You may be seated. Children, you are excused to your King's Kids class.
And if you would please open up your Bibles to John chapter 1. It's on page 1053 of your Pew Bible.
Last week, this past week, I picked up my daughter Mary at her school out west on 50.
It's dark, traveling back eastbound on 50, getting to the bridges before Menards.
You know where I'm at?
And I look up into my rearview mirror and behold, flashing red and blue lights.
This was not my first experience with that.
And of course, the first thing I did was look at my speedometer.
And then lo and behold, the lights have come up onto my left.
What? What's going on?
It was an SUV.
And the whole thing was wrapped in Christmas lights.
And it was like, you know, there's this rhythm going on with them as they're cruising along.
Has anybody wondered where Christmas lights come from?
What's the origin story of Christmas lights?
And so, I, this week, did some vast research on the World Wide Web.
And my theory was confirmed.
Christmas lights that shine in the darkness in Christmastime,
they speak a word of the true light which came and is shining in the darkness,
Jesus Christ.
The Word become flesh.
God incarnate.
He is shining in the darkness.
Now, if you ask most people in the city of Kenosha,
why do we have Christmas lights?
I'm guessing you'd get one of three answers.
Tradition.
The other one would be something like,
man, I remember putting Christmas tree lights up with my dad or my mom,
so there's a sentimentality about it.
Or more, it's kind of like, you know what?
It just helps us get into the Christmas mood.
Well,
the origin of Christmas lights has largely been forgotten,
disconnected by our culture from its origin story.
The true Christmas light is the light of Jesus Christ.
And he is shining into the darkness.
The true light is shining life into the darkness of the world.
And so, this morning what I'm going to do is,
I want you to follow with me in verses chapter 1 of John, 9 through 13,
and I'm going to make three points.
The light radiating,
the light rejected,
and the light received.
The light is radiating life this morning.
So, the light radiating.
Verse 9, we read,
the true light,
which gives light to everyone,
was coming into the world.
Now, if you haven't been with us for the last couple weeks,
you might be thinking,
light?
What is this light all about?
Well, let's trace it back from verse 9.
In verses 6 and 8,
there's this guy named John,
JTB,
John the Baptist.
And in verse 8,
he's not the light,
but he came to bear witness to the light.
So,
John the Baptist is not the light,
but he's bearing witness to the light.
Who's the light?
Verse 5,
there's this light that is shining in the darkness.
Verse 4,
this light that is shining in the darkness to men
is the light of life.
You see,
this light is the radiance of life.
Eternal life.
And in verse 4,
at the very beginning,
you see,
in him was life.
And the life was the light of men.
Who's the he?
We go into verse 3.
The he is the creator of all things.
In him,
all things were made.
Without him,
nothing that was made was made.
So,
this light is this life,
who is a he,
not John the Baptist,
and the creator of all,
in verses 1 and 2,
in the beginning was the Word.
And the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
The light is the life,
the creator of all,
who is the Word.
The greatest expression of God ever has walked the earth.
He's distinct from God,
but he is fully God.
The Word.
And we learn in verse 14,
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Verse 17,
we are told the name of this person,
Jesus Christ.
So,
all the way back to verse 9,
the true light
is Jesus Christ.
And he came into the world.
He took on flesh.
The eternal second person of the Trinity
became a man.
That's who the light is.
And he's radiating life into the darkness.
I want you to actually see one word in verse 9.
Let's drill down a little bit more.
It's the word true.
The true light.
Now,
I'm guessing you hear the word true,
and the opposite of the word true is false.
false.
But in the Gospel of John,
in fact,
in John's writings in the New Testament,
John will use that word true
in a little bit different sense.
In fact,
we see it
in John chapter 6
and John chapter 15
of the Gospel of John.
It actually means ultimate.
Full,
ultimate
reality
of something.
So,
in John chapter 6,
I'm not sure if you remember,
this,
Jesus has just fed the 5,000.
He comes across the lake.
There's a bunch of Jews
who are asking,
hey,
show us a sign.
Just like Moses
showed us the sign of manna,
show us a sign,
Jesus.
And in chapter 6,
let me just read you
how Jesus responds.
Verses 32 and 33,
Jesus then said to them,
truly,
I say to you,
it was not Moses
who gave you the bread from heaven,
but my Father gives you
the true bread
bread from heaven.
For the bread of God
is he who comes down
from heaven
and gives life
to the world.
I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me
shall not hunger
and whoever believes in me
shall never thirst.
You get
Jesus' bread
bread
and you're satisfied.
And so what Jesus
is saying there
is that,
hey,
God gave the manna
to Israel
back in the day
and he fed them
every day,
blah, blah, blah.
I am the ultimate
bread manna.
You partake of me,
you'll never be hungry again.
There's another use of true.
It's in chapter 15,
verse 1.
Jesus says,
I'm the true vine.
And in Isaiah chapter 5
and chapter 27
in Isaiah,
God is describing
his people Israel
as a vine
that doesn't bear
any fruit.
And so what Jesus
is saying
in chapter 15
is he's saying,
I am the true vine.
I am God's Israel
and you abide in me
and you will bear
much fruit.
For apart from me
you can do nothing.
Both are talking
about life-giving things.
Bread,
the vine.
And Jesus is saying,
I am the ultimate,
the true bread,
the true vine.
And so when we read here
in verse 9,
the true life,
not only is he saying
something in contrast
to John the Baptist,
he wasn't the light,
the true light
Jesus is the ultimate light.
And what we learn
from verses 1 through 5
is he's the light of life
shining in the darkness.
He is the radiance
of eternal life
shining into the darkness
of sin and death
that we all live in
day in and day out.
The true light
is Jesus' ability
to impart eternal life
to those who are dead.
Those who receive
the true light,
they are miraculously
recreated.
He is the recreator.
So the light
shining eternal life
into the sin darkness
of the world
is none other
than Jesus.
He's radiating
his light of life
today.
Hey,
let me ask you a question.
Just between you
and me.
Where are you
looking for life?
Where are you
looking for that
soul-satisfying
life?
Maybe you think
it's the approval
of other people.
You're like,
oh,
I just want that person
to acknowledge me
and say,
good job.
And you think
that there's some
kind of life in that.
There's no life in that.
Not ultimate life.
Not Jesus' life.
Or maybe you've got
your heart set
on the next thing
that you're going
to purchase.
And you're thinking,
oh man,
if I only get that,
then,
man,
I'm going to be set.
It's going to be,
satisfy me.
I'll be happy.
You know what it is
for me right now?
I'll just be very candid.
I'll just be totally
honest with you.
I'm a mountain bike guy
and I happen to
fall into the
wrong way of thinking
once in a while.
I think
somehow
carbon fiber
handlebars
are going to
bring life
to me.
I shared with you
honestly,
I thought pants
a couple weeks ago
were going to do that.
And now I'm thinking
it's carbon fiber
handlebars.
And you know what?
That'd be great.
But you know what?
There's no life in them.
What's your carbon
fiber handlebars?
What's your next
purchase that you want
that you think
is going to give you life?
There's no life there.
Not Jesus' life.
Not ultimate life.
Not soul-satisfying life.
Or maybe this.
Maybe you'd like
to control things.
Because you think
if you can remove
all risks,
if everything's just right,
there's life.
There's no life there.
Your controlling things
will not bring about life.
The light of life,
Jesus,
that's where your
soul satisfaction is.
He's the true light
of life.
And when He shines
on you,
you're given life.
The light radiating.
Let's look at the
light rejected.
In verses 10 and 11,
we are reading something
that we already know.
we already know that
Jesus is not
welcomed by all.
We know that.
Verses 10 and 11
make that clear.
In verses 9 and 10,
there's a repeated word.
It's the word world.
And it's a very important
word to define right.
Whenever you're
reading your Bible
and you read
a repeated word
in a short amount
of biblical real estate,
it's usually emphasized.
something.
So what does
the world mean?
Let me just read it to you.
The true light
which gives light
to everyone
was coming into the world.
He was in the world
and the world
was made through Him.
Yet the world
did not know Him.
What in the world
is world?
So maybe you're thinking,
you know,
in your brain right now,
you have this iconic
photograph,
Earth rise,
1968,
the Apollo 8 crew
from the lunar surface
took a picture
of the Earth
swirling white clouds,
bright ocean waters,
the tans and browns
of land masses,
not even the world.
That's not how
John's using the world.
When John talks
about the world
in most of his writings,
whether that's John
or that first,
second,
or third John
or the book
of Revelation,
what John is talking
about is something
not nearly
as positive,
not nearly even
as neutral.
When John talks
about the world,
he's talking about
sinful humanity
in organized rebellion
against God.
In 1 John
chapter 2,
this will sound familiar
to many of you,
do not love the world
or the things
in the world.
If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father
is not in him.
For all that is in the world,
the desires of the flesh
and the desires of the eyes
and the pride of life.
I don't know
of any mountains
that have the desires
of the flesh
and the desires of the eyes
and the pride of life.
Those are human qualities.
That's darkness.
Sin darkness.
It's not from the Father,
but it's from the world.
The world is passing away
along with its desires,
but whoever does the will
of God abides forever.
The world walks in darkness.
The world is ruled
by its desire for sin.
In verses 9 and 10,
we read something
with that definition in mind.
John changes before your eyes.
In verse 10,
you see something
of incredible irony.
He was in the world,
the true light,
the creator.
And the world was made
through him.
Yet the world did not know him.
Anybody see Undercover Boss?
You have a CEO
of Fortune 500 company
who comes and dresses up
as kind of one of the grunts
of the company for a week
and he works with the grunts
for a week
or she works with the grunts
for the week
and at the end of the week,
there's this kind of reckoning.
People get fired.
People get bonuses
and things like that.
But what we're seeing
in verse 10
is not Undercover Boss.
It's incarnate God
with irony.
The very ones that
the Word created,
He comes to them
and they don't recognize Him.
Remember,
we just worked our way
through the Gospel of Mark
and in Mark 15,
the Gentile,
Pontius Pilate,
he looks at Jesus
first time
and he says,
are you the
King of the Jews?
Didn't recognize Him.
His Creator
didn't recognize Him.
It's very ironic.
And then verse 11
goes even more specific.
Out of all those
in the world
walking in darkness,
His own people,
the Jewish people,
who should have welcomed Him
as the Messiah King
because they had
the Old Testament
bearing witness to them
again and again and again.
There's one coming,
God in the flesh,
who'd rule on David's throne.
And they did not receive Him.
in Jerusalem,
they yelled,
crucify Him.
So,
most of the world,
including His very own people,
rejected Him,
the true light.
And the same is true today.
Most people living in darkness
who are blinded by their sin,
blinded by the evil one,
will reject the light.
They won't receive Him.
Like people who are seeing
millions of twinkling
Christmas lights
throughout the Christmas season,
they don't put it together
that they're pointing to Jesus.
Why would anybody
reject the light of life?
Why would anybody do that?
You want to know
a hard truth?
Turn in your Bible
to John chapter 3.
We all know 316,
but now with our working definition
of what the world is,
316 should pop
a little different.
For God so loved
sinful humanity
and organized rebellion
against Him
that He gave His only Son
that whoever believes in Him
should not perish
but have eternal life.
Look down at verse 19.
Why wouldn't anybody
receive Him?
And this is the judgment.
The light has come
into the world
and people loved
the darkness
rather than the light
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does
wicked things
hates the light
and does not come
to the light
lest his works
should be exposed.
People reject
the true light
because they treasure
the darkness more.
it reveals
the deadness
of their condition.
They're spiritually dead.
They have
no inclination.
Our problem,
our sin problem
as a humanity
is so deep
and extensive
we are rendered
incapable
of spiritually
reviving ourselves.
we can't give ourselves
life
because we're dead.
Do you know
what an EKG machine is?
Echocardiogram?
You get hooked up
to it
and it goes
beep, beep, beep, beep.
Let you know
there's a heartbeat.
If you hook up
a spiritual EKG
to someone who
is dead in their sin
you strap it to them
it's a flat line.
Beep.
beep, beep,
no heart
for God
at all.
Spiritually dead.
And then think about this.
When you have a bunch
of spiritually dead people
gathered together
to accomplish things
organizing
it's not necessarily
going to be pretty
all the time
is it?
The world
is
sinful humanity
and organized rebellion
against God
and it
creates
currents.
So what this means
is
our spiritual
depravity
is worse
than we think.
There's a warning here
if
in 336
Jesus says
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
on her.
if you haven't
received
the true light
if you haven't
believed in the
true light
not only are you
in darkness
not only are you
dead in your sin
God's just
wrath
remains
over you
the stakes
are high
and into
this world
the true
light
shines.
The light
rejected
our spiritual
depravity
is worse
than we can
think
we can imagine
but
God's love
is greater
than we can
fathom
for God
so loved
the world
that the true
light shines
into the darkness.
The light
received
verses 12
and 13
so
all of humanity
is in darkness
all of humanity
apart from Christ
are dead
in their sin
but
for some
miraculously
some
receive
the true
light
and are
recreated
they're given
new life
the light
of
recreation
shines
life
in verse 12
we read
this
but to all
who did
receive him
in contrast
to those
who did
not receive
him
verse 11
but to all
who did
receive him
you know
that word
receive
in the original
language
it actually
is the
common use
for welcoming
people
you receive
people into
your home
you welcome
them in
you're like
hey
good to see
you
come on
in
welcome
and when
you receive
someone
when you
welcome
someone
like that
you're
welcoming
them
that person
for who
they are
and you're
opening your
life to them
come on in
take a seat
let's start
a relationship
when
you
receive
Jesus
the true
light
you don't
receive
your version
of Jesus
you receive
Jesus
who is
eternal
creator
savior
revealer
king of kings
lord of lords
the true
light
the true
bread
the true
vine
that's who
you receive
now could you
imagine
Jesus comes up
to the front
door of your
house
knock
you open
the door a
little bit
you peek
out
who is
it
the true
light
what do you
want
to give
you life
forget about
it
close the
door
that's
not
receiving
Jesus
here's what
it looks like
to receive
Jesus
who is
it
the light
of life
come on
in
come on
in
all of
who you
are
you are
all welcome
to all
that I
am
mi casa
esu
casa
come on
in
you can
you have
right
because of
who you
are
to every
square inch
of who
I am
and that I
have
responsibility
for
it's
it's all
yours
welcome
that's what
it means
to receive
Christ
and in
this verse
John
clarifies it
even more
he says
but to all
who received
him
who believe
in his
name
who are
believing
in his
name
last week
I used an
illustration
to help
us understand
biblical
belief
do you
remember it
so hey
come on
let's go
hang out
mid-February
by Lincoln
Park Lagoon
and we're
walking around
the lagoon
and I ask
you hey
do you think
the ice
will hold
your weight
and you're
like yeah
sure I
believe it
will hold
my weight
but what
you're
actually
saying is
I accept
the possibility
that that
will hold
my weight
but when I
say hey
come let's
go out on
the ice
together
that's when
you start
to trust
the ice
that's
biblical
belief
that's how
it's being
used
here
to trust
in his
name
one commentator
talked about
his name
as not
simply like
the name
Jesus
but the
totality
of who
he is
so here's
what happens
when a
new
Christian
steps out
onto the
ice
of Jesus
they're kind
of timid
at first
is this
going to
hold my
weight
and he
holds your
weight
but then as
you mature
in Christ
you put
the skates
on
and he
starts
skating
and then
you start
doing
moves
because
your
belief
in him
is
delighting
in him
who
believe
in his
name
it's
joy
when
someone
receives
Jesus
they
something
miraculous
happens
something
out of
this world
happens
we see
it in
at the end
of verse
12
just
the beginnings
of it
but to all
who did
receive him
who believe
in his
name
he
the true
light
the word
he
gave the
right to
become
children of
God
that's
legal
terminology
for
adoption
the
moment
a sinner
believes
in Jesus
they're
justified
anybody
remember that
from August
yes
and they're
also
adopted
which is
another
legal
category
you have
you've been
given all
the rights
and privileges
of now
being in
the family
of God
all the
rights and
privileges
which means
you have
24-7
access to
the father
it's quite
a privilege
but there's
something else
in verse
13
in verse
13 we
read
those who
are given
this right
who were
born
that's
life
language
that's
new life
language
that's
the light
shining into
the darkness
and when
it shines
on those
who receive
who believe
something
happens
they're
born of
God
but did
you notice
the negatives
he says
who were
born
not of
blood
nor of
the will
of flesh
nor of
the will
of man
being born
of God
doesn't come
as a result
of your
royal blood
line
being born
of God
doesn't happen
as a result
of the will
of the flesh
something
of your
ethnicity
which side
of the tracks
you were born
on
it's not
like white
people have
unusual
access
to be
born
of God
over black
people
or brown
people
or yellow
people
or red
people
no
did you
read the
beginning
of verse
12
but to
all
who did
receive him
anyone
any sinner
who recognize
that Jesus
is the true
light of life
and receives
him
you take
all those
negatives
together
and you
know what
it means
there's
absolutely
no
human
contribution
to the
miraculous
work
of
regeneration
of a
sinner
into a
new
creation
absolutely
none
it's
completely
by God
by his
power
by his
grace
only he
is able
to change
someone dead
in their
sin
and give
them new
life
in Christ
we are
so dead
in our
sins
that only
God
only a
miraculous
work of
the regenerating
grace of
God
can give
us
new
life
that's
what it
means
to be
born
of God
and then
that's
what Jesus
talked to
Nicodemus
about in
John 3
when he
says
Nicodemus
you must
be born
again
brother
a working
of the
spirit
that is
beyond
us
merry
Christmas
this is
why the
true light
came into
the world
because we
were dead
in the
darkness
this is
why if
you were
a Christian
you
are
a
walking
miracle
of God
born of
God
nothing you
have done
you are
a miracle
of God's
regenerating
grace
with all
the rights
and privileges
of being
a child
of God
called out
of the
darkness
called into
the family
of light
and that's
why we
read passages
like John
8 12
John 12
46
that say
you no
longer walk
in the
darkness
if you've
received
the light
and
there's
nothing
that we've
contributed
to this
new
birth
so we've
seen
the light
radiating
we've seen
the light
rejected
we've seen
the light
received
so what does
this mean
for us
it means
the true
light
of Jesus
Christ
is shining
into the
darkness
and how we
respond
is by doing
this
we
step into
the word
shine
and live
step into
the light
of life
and live
receive
him
believe
him
and live
if you're
not a
Christian
and right
now you're
in this
room
and you
have this
profound
sense
that before
God
your sins
justly
condemn
you
that God's
wrath
that remains
over you
is not a
mistake
it's just
if you
have that
sense
guess what
God is
actually showing
kindness to
you
that you
would see
those
things
your
step
is to
step
into the
light
of Jesus
Christ
is to
receive
him
is to
welcome
him
with
arms
open
wide
not
as the
baby
in the
manger
but as
the king
of kings
and lord
of lords
who is
crucified
risen
and reigning
and one
day closer
to his
return
you believe
in his
name
you believe
in all
that he
is
it's
this
word
incarnate
that
suffered
all of
God's
wrath
for all
of your
sin
so that
you
could be
born
again
if you're
not a
Christian
here
you're
like
I would
like
that
how
do I
get
that
you
invite
Jesus
in
you
welcome
him
you
tell
him
you
confess
him
you
say
something
like
Jesus
I
welcome
you
all
that
you
are
the
true
light
of
life
into
all
that
I
am
welcome
thank you
for giving
me life
thank you
for forgiving
my sins
help me
to walk
with you
in the
light
it's a
prayer
it's a
prayer
of faith
you're
walking
out
on the
ice
now
if you're
not a
Christian
but a
Christian
let me
call you
to three
ways to
respond
stop
trying to
find life
in lesser
things than
Jesus
stop
looking
for
soul
satisfying
life
in
created
things
instead
of the
creator
of all
things
if you
struggle
with the
approval
of man
there's
no life
there
but let me
tell you
this
if you
are like
Jesus
you're my
everything
you are
my life
guess what
happens to
your desire
to be
approved
by man
you just
don't care
as much
because in
Christ
God has
approved
you
or if
you're
trying to
find life
in carbon
fiber
handlebars
or really
cool pants
or whatever
your thing
is
when
Jesus is
becoming
your life
you're like
okay you
know what
carbon fiber
handlebars
aren't that
big a deal
you
experience
contentment
or
or if
you
struggle
with
control
when
Jesus
is your
life
you
realize
he's
in
control
he reigns
over all
and
in
you
trusting
in
him
can
live
with
things
not
being
nailed
down
step
into the
word shine
and live
that's the
first call
second is
this
be
sobered
by the
depravity
of sin
and don't
be surprised
by how
dark
the darkness
is
don't be
surprised by
the number
of people
who love
the darkness
more than
the light
I met
with a
brother this
past week
who was
very angry
over the
direction
of our
country
very angry
I don't
like it
either
but
and I'm
guessing many
of you
don't like
the direction
of our
country
what do
you expect
it
when people
love the
darkness
more than
the light
they're going
to move
towards the
darkness
do you know
what our
country needs
most
they need
word shine
brothers and
sisters
that
they need
the true
light
it doesn't
mean we
back out
of political
engagement
but it
means we
prioritize
the light
so be
sobered
by depravity
don't be
surprised by
the number
of people
who love
the darkness
more
let's
major on
the light
Jesus
third
be amazed
that
you are
a walking
miracle
of
regeneration
be amazed
that
the light
shining of
the darkness
shone on
you
and you
responded by
faith
and you
were made
alive
thank you
Jesus
for that
it's the
gift that
keeps on
giving
it's eternal
life
and that
starts
now
rejoice
give thanks
be amazed
at what
he's done
and walk
in the light
walk in the
light
brothers and
sisters
our time
of walking
in darkness
we put
enough time
into that
let's walk
in the light
as he is
in the light
and let's
do that
together
and let's
create our
own currents
and it was
all out of
love
he
he pursued
you in
your darkness
not because
you were so
lovable
but because
he is so
loving
rejoice
I started
talking about
a sermon
about Christmas
lights
every night
in Kenosha
there are
millions of
twinkling Christmas
lights
but people
don't know
that the
Christmas
lights
are speaking
a word
of the
true light
that is
shining in
the darkness
that has
come
that's
shining
his life
into the
darkness
of our
world
today
don't
reject
him
step
into his
word
shine
and receive
him
and live
happy
incarnation
let's
pray
God in
heaven
we do
thank you
so much
for sending
in love
for us
sending
the eternal
creator
savior
ultimate
revealer
king of
kings
lord of
lords
Jesus
to die
in our
place
to give
us new
life
so that
we can
claim the
right
of being
your
children
thank you
for making
us alive
God would
you help
us to walk
in the light
as you are
in the light
in your name
we pray
amen