Tuesday | Week 1

The next time you watch a live performance of a well-known musician, take note of the consistent reaction of the crowd as they hear the first few notes of a classic song. They will instantly roar with celebration. This should be the response of every believer’s soul when John repeats the first three words of Genesis to introduce His testimony of Jesus: “In the beginning...” (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1).

Through the initial five verses of Chapter 1, John moves us deeper, both into the reality of creation, and into our hope in Christ. He concludes His opening statement this way:

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”
John 1:5 ESV

At the dawn of creation, darkness was one of the first elements that we notice. Genesis 1 tells us: “...and darkness was over the face of the waters.” How did God respond to this darkness?

“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness”
Genesis 1:2-4 ESV

When John was writing his Gospel, a new darkness had seemingly overtaken the world. Instead of a physical darkness that was shrouding creation, it was a spiritual darkness that was holding souls in captivity. That is the well-worn path of sin. The Apostle Paul aptly described this condition when he wrote,

“For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened”
Romans 1:21 ESV

Christ is the response to our darkness. He empowers us to escape the crippling shadow of our sin. Just like the presence of light is what separated the first day from the first night, so His presence separates us from the life of sin we once knew. Yet the light does more than separate us from our darkness. It also recreates us. Paul declared,

“For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness”
1 Thessalonians 5:5 ESV

We have been emancipated from the darkness and redefined by the Light.