His Light Gives Us Life

Amen.

Kiddos, you are now excused to your King's Kids class.

!

He was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.

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

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John, JTB, John the Baptist.

He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through Him.

He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, the Word, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

He, the true light, the Word, was in the world, and the world was made through Him,

yet the world did not know Him.

He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him,

but to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name.

He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh,

nor the will of man, but of God.

May God bless the hearing of His Word.

Christmas time is crooner time.

If you're not familiar with who a crooner is, typically a man, smoother operator, singer,

like Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby.

Jenny and I started watching Holiday Inn last night.

Modern day crooner, Michael Buble.

And of course, Nat King Cole.

And Nat King Cole's version of Hark the Herald Angels Sing is iconic.

Does everybody agree?

All right, let me just remind you of the third stanza of Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

We're going to close the service by singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing, but listen to this.

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace.

Hail the Son of Righteousness.

Light and life to all He brings, risen with healing in His wings.

Mild He lays His glory by Philippians 2.

Born that man no more may die.

Born to raise the sons of earth.

Born to give them second birth.

Hark the Herald Angels Sing, glory to the newborn King.

Now, wouldn't it be nice that when we do sing this at the end of the service,

that all of us would be singing this song with crooner-like voices?

Wouldn't that be great?

I mean, we all know there's only two men in the room who have crooner-like voices,

Zach and myself.

And so, it's okay.

We'll all make a joyful noise together.

I don't know why you're laughing.

What this Christmas carol gets at, this born to give them second birth,

is why Jesus Christ, the Word, became flesh.

To give a second birth.

Or, as I'm going to argue this morning from this passage,

His light gives us life.

So, believe in Him and live.

Last week in John 1, 1-8, we learned that the Word is a He, a person.

He was in the beginning.

And that's a Genesis 1-1 shout-out.

In the beginning, He was distinct from God the Father,

yet He was in relationship with God the Father,

yet He, the Word, was totally God.

And He, the Word, is the uncreated creator of all things.

In Him was life.

Not just physical life.

Eternal, spiritual life.

And that life is the true light of God's salvation shining into the darkness.

Think of Jesus as God's revelation of His salvation for sinners.

So, the question we're going to ask this morning is,

how do we respond to this light of life shining into our darkness?

Well, our culture responds to this incredible good news

with seasonal sentimentality.

You know what I'm talking about.

Just Christmas comes and goes in our culture.

Our culture doesn't pause to think about the good news of God becoming flesh.

But for Christians, we're always celebrating Christmas

because Jesus, once He became fully human,

has been fully human ever since and will remain fully human.

Totally God.

Totally man.

He is right now the light shining into the darkness of our world in 2025.

And so, by His light, we live.

So, I'm going to make three points this morning.

Reality, response, result.

A bright reality, a believing response, and a born-again result.

His light gives us life.

So, the way to respond is to believe and live.

So, let's look at a bright reality.

We see it in verses 9 and 10.

Let me just remind you of that.

The true light, which gives light to everyone who was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him.

Yet, the world did not know Him.

So, let's define some terms.

The true light.

That word true is the first time that John uses that word in this gospel.

And when you hear the word true, you need to be thinking real.

You need to be thinking what is.

But what we'll see is that John doesn't just use the word true to speak about reality.

John uses the word true to speak about ultimate reality.

Let me give you two examples.

In John 6.32, Nate Olson touched on this yesterday at the men's meeting.

Jesus refers to Himself as the true bread from heaven.

And what He's saying there is that unlike manna, which God gave to Israel in the Old Testament,

they ate it and then they got hungry again.

The true bread from heaven, you eat of Him and you will never be hungry again.

You eat of Him and you will be satisfied.

And so, what's being said there by Jesus Himself is that I am the ultimate bread.

The real, ultimate, soul-satisfying bread.

And then in John 15.1, Jesus calls Himself the true vine.

And what Jesus is saying there is that He is the ultimate vine.

We'll get there.

I'll explain that more when we get there months from now.

But in both examples, bread and vine, they are both life-giving examples.

And so, when we read about the true light, this is God's ultimate reality of salvation in Christ for the entire world.

It is the full and final revelation of God's salvation.

And so, do you remember Hebrews chapter 1?

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

Long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.

The full and final revelation of God and His salvation is in this true light shining in the darkness.

And we read that He was coming into the world.

This is the first reference in the Gospel of John of the incarnation of the second person of the Trinity.

How did the second person of the Trinity, who is eternally existent from eternity past,

How did He become a man?

Well, John 1.14 says,

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Well, how did He do that?

How did He become a human being?

Well, we know from the Gospels that the first person of the Trinity, God,

conceived the second person of the Trinity, fully God, fully man,

by the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, in the Virgin Mary's womb.

That's a miracle.

That's a triune miracle.

And that fulfills Isaiah 7.14.

The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel, God with us.

So, this true light was coming into the world.

It's actually ascending.

John 3.16, remember that?

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,

that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

And it's that word world that I just want to make sure we're all on the same page on.

If you look at verses 9 and 10,

you will see that the word world, it appears four times.

And my guess is when you hear the word world, you equate it with Earth.

You hear the word world, and you think of that iconic 1968 photo from the Apollo 8 space mission

of this picture that's titled Earthrise.

It is a spectacular picture of the Earth.

But it may surprise you that John doesn't always equate world with Earth.

Sometimes, even more often than not, John equates world with humanity.

And not just a neutral understanding of humanity.

Specifically, when John uses the word world,

he is speaking about sinful humanity in organized rebellion against God.

And that's how he's using it here.

The true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

The darkness.

He was in the world.

Sinful humanity in organized rebellion against God.

And the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

Do you know, this is just crazy.

The uncreated creator comes into the world that he made,

and the world doesn't recognize him.

It's shocking.

It's deeply ironic.

That the uncreated creator would come to his own as one of us,

but the world didn't recognize him.

The darkness, this sin in each of us,

this sin in each of us,

which Paul David Tripp describes like this,

but if the greatest danger to all of us lives inside of us and not outside of us,

then the radical intervention of the incarnation of Jesus is our only hope.

It is this new, bright reality shining into our darkness.

It's glorious.

Have you ever wondered why our culture doesn't celebrate the Christ of Christmas at Christmas time?

Because they're blind.

Living in the darkness.

They're trying to make sense of Christmas without Christ.

I used to do that.

This spiritual blindness that's a result of living in the darkness,

of being dead in our sin,

it goes by another name.

It goes by the name unbelief.

The true light of life is shining today,

but the darkness of sin blinds us to this bright new reality,

this new creation that has dawned

and is shining into our darkness

for all to see,

but not everybody is going to see it.

So we move from this bright new reality,

this true light shining,

God's salvation shining into our darkness,

and now let's talk about how to respond.

A believing response.

How do we who are spiritually dead

and blind,

how do we respond to the true light shining in the world?

Well, this passage in verses 10 and 11

shows us two responses.

Those in darkness respond to the true light

in one of two ways.

Either you will not receive Jesus,

or you will receive Jesus.

You will not have eyes to see Him,

and you will respond to Him in unbelief,

or you will be given eyes to see Him,

and you will respond in belief, in trust.

Let's look at this first one.

Those who do not receive Him.

This unbelief.

We already saw in verse 10,

the world sinful humanity

in organized rebellion against God.

Well, they did not know that.

They didn't recognize Him

because of their sinful blindness,

their moral blindness,

their moral wrongdoing.

And if you turn just a couple pages

in the Gospel of John

to John 3,

not 16,

but 19,

you will see

why

people do not

see

the Christ.

We read this.

And this is the judgment.

The light has come into the world.

The Word is shining.

And people love the darkness

rather than the light

because their works were evil.

They were blinded.

You see,

what ultimately is going on here

is a heart condition

for those who are apart from Christ.

If their hearts,

they love the darkness

more than the light,

and so they remain blind

to the light shining

around them,

to them,

through Christ.

in verse 11,

we learn that

not only did He come

to the whole world,

He came to His own.

And He's speaking

of the Jewish people.

And of all the people

on the planet,

His own,

the Jewish people,

should have recognized Him

and received Him,

believed in Him,

submitted to Him,

found life in Him

because the Old Testament Scriptures

had been testified

to the coming of this one

since Genesis 3.

Genesis 3.15

speaks of this offspring of Eve

who will crush the head of the serpent.

That's the first,

it's called the proto-evangelium.

It's the first gospel

of the coming of the second person

of the Trinity.

In Genesis 12 and in Genesis 22,

we learn of this offspring of Abraham

in whom God will bless

all the nations of the earth.

In 2 Samuel 7,

we learn that David,

there will be a descendant of David

who will sit upon His throne forever.

Psalm 110 fulfills that.

Isaiah 7.14,

a virgin will conceive

and give birth to a son

and His name shall be called Emmanuel.

Isaiah 9.6 and 7,

there's this child born,

the son given,

and His name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

which is a reference to kingship,

Prince of Peace.

Of His government and of peace,

there will be,

of the increase of His government

and of peace,

there will be no end.

Isaiah 40, Isaiah 53

are all anticipating this one coming,

but His own people,

they were unwilling

because they were living in darkness,

loving the darkness

more than the light.

They did not receive

the promised Messiah.

And the result of rejecting

the true light of God's salvation

is steep.

It's not something that's easy to hear.

It's God's judgment you face.

It's God's wrath you face.

It's eternal suffering you face.

If you look at John 3,

not 16, not 19, but 36,

whoever believes in the Son

has eternal life.

Whoever does not obey the Son

shall not see life,

but the wrath of God

remains on him.

Not to receive the Word,

the true light,

will result in eternal condemnation.

That's what it means

is to not receive him.

It's spiritual blindness,

it's spiritual deadness,

it's unbelief.

But now let's look at

what it means to receive him.

And what it means to receive him

is spiritual sight,

it's belief.

And what we read in verse 12

is this,

but to all who did receive him,

who believed in his name,

he gave the right to become

children of God.

When we talk about

believing in his name,

what we're not talking about

is thinking that

if you just chant the name

Jesus Christ enough,

you will be saved.

In our culture,

when we talk about a name,

we're talking about

primarily designating

one human being

from another.

Like, there's Jim

and there's Lisa.

We're designating them.

There's Mike and Matt.

We're separating them.

We distinguish them

from one another.

But in the culture

that this was written in,

a name carried

all so much more.

it represented that person.

It's to believe in his name

is to believe in who he is

and what he's done.

To believe in all of who he is.

To believe that he is

the true light,

shining.

To believe that he was

in the beginning,

that he was distinct from God,

but with God.

To believe that he's fully God

and yet fully man.

It's to believe

that he is God's salvation

shining into the darkness,

miraculously conceived.

Lived a sinless life,

died a substitute for sinners,

raised from the dead,

reigning on high,

will one day return,

will judge all,

and then he will recreate

the heavens and the earth

where we will be with him

forever face to face.

When we believe in his name,

we are saying

we believe that

he is Emmanuel,

God with us,

the fullness of that.

When we say

we believe in his name,

we're saying

you are the wonderful counselor.

You have the best,

wisest counsel of all.

We believe that

you are mighty God,

that you are God

in the flesh,

all powerful

in all that you do.

When we say

call him by name

and say you are

the everlasting father,

we are saying

you are the everlasting king

from here on out

and we bow our knee

to you.

When we say

you are the prince of peace,

we are recognizing him

as the one

who brings full

shalom

comprehensively

to our lives now

and ultimately

we'll bring the

full and final version

of that when he returns.

So when we talk about

believing in his name,

we're talking about

believing in all

of who he is

and what he's done.

He was born

to give us

second births.

I just want to camp out

on this idea of

this word believe

because I think

that there's some

misunderstanding out there

what this means.

In 112,

but to all who did

receive him

who believed in his name,

to receive Christ

is to believe in his name.

When we use

the word believe,

we generally use it

in one of two ways.

We use it as

like passive

acknowledgement.

I believe there's

a Bigfoot.

Or we use it

in terms of

like active trust.

I believe the stage

can hold my weight

and I'm demonstrating

that belief

by standing on it.

I live by

Lincoln Park

and Lincoln Park

is home

of the Lincoln Park

Lagoon.

Anybody been there?

Yeah.

Anybody be on the bridge?

Yes.

Right now it's frozen.

Let's say you and I are,

you and me,

you and I,

we are standing

on the sidewalk

looking at

Lincoln Park

Lagoon

and it's frozen.

I pull out

a crisp $100 bill

and you're like,

ooh.

I'm like, yeah.

I pick up a rock.

I wrap

the $100 bill

around the rock.

I wrap

some elastic bands.

I drop it

into a very bright

yellow festival bag.

Wrap the end

and I toss it

into the middle

of Lincoln Park Lagoon

so it's sitting

on the top of the ice

in the middle

of the lagoon.

And I look to you

and I say,

it's yours for the taking.

What would you need

to do

in order to make

that $100 yours?

You would have

to exercise faith,

wouldn't you?

You would have

to step out

on the ice.

Now, if you're

standing next to me

and I look to you

while the yellow bag

is in the middle

of the lagoon

and you say,

oh, I believe that.

I believe that ice

can hold my weight.

I will say to you,

no, you don't.

You don't believe that.

You say you believe that,

but you don't believe it.

Why?

Because you're

standing next to me.

Now, if you walk out

onto the ice,

pick up the bag,

and you're like,

I believe.

I would say,

yes, you do.

That $100 is yours.

You see,

when it comes to belief,

what we're talking about

is the object

of your faith.

What you're actually

trusting in.

What you're actively

trusting in.

Not what you think

you're trusting in,

but what you're

actually trusting in.

And when it comes

to Jesus Christ

and salvation,

passive acknowledgement

does not save you.

Even the demons believe.

It is this active trust.

It is stepping out

onto the ice

of Jesus,

of His name,

of all that He is

and what He's done.

And you might walk

out there

and you're like,

is it going to hold

my weight?

He will hold your weight.

That,

if you want to push

the analogy,

that ice,

like,

goes through

the entire planet Earth.

It is,

He is

fully trustworthy.

And when it comes

to your salvation,

there's no one else

that can save you.

there's no other

true light.

There's no other

God in the flesh

who paid for sins.

He's the object

of your faith.

And that act of trust

is what it means

to be convinced.

It's biblical faith.

It's biblical trust.

Now,

if you are not

a Christian in the room,

I've got a couple

questions for you.

Are you aware

of your own

sinfulness

towards God?

That when you do

something wrong,

not only are you aware

that you've disappointed

yourself and you've

hurt others,

but your sin

is against the God

of the universe.

Are you aware

of that?

If you are aware

of that,

that is God's

kindness to you.

He's making you aware

of your sinfulness

so that you

can become aware

of His salvation

in Jesus Christ.

And

to receive Christ

is something

you must do

to rescue you

from the darkness.

And it's not

some kind of

passive acknowledgement.

If you're not

a Christian,

you need to step

out onto Jesus

and He will

hold your weight.

And then you

keep stepping out

onto Jesus

for the rest

of your days.

that is the life

of faith,

trusting in Jesus

again and again.

Now,

if you are a Christian,

are you actively

trusting in your Savior?

Or are you

passively

acknowledging Him?

Have you just

kind of gone

seasonal sentimentality

with the Christmas season

and you're just

kind of going

through the motions?

Don't go

through the motions.

Just

give yourself

fully to Jesus.

Go all in

with Him.

Go out fully

on the ice.

Find joy

in Him

this Christmas season

that will go

beyond

the Christmas season.

And by the way,

there's no

havesies.

There's no

half in,

half out.

There's no

one foot

in the darkness

of the world

and one foot

in the kingdom

of light.

You know what?

You've seen those

videos of like

someone getting

on a boat

and that boat

is moving away

from the dock.

They've got one

foot on the boat

and one foot

on the dock

and it's spreading

and eventually

it's not going

to be good.

You need to make

a decision.

I used to live

that way

as a young man.

It was miserable.

If you're a

non-Christian,

if you're a Christian,

go all in.

Full all of your

weight,

all of your trust,

all of your

salvation,

all of your

future

onto Christ.

Two responses.

not to receive

Him,

unbelief,

eternal destruction,

or to receive

Him.

And what we see

happen

is the next

point.

The born

again result.

And this is in

verses 12

and 13.

Let me just

read it for you.

But to all

who did receive

Him,

who believed

in His name,

He gave the

right to become

children of God.

I hope your

heart,

Christian,

just rises

to that.

Who were born

not of the

blood,

nor of the

will of the

flesh,

nor of the

will of man,

but born of

God.

Miracle!

The immediate

result of not

receiving the

true light

is to remain

in the darkness,

is to remain

dead.

And eventually,

the ultimate

result of that

unbelief is to

be cast out

into the

outer darkness

where there is

weeping and

gnashing of

teeth,

if I may

quote Jesus.

But when you

believe,

when you

come into

the knowledge,

when the

light is

shining,

and you're

like,

I am a

sinner,

and you're

becoming aware

of these

things,

life has

come!

His light

gives us

life.

And there

were two

ways in

this two

verses that

that shows

up.

It's a new

status and a

new birth.

The new

status is

verse 12,

He gave us the

right to become

children of God.

He gave us the

right to become

children of God.

We believe,

and He gave us

the right to

become children

of God.

The best way

to understand

that is through

kind of a

legal framework,

a change of

your legal

status in

God's eyes.

You've heard us

talk about

justification

along these

lines.

The same

applies to

adoption.

Before,

when you were

in the world,

you were

spiritually dead,

blind.

You were a

rebel under

God's wrath.

But now,

the light has

shone.

there's life

that's resulting

in a belief

that you see,

that you see

who God is,

you see who

you are,

and when you

believe,

it's evidencing

that you have

been given

new life,

and you're

made a child

of God.

Have you ever

needed to bring

your birth

certificate

somewhere to

prove your

identity?

You need to

bring your

papers?

If you

believe in

his name,

not passive

acknowledgement,

but active

trust,

you have

been legally

declared a

child of the

living God.

You're legally

his.

John 1.12

becomes your

adoption

certificate.

you're like,

oh,

I don't know

why I believe,

but I believe

in Christ

alone for the

forgiveness of

my sin.

I believe who

he is.

I believe what

he's done.

I believe apart

from him,

there is no

salvation on

those grounds

by believing

you have been

given the

right of

sonship,

of daughtership.

God's

irrevocable.

Once you've

been legally

adopted by

God,

you'll always

be God's

child.

It's

status.

It's legal

status.

And if you're

in the room

right now and

you're thinking,

well,

isn't that

convenient?

I just need

to call upon

Jesus,

I'll be

declared a

child of God,

and then I

can do

whatever I

want to do.

Blank

slave,

you know,

got a

blank check.

Do you know

how someone,

how you can

see if someone's

a legitimate

child of God

or not?

Has this

faith in

his name

resulted in

life change?

When you

believe in

the Son,

when you

believe in

him,

it will result

in becoming

like him.

When you

have a new

status of

becoming a

child of

God,

it will result

in a new

way of

living as

God's

children.

So you

have a new

status.

But you

also,

it comes

from the

result of

a new

birth.

In

verse 13,

we were

born,

not of

blood,

nor the

will of

the flesh,

nor the

will of

man,

but of

God.

You

could also

read it

as you

were born

of God.

Those who

believe in

his name

experience a

new kind

of life.

In

John 3,

Jesus

meets with

a Jewish

religious

leader in

the dead

of night.

His name

is Nicodemus.

And Jesus

tells him,

you must

be born

again.

And then

he goes

on to

explain to

him that

this being

born again

is a

working of

the Holy

Spirit of

God.

And the

way you

know that

the Holy

Spirit is

moving,

it's like

the wind

in the

trees.

You can't

see it,

you see

the results

of it.

It's not

of blood.

It's

becoming a

child of

God,

being born

of God

is not

the result

of your

bloodline.

Becoming a

child of

God is

not the

result of

the will

of the

flesh,

of sexual

union.

It's not

the result

of human

procreation.

It's not

that.

That's not

how you

become a

child of

God.

Nor is

it the

will of

the flesh.

No,

excuse me,

the will

of man.

You cannot

will

yourself

into becoming

a child

of God.

Nor can

you will

someone

else to

become a

child of

God.

And what

these three

little statements

have that are

all like

negative

statements,

not of

blood,

nor the

will of

flesh,

nor the

will of

man,

what all

these have

in common

is a

denial of

a human

centered

cause to

becoming a

child of

God.

We don't

make ourselves

children of

God.

We don't

have the

ability to

make ourselves

or others

children of

God.

Only God

can cause

this second

birth.

Only God

can make us

his children.

We must

be born

again.

That which

is born of

the flesh

is flesh.

That which

is born of

the spirit

is spirit.

And what

Jesus is

talking about

is this

new creation

that dawned

at his

birth,

at his

coming.

This new

creation in

which this

new light

of life

is shining

into the

darkness.

And that if

you can see

him and see

your sin and

believe in

him,

you will be

made new.

You will be

born again.

This is

fundamentally a

different kind

of life.

This is

eternal life.

This is

spirit-given

life.

And this

starts at

conversion.

Now the

question that

this can

raise is a

chicken and

egg question.

Which comes

first?

Belief or

birth?

Do you

believe and

then you are

born again?

Or are you

born again and

then believe?

And what we're

talking about,

we are,

we are,

this is a

very nuanced

debate.

I believe

that the

Bible teaches

that we are

so sinful,

we are so

dead in our

sin,

that we are

spiritually

flatlined,

incapable of

anything,

anything towards

God.

We're dead to

God.

We're so

blind that we

are unable

to believe

without the

spirit of

God first

giving us

life.

In other

words,

God must

give us

a new

heart in

order to

believe.

It's this

regeneration

miracle.

And these

things happen

so quickly

that they're

very difficult

to parse

out.

In order

for you to

see the

true light

that is

shining,

that gives

life and

believe,

it is all

a work of

God's grace

beginning to

end.

To truly

live,

you have a

new status

because of

the new

birth.

And you

know what it

makes you

want to do?

If you're

getting this,

it makes you

want to

sing.

It makes you

want to

like,

glory to God

in the

highest.

It makes you

want to say,

God, you are

amazing to do

this.

You,

Jesus,

were born

to give

me second

birth,

to give

you second

birth.

The

appropriate

response to

this is

worship.

His light

gives us

life,

and we

believe in

him and

live.

A bright

reality,

new reality,

a believing

response,

and a

born-again

result.

Because we've

been able to

see the true

light and

believe,

if you're a

Christian,

we are now

children of

God,

and so you

are.

We're going

to finish

up in a

second.

I'll pray,

and then we'll

sing Hark the

Herald,

Angel Sings.

But if this

morning you've

realized you're

not a Christian,

you've just been

doing this passive

acknowledgement of

who Jesus is,

after we sing,

will you come

down front?

Let's talk.

Because today,

today, you can

become a

child of God.

Let's pray.

Father God,

thank you so

much for your

kind work of

your spirit.

Lord, we want

to behold your

son in his

glory.

We want to

behold his

face.

We want to

behold your

glory, God,

in the face of

Jesus Christ.

God, would you

do a work in

us this

December

2025,

that you would

move us from

a seasonal

sentimentality

into a deep,

abiding,

active trust

in you.

God, as we

sing,

hark the

herald angels

sing,

would you

stir our

hearts all

the more

towards you.

In Jesus'

name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.