2021 Christmas Advent Day 13: The Fountain of Life and Light visits His people

• Main Passage: John 1:4-5
  • In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness could not take hold/overtake it.
• In these verses we are told that within Jesus is life. The life that was in Him was the light of all men. In verse nine, John literally says Jesus “had been existing as the True Light, who is now illuminating every man that is coming into the world.” [John 1:9] Jesus had been existing long before coming to earth as The True Light, before coming to this world as a child. And even up to this day Jesus continue to illuminate men through His life. Jesus’ life illuminates for us who God is: His life perfectly shows us The Father. In John’s epistle, he writes,
  • “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning The Word of Life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with The Father, and was manifested unto us;)” [1 John 1:1-2]
    • John calls Jesus “The Word of Life.” Jesus Himself said, “search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” [John 5:39] Jesus claims here to be the fulfillment of all scripture, that every jot and every tittle speaks of Him. What an outrageous statement (if it were not true)! The Bible speaks of Jesus: and it speaks only of Him. Psalms says, “Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me.” [Psalms 40:7] And this is quoted in Hebrews, being applied to Jesus, “Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith…Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,)…” [Hebrews 10:5; 7] All of the scriptures tell us of Jesus, and John shows us that Jesus is The Living Word, i.e., The Word of Life.
• Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as The Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to The Son to have life in Himself.” [John 5:25-26] Jesus claims that the very life The Father possesses and has always possessed, being The I Am, He too possessed in full. Again, Jesus said, “I am The Resurrection, and The Life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die…” [John 11:25-26] And, “I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life…” [John 14:6] It can hardly be said that Jesus never claimed equality with The Father; but Jesus didn’t just claim equality in status, He claimed absolute equality in name as well. Jesus was, as Hebrews says, the exact representation of The Father: His life was and is The Fathers: there is no difference.
  • It is this life which is “the light of men.” It is in this life, in the very face of Jesus, that we are illuminated in our hearts to see “the knowledge of the glory of God.” [2 Corinthians 4:6] We are “beholding as in a glass the glory of The Lord” [2 Corinthians 3:18] in the face of Jesus: and that glass (mirror) is God’s word. James calls this “glass,” the “perfect law of liberty.” [James 1:23-25] But if any are unable to see this, it is because “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” [2 Corinthians 4:4] But though some be blinded, yet darkness has not won; John says “the darkness could not overtake it.” The Sun shines just as brightly even though some refuse to look up; it cannot help but shine. Likewise, Jesus shines today: His beautiful life which brought us the true revelation of God continues to shine gloriously to those who will turn to Him; for, “when a man shall turn to The Lord, the vail shall be taken away.” [2 Corinthians 3:16]
• Jesus’ life is not just an historical memorial; it is not just etched upon perishable scrolls with the weakness of ink through human intellect and memory, nor is it existing only in the minds of decaying men like us, which may be liable to become extinct if not passed down (as if it was some vain tradition). Jesus is alive today! He is yet still The Life and The Light. And to those who take hold of Him through His word and prayer, who seek Him out in intimate fellowship: that very life can be theirs as well. Jesus did not say in vain, “because I live, ye shall live also.” [John 14:19] And Paul did not half-heartedly proclaim, “The last Adam was made a life-giving spirit.” [1 Corinthians 15:45] For if Jesus is dead: if that glorious fire of life has long died, “[we] are yet in [our] sins” and “we are of all men most miserable.” [1 Corinthians 15:17; 19] If that life of Jesus is not attainable, if we cannot possess nor perform the purity, the power, the holiness, the joy, the patience, the love, or the peace of Jesus: then let us die! For then life is not life at all! Did not Jesus say, “I am The Light of the world: He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”? [John 8:12] Or yet again, “I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness”? [John 12:46]

Questions for Day 13

1. Jesus has come to earth as a man. He greatly humbled Himself to do so; and in glorious, magnificent triumph, He rose again and ascended to heaven. That is the grand thing of our faith: we do not hope in an idea, nor a philosophy, nor a memory, nor a strategy of living life. We hope in a living person. And that living person did not rise from the grave so that we might live a distraught, empty, unfulfilled, powerless, sin-filled life. He rose so that He literally might inhabit our hearts and His literal and real life might flow abundantly out of us. These are not the words of men but of Christ Himself, who promises to those who believe in Him, “out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” [John 7:38] What an awesome promise! What an incredible thing! The very life of Jesus, who is the fountain of living water, can flow from our lives! We are not slaves to discouragement, nor to lust, nor to materialism, nor to complaining, nor to impurity, to nothing at all but Jesus Christ and His righteousness! How does Jesus say He lived His life? How can we obtain His life? [Answer: John 5:19-30 & John 15:1-17]
   • Reflect: On this earth, Jesus was absolutely determined. He was zealous for the glory of God; He never did anything of His own accord, but all of His life was given to Him through The Father. Jesus said that unless a grain of wheat dies it will abide alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. If we do not see life nor fruit, we have not died. We must follow Jesus’ example and die to our own desires.
   • “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” [John 12:24-25]