I remember being stunned when I first realized from Genesis 1 that there was light on earth before the sun was created.
And then—when I read in Revelation 21 and 22 that there isn’t any sun in the Holy City John saw because God’s glory gives it light and Jesus is its lamp—I remember trying to get my mind around how that will be.
But between Genesis 1 and Revelation 21-22, the light of Jesus is also at work on the earth right now—in ways that change everything for us personally.
Jesus shines in the darkness, giving you the way to become a child of God.
In John 1:1-18 & 29, John the elder tells how God sent John the Baptist (another John), to tell about the light so that everyone might believe in Jesus. This also explains how you can become a child of God!
Summary:
- Through Jesus, you can believe in God.
- The way to become a child of God is to receive Jesus, and believe in his name.
- God desires to give you his unfailing love and faithfulness, and one good gift (“gracious blessing”) after another, including taking away your sin.
Full text:
In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
He came into the the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.'”
From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
John 1:1-18 (NLT, bold emphasis mine)
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!“
John 1:29 (NLT, bold emphasis mine)
Photo credit: Diana Orey, Unsplash
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