Jesus, the Living Logos, is enduringly the same today as He always has been: “He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:2, NKJV). There was no personality change in this Person from the beginning of time until John’s day to our day to the last day of human history on into eternity.
The One Who spoke all things into existence and then transformed Planet Earth from a formless, empty, dark, water-submerged blob dangling in space to a beautiful place that reflected His own image is the same Person Who has power today to transform your life and mine.
The One Who offered all men of Noah’s day salvation from the storm of His judgment if they would come into the ark is the same Person today Who offers all men salvation from His eternal judgment if they come into Him at the cross. So . . . extend His offer to someone you know.
Today countless people look for a god within themselves or in crystals or in trees or in a former life or in some statue or in a religious experience or in the stars. But John declares the awesome truth that the glory of God is not confined in any of those things, just as it is no longer confined on a mountain or in a Tabernacle or as a cloud or fire or as a reflection on a face. Instead “the Word became flesh and lived for a while 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.”
John is saying emphatically, “I have seen Him!”
“I’ve seen Him when He was alone.”
“I’ve seen Him when He was surrounded by a crowd of people.”
“I’ve seen Him dead,”
“I’ve seen Him buried,”
“I’ve seen Him risen,”
“I’ve seen Him ascended.”
And in every situation I have seen Him full of grace and full of truth! I have seen the face of God-in the face of Jesus!
In his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul held the entire human race accountable for basic knowledge of God, which he declared “is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 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 men are without excuse” (Rom. 1:19-20, NIV). Even tribal people isolated in jungle huts or desert tents have the fundamental testimony of creation. Through the faithfulness of the sun to rise and set, through the orderly pattern of the stars in the sky, through the miracle of reproduction and birth, and through a myriad of other silent witnesses, the human race has been confronted with the truth. And unless we deliberately repress what we instinctively recognize in the silent witness, we would acknowledge and come to the truth.
The real reason many people reject Jesus, at least in the Western Hemisphere, is repression and rejection of what they instinctively know to be the truth – that there is one, true, living God who created us all and has revealed Himself through the Person of Jesus Christ.
The Christian life is motivated, not by a list of do’s and don’ts, but by the gracious outpouring of God’s love and blessing. We want to live our lives to please God because before Jesus “the law was given through Moses” (John 1:17a, NIV). Think of the law as summed up in the Ten Commandments.
The law didn’t make us feel better. It made us feel worse.
The law didn’t help us to be good. It revealed how bad we were.
The law didn’t give us joy or peace. It made us feel guilty.
The law didn’t help us measure up. It showed us we fall short.
The apostle Paul said the law was like our schoolmaster, teaching us how much we need a Savior. But “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17b, NIV) because He perfectly fulfills the law. His life measures up to the standard established by the law, and when we receive Him by faith, His righteousness is credited to us. Therefore in Christ we too fulfill the law.
Jesus Christ is the true Light that gives light to every man and woman. There is no other light! Other religions and peoples may have some truth, but only Jesus Christ is the truth for everyone who has ever been born into the human race, regardless of culture, age, nationality, generation, heritage, gender, color, or language.
There is not a Light for America and a Light for Africa and a Light for China and a Light for Europe and a Light for India – there is only one Light for the entire world for all time, for every person, and His name is Jesus. That’s why John bore witness to the Light. That’s why you and I share our faith, present the Gospel, and refuse to be intimidated by a multicultural, pluralistic world.
