Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,644
“There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:9-13 NASB1995)
The ”true light” being spoken of here is Jesus Christ, which is not revealed to us until verse 29, I believe. He is not only the only begotten Son of God, but he is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He was in the beginning with God, and he is our creator God who gave us the breath of life. And when he lived on the earth he was both fully God and fully human (God incarnate). See John 1:1-5,9-18,24-36
Jesus Christ is the true Light, and light is the opposite of darkness, and darkness is all that is evil and sinful. So Jesus is righteousness and godliness. And light is truth, so Jesus is truth, and in him is no lie. And the truth is more specifically the truth about God and who he is and his purpose in creating us, and his plan he has for our lives. And it is the truth of the gospel which is about Jesus dying on that cross to take away our sins.
For Jesus’ purpose in coming to the earth, and in taking on human form, was so that he, who was God in the flesh, could be our sacrificial lamb on that cross in putting our sins to death with him so that, by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in him, we will now die with him to sin and live to God in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his New Covenant commandments. For that is what it looks like to have God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ.
But, even though Jesus Christ, in human form, was still fully God, and he was not born with a sin nature as we are, because he was not conceived of man but of the Spirit, and so he was perfect in every way, the people did not recognize him as such. And even though he brought them the truth of the gospel of Christ, and he was the fulfillment of the promise of the Christ who was to come, his own people did not recognize and receive him as such.
So, what does it look like if we know Jesus, if we believe in him, and if we receive him? For this is not about going through some religious or ritualistic ritual, and it is not the “light and fluffy” stuff so many are being fed today as “the gospel.” And this is not just words we speak or prayers we pray or mere acknowledgments of who Jesus was/is and what he did for us on that cross in putting our sins to death with him, and in being raised from the dead.
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience is what we obey, it results in sanctification and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).
And we learn in 1 John 1:6-7: “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” And in 1 John 2:4-5: “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.”
And in 1 John 3:7-8,10: “Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.” So we need to take this to heart.
This is what it looks like to know him, to believe in him, and to receive him as Lord and as Savior of our lives. It is life altering! We die to the person we once were so that we can be reborn of the Spirit of God to be the people God wants us to be. And his will for us is that we die with Christ to sin and that we now walk in fellowship with God in surrender to his will and in obedience to his commands, in the power of God, by the grace of God.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
Caution: This link may contain ads
The True Light
An Original Work / May 15, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
The ”true light” being spoken of here is Jesus Christ, which is not revealed to us until verse 29, I believe. He is not only the only begotten Son of God, but he is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He was in the beginning with God, and he is our creator God who gave us the breath of life. And when he lived on the earth he was both fully God and fully human (God incarnate). See John 1:1-5,9-18,24-36
Jesus Christ is the true Light, and light is the opposite of darkness, and darkness is all that is evil and sinful. So Jesus is righteousness and godliness. And light is truth, so Jesus is truth, and in him is no lie. And the truth is more specifically the truth about God and who he is and his purpose in creating us, and his plan he has for our lives. And it is the truth of the gospel which is about Jesus dying on that cross to take away our sins.
For Jesus’ purpose in coming to the earth, and in taking on human form, was so that he, who was God in the flesh, could be our sacrificial lamb on that cross in putting our sins to death with him so that, by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in him, we will now die with him to sin and live to God in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his New Covenant commandments. For that is what it looks like to have God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ.
But, even though Jesus Christ, in human form, was still fully God, and he was not born with a sin nature as we are, because he was not conceived of man but of the Spirit, and so he was perfect in every way, the people did not recognize him as such. And even though he brought them the truth of the gospel of Christ, and he was the fulfillment of the promise of the Christ who was to come, his own people did not recognize and receive him as such.
So, what does it look like if we know Jesus, if we believe in him, and if we receive him? For this is not about going through some religious or ritualistic ritual, and it is not the “light and fluffy” stuff so many are being fed today as “the gospel.” And this is not just words we speak or prayers we pray or mere acknowledgments of who Jesus was/is and what he did for us on that cross in putting our sins to death with him, and in being raised from the dead.
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience is what we obey, it results in sanctification and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).
And we learn in 1 John 1:6-7: “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” And in 1 John 2:4-5: “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.”
And in 1 John 3:7-8,10: “Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.” So we need to take this to heart.
This is what it looks like to know him, to believe in him, and to receive him as Lord and as Savior of our lives. It is life altering! We die to the person we once were so that we can be reborn of the Spirit of God to be the people God wants us to be. And his will for us is that we die with Christ to sin and that we now walk in fellowship with God in surrender to his will and in obedience to his commands, in the power of God, by the grace of God.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
Caution: This link may contain ads
The True Light
An Original Work / May 15, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
