps us. From being able to dwell with God. And the resurrection says there's not an enemy that is left. Now and forevermore you can dwell with your God. Friend, if you are a sinner this morning under that deserving wrath of God, I want to remind you.

No matter how many religious people tell you this, it is not true. A little moral improvement is not your hope. It's not good just to think to yourself, yeah, well, hell isn't for good, hardworking, pretty moral people like me. No, the Bible says that we have all sinned and we have all fallen short of the glory of God. And the only just penalty for such cosmic treason against a holy God is an eternity of endless suffering.

And the good news of the Christian faith is that you can be spared of that and spared of a life of futility for however many years you have left. You can know what we celebrate this Advent season. You can know hope. And you can know peace. And you can know joy. Why? Because you can be forgiven. And if forgiven, then you can be a child of God. If you are not a Christian, I would simply ask you, I would beg of you, friends, turn from your sin and trust in this work of the word made flesh.

dwelling among us. It is your only hope. Receive Christ this morning as the answer to your sin problem, and then you will get all of the things he brings secondarily, meaning and purpose and friendship and wholeness. And friends, if you receive him, then you become a living testimony to our last point. Point number three, the true light was received. The true light was received.

We see this in verses 12 and 13. This is great news. If the rejection of the light was scandalous, It is great news that there are some who receive him. It is possible to receive him. And it starts with this excellent word in verse 12, but. It is possible to receive him and to become a child of God. What would have to happen for us to receive him? How in the world could rejecters of his light turn to receivers of the light?

Well, follow the logic of this verse. As many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name. Receiving and believing... are synonymous. And so again, when someone asks you, do you believe in Jesus? That is not an intellectual question. That is a volitional, what have you done? Have you received him? Have you welcomed him?

Those who believe in his name clarify what that means to receive him. The possibility of becoming a child of God is the consequence of receiving and believing in his name. believing on his name is to trust him as a person. It's an active verb. It's not merely intellectual agreement. It's the kind of belief that if it gets a hold of you, it alters everything about you. It changes how you live. It shapes who you are and it defines and determines what you do.

That's the kind of belief that John is after in these first few verses. When we believe, we yield ourselves to be possessed by God himself in whom we believe. That's what it means to believe in Jesus. Yielding yourself to be possessed by him and through his spirit. Putting all of ourselves into all of him.

And what happens for those who believe? He gives them the right. They have the authority. They're granted the privilege of becoming a child of God. Friends, this can fall on deaf ears because we think, well, we're all children of God. No. I realize there are songs about that. And true, we have all been made by him and we are all made for him. We are all not his children.

Because that only comes through being born again. That only comes through receiving and believing. And so if you walked in here this morning thinking, I don't believe in God, I don't follow him, I've never received him, but I'm okay because I'm one of his children. children. I may not be his favorite child but I'm at least in the family tree. I just want you to know there's no category for that. I love what J.I. Packer says in Knowing God.

He says, if you want to know how glorious the gospel is, J.I. Packer says, look at God as father. He says, the highest privileged... that the gospel offers, higher than even justification, being declared righteous before God, higher than that, is to be right with God. Or actually, he says, to be right with God, the judge is great. But to be loved and cared for by the Father is greater.

Packer goes on to say, if you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child and having him as his father. Piper then comes back to just say, if I could sum up the whole of the New Testament in just three words, what would it be? Adoption through propitiation. Adoption through a wrath satisfying. Sacrifice. And so it's not just that you get your sins forgiven. It's that you get him in the most intimate...

of relationships. He loves because you are his child.

Verse 13 tells us how we receive this right. We must be born again. And John is painstaking in verse 14. We're born not of blood, not of the will of the flesh. not of the will of man, but of God. He gives three negatives, and then he gives one positive as to what this new birth, being born again, means. And it clearly means that it is a work of God. New birth does not come about by human effort. You receive Christ. You believe on Christ. You become a child of God.

You're born again. The question that a lot of people want to know is well which one of these comes first? Is it our receiving of Christ that causes us to be born again or are we born again then to receive Christ? The theological term for this is what comes first? Does faith precede regeneration or does regeneration precede faith? Well, just think about it. What caused you to be born again? And if you think, I believe I acted, and when I believe, God then gave me new life.

Who then is the initiator? Not just making something possible. Who is the initiator in that? I believe John is clear here at the very outset of the gospel. This notion of being born again into the family of God is not a work that starts with us. John says this new birth is not the will of man. Being born of God causes us to respond to God.

Regeneration precedes faith. God acts first, just like he did at creation, just like he did at the incarnation, and he also does it in salvation. Let me just think about your first birth. What did you do? To get yourself born. You showed up. You were popped and you screamed. What did you do to get yourself born again? I mean, Romans chapter 3 is clear. There's none who are righteous. Everyone has fallen short. John chapter 3.

Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. All throughout the Bible, spiritual insight, spiritual life is always predicated on a work of God happening first.

This is radically good news this morning because it means none of us are beyond the reach of this good news. We may be tempted to think, well, yeah, the reason I'm not a Christian is because those who receive him, they're a little bit better. They come from a different background. They come from a more religious upbringing. And at the outset, John just makes it clear. No, there are some who receive him and that is owing to the grace and the work of God alone. Those who have rejected him.

You may hear John say to you this morning, receive him. Receive him. Despite your rejection, God has come to save. And if you have received him, your heart should explode this morning. Not literally, but your heart should explode with gratitude and worship because you are overwhelmed at the mercy and the grace. that the likes of you would be a recipient of such lavish love. John wants to overwhelm you this morning with gratitude and worship and thanksgiving.

And praise so that you would be sent out to testify to the good news of great joy. That's what the message of Christmas is. That the true light has come and some received him. This new birth is up to God. We each should busy ourselves with heralding that good news everywhere we go.

Watching him continue to show glimpses, reminders that true light has overcome the darkness. What's so special about Christmas? It's a celebration where God has become man and he makes man children of God. You may be prone at some point in the gift. giving traditions of this season. To show up somewhere, to have bought a gift for about $5.99 and to receive a gift from the same person. For a gift of $299. And when that happens, you feel terrible. I wouldn't know this. I always give great gifts.

Just assuming by some of your reactions that you would feel terrible. Why do you feel terrible? You feel terrible because the other person was so generous in the face of your... Modest generosity. The reality of the incarnation is that a priceless gift has been given. And friends, you didn't even show up with a $20 gift. You showed up with debt. A sin debt that you could never afford. And God has given. Everything. If you have not received the true light, we plead of you, come to him.

Those who most desperately need the light often resist the light. And so Christmas... is special because Christ has shown the glory of God into our hearts. And you don't have to clean yourself up to receive him. Every once in a while, we get breaking news. When life and death hang in the balance, Christian, God coming in the flesh changes everything. He has shone into the darkness. And the question before each of us is will we receive him or will we reject him? Let's pray.