“I am the light of the world …” (John 8:12, NKJV)
We are still engaged in the necessary detour concerned with the immense importance of fruit of the Spirit. In the previous teachings we learnt that in the eternal seed of Christ is a secret life through which the believer lives. This fruit exists so that the entire world can eat of it and live. But it also has a wondrous, secret goal.
We first read of seed in Gen. 1:11-12: “Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth’; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” There are trees that yield seed, and there are trees that bear fruit, in which their seed is found.
In Gen. 1:29 the discussion around seed continues: “And God said, ‘See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.’” Webster Dictionary defines the meaning of the lemma ‘seed’ as follows: “The substance … which nature prepares for the reproduction and conservation of the species. The seeds of plants are a deciduous part, containing the rudiments of a new vegetable. In some cases, the seeds constitute the fruit or valuable part of plants, as in the case of wheat and other esculent grain; sometimes the seeds are enclosed in fruit, as in apples and melons.” In some instances the seeds are eaten, in others the seed is swallowed once the fruit is eaten.
Then, in Gen. 3:15, the same word is used in the sense of the result of human and animal reproduction, the idiomatic “fruit of the womb” (Gen. 30:2): “Progeny; offspring; children; descendants …” (see Gen. 4:25 where child and seed are used interchangeably), as well the physical human/animal substance that leads to descendants, in other words semen or ova (although there is, for instance, a different word in Hebrew that is specifically used for semen). The enmity and accompanying struggle between the seed of the snake and the seed of the women became one of the biggest epic themes of the world. Deut. 28:4 is a verse in which the semantic reach of the word seed is largely seen: “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.”
If we then describe the physical nature of seed, we need to also get to the million-dollar question – what is the life in the seed? Where does it come from? What is potentially nestled in the seed that contains everything for which the seed is predestined? How can life hide in the seemingly dead hull that contains it?
In all seed is nestled a law – “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2). It is a law, as it is an unchanging, eternal truth and reality. Luke 8:11 provides a key to the secret of this mystery: “The seed is the word of God.” Word here is Logos, or then – Jesus. In Him, we know from John 1:4, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” The Lamsa-translation phrases it in this way: “The life was in him …” The NJB translates it as follows: “What has come into being in him was life …”
One could thus rightly note that Jesus the Logos is the germ cell of all life, thus also within the seed.
In 1 Pet. 1:23 the following unfolding truth about seed is given, as Peter explains, we, “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word [LOGOS] of God which lives and abides forever”. Then he continues in the following verse, noting that man, despite the fact that he has gained life from an eternal seed (and for that matter, eternal life), he is still contained by his mortal flesh: “because ‘All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away …” In addition to this we find the following verse: “But the word [RHEMA] of the Lord endures forever.” Take note: this Logos life is not “the breath of life” (Gen. 2:7) that received all forms of life, although it is also breathed by God – Acts 17:25 does after all argue that “He gives to all life, breath, and all things”. There is thus a different life-in-Logos of which John 1:4 speaks, which is a law of life, and not, for instance, the presence of breath (as sign of life in man and animal).
Very important – the life of John 1:4 which is in the life-as Logos, is manifested by light: “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” But this light is also not physical light, like for instance the light of the sun or stars. John 8:12 calls it “the light of life,” and realises that this life-as Logos specifically became “the light of men”. What would this mean?
To understand this mystery, we have to notice that John 1 stands parallel to Gen. 1, and that John is specifically placing these two in parallel in order to deepen the two origin stories. In Gen. 1:3 God’s first act of creation is to create light: “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” This was not the creation of the sun and moon, as these heavenly bodies were only created on the fourth day of creation (Gen. 1:14-18). Now compare this to the creative expression as it is presented in John 1:1-4: In the beginning was the Word → All things were made through Him → In Him was life → the life was the light of men. In Gen. 1:3, when God says “Let there be light!” the potential of Life is already in the Logos-Word Jesus (“in Him was life”), and this life becomes manifest in light.
This light becomes manifest against the darkness (“darkness was on the face of the deep” – Gen. 1:2). The distinction between light and darkness, that are respectively presented as day and night (Gen. 1:5), can easily be misunderstood. Day is thus not the period when the sun shines, as the sun has not yet been created (and in addition, it does not mean that the sun is absent during the night, as it continues to shine on the other side of the earth)! Day and night are thus types of a different order rather than specific indications of time, as 1 Thess. 5:5-8 makes undeniably clear:” You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.” The same idea that underpins day/night is for instance found in the following Scriptures:
- “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.” (Rom. 13:12-13).
- “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.” (1 Thess. 5:4).
We must now clearly understand what that light is. Isa. 9:2 prophesied about this light, that it would be the sign of the Messiah (according to the affirmation of Matt. 4:16): “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” Also in Isa. 49:6: “I will also give You as a light …” (confirmed in Luke 2:32 and Acts 13:47). It was indeed Jesus of whom John the Baptist was testifying in John 1:9: “That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.”
These two very clear statements made by Jesus highlights this likening to Light:
- “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’” (John 8:12).
- “Then Jesus said to them, ‘A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.’” (John 12:35-36).
From these two verses there are four specific acts that need to lead to a relationship with Light – the Light must be followed, one must walk in the Light, one must believe in the Light, and we need to become children (or then, seed!) of the Light. In his book John’s Creation: A Model for Understanding the Gospel of John, John Pople provides the following definition of light in his writing to the apostle John: “A spiritual metaphor for understanding” (p. 40). This may initially seem too simple, but let’s think about this concept for a bit. God generated Jesus in eternity, “begot” (Ps. 2:7) Him. In and through Him God created all things (John 1:3; Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16-17). As expression to all things that are in darkness in the created reality, namely the realm of the dead (remember the teachings of Day 1307-1309), He manifested Himself as Light – that Light was Logos, the manifested thought of the intentions of the Father, revelation that can be followed, revelation that can be walked in, revelation that can be believed, and revelation from which children of the light can be born. Jesus was the complete “expression” or imprint of God (Heb. 1:3), but it needs to be made understandable to humanity (Eph. 3:18). The covering of revelation or light may no longer be allowed: “the god of this age (who) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, in order for the light of the good-news of the glory of the Christ (who is a likeness of God) not to shine forth to them” (2 Cor. 4:4, ACV).
Matt. 6:23 makes it clear: “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Your eye metaphorically points to your way of seeing, “the eyes of your understanding” (Eph. 1:18). In Acts 26:18 Jesus explains that He now sends Paul “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God”.
Thus, as John 9:5 states, in the words of Jesus: “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” But now the following dispensation has started: “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14)! Indeed: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8).
If the Light of Genesis is Jesus, it has to also include the Christ. After all: “He [LOGOS} … who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word [RHEMA] of His power” (Heb. 1:2b-3). This life (which is in the light), is imparted to the believer in a very special way – as SEED in the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of Light, that they bear. This creates a spiritual space of understanding in which the godly fruit (2 Pet. 1:7) opens people’s spiritual eyes – without it humanity remains shortsighted and blind (2 Pet. 1:9). “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.” (Prov. 11:30).
- Selah: Explain Gen. 1 and John 1’s opening verses to someone.
- Read: Ezra 7-10; Neh. 1-5.
- Memorise: 2:18.
- For a more in-depth understanding: Read John Pople’s book.
