Latest / Reformed Thinking / The True Light, Human Blindness, and the Grace of Adoption (John 1:9–12)

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The True Light, Human Blindness, and the Grace of Adoption (John 1:9–12) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to the Deep Dive, a production of Reformed thinking.
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We take complex theological concepts, we look closely at the
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source material, and we try to pull out the clarity you need to
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be well informed. Today we are taking really a
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microscopic look at just 4 verses, but they might be four
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of the most theologically packed verses in the entire New
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Testament. John 1, verses 9 through 13.
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They really are. And these verses, they function
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almost like a bridge or a hinge. John's narrative pivots here.
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It moves from that cosmic, you know, eternal description of the
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word Logos to the hard historical fact of Christ's
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arrival, the true light stepping into our world.
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OK, so with that in mind, what's our mission for this deep dive?
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Well, it's really two things. First, we have to get a solid
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handle on why the Creator, when he showed up, was met with such
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such complete rejection. That's a huge.
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Question it is, and then second, and this is maybe the most
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critical point, we need to uncover the exclusive source of
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the new life that can turn one of those rejectors into an
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adopted child of God. And that second point, I think
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really frames our whole discussion today.
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It forces us to make a really important distinction.
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Well, we have to separate the condition for salvation, which
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is, you know, receiving Christ by faith, from the actual cause
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of it, the thing that generates it, which.
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Is being born of God regeneration?
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Exactly. And the material we've
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synthesized for today, it just consistently points to the fact
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that this new status, this idea of becoming a child of God, is
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grounded entirely in a gracious, sovereign divine work.
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Right. It can't be traced back to human
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effort or religious traditions or even, you know, your family
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heritage, none of it. And John sets this up just
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brilliantly. He gives us the glory of
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Christ's identity. Then this tragedy of the world's
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failure in verses 10 and 11. And then the remedy.
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And then the sovereign, gracious remedy that's provided to a
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certain group of people in verses 12 and 13.
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I think understanding that widespread rejection is key
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because that failure proves that human ability, even at its most
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religious and sophisticated, just isn't enough to produce
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saving faith. It's the very problem that
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regeneration solves. That's it exactly.
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OK, so let's start at the beginning.
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Let's establish the identity of the person who is at the
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absolute center of this whole narrative.
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John's prologue, those first 5 verses, It doesn't just
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introduce Jesus, it introduces the eternal, personal, fully
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divine word. The standard our sources say is
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set for the Logos is just impossibly high.
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He is the ultimate agent of all creation.
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Oh, absolutely. John just lays it out in the
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beginning of the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word
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was God. There's just no wiggle room
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there. And no ambiguity at all.
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None. The Word has the attributes of
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divinity, of eternity, and on top of that He's the active
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force in creation itself. All things were made through
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him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
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So he's the maker. He can't, by definition, be a
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part of the creation he made. He has to be distinct from it.
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And then John ants that the life residing in this divine word is
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the light of men. That eternal truth just sets the
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stage for this dramatic shift in the story.
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The move from that majestic cosmic reality into our history,
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the incarnation. Yes, and we see that movement
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start right in verse 9. The narrative shifts from, you
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know, eternal existence to the concrete historical entry of the
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true light, the word, the eternal sun, takes on human
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nature. This is the doctrine of the
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Incarnation. It is.
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He enters history as a real man, born in time.
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But, and this is the key, without surrendering his deity
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in any way, that's the staggering reality here.
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The one who holds all things together, the source of all
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being, just steps into the world he made.
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That phrase the true light in verse 9.
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It seems to carry a ton of weight.
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Why does John use the term true, the Greek word a lithon?
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It seems to suggest he's not just a light, but the final
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definitive 1. And that linguistic deep dive
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into a Lathanon is so critical here in John's writing.
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It means so much more than just not false, right?
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It means ultimate, genuine, full.
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It's almost always placed in contrast to something that was,
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you know, provisional or partial or just preparatory.
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Yeah. So the true light is the final
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and the highest disclosure of God's truth and grace.
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He's the source itself, not just a reflection.
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So it's like when Jesus later calls himself the true bread or
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the true vine, he's saying the previous versions, like the
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manna in the desert or the nation of Israel, they were
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real, but they were shadows. They were pointing to Him.
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He's the ultimate reality they were symbolizing.
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That is the perfect analogy. The earlier institutions, the
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earlier food, the earlier revelations, they were all
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partial. Christ is the genuine article.
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So this title, true light, it distinguishes Him from every
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preceding revelation in redemptive history.
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And the sources are clear that those other things, the law, the
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prophets, John the Baptist, they all gave real light, necessary
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light even. Oh yes, but it was partial
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preparatory. They were like lambs in a house,
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or maybe like the moon reflecting the sun's light.
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Christ, on the other hand, is the uncreated brightness.
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He's the source from which every lesser light gets its very
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existence and its intensity. Which is why John the Baptist,
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back in verses 6 through 8, is so carefully separated from the
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light. His whole purpose was to witness
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to the light. But he was, And John is emphatic
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about this, not the light. And that distinction is so
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intentional, so important. I mean, John the Baptist was an
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incredible figure, a man sent from God, but his light was
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completely derivative. It came from somewhere else.
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His whole job was to point away from himself and toward Christ.
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He was sort of the last and greatest of the Old Testament
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prophets. He was the zenith of the Old
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Testament preparatory lights. Yeah, he was leading up to the
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very moment when the true light would arrive in person.
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John just makes absolutely sure that no one confuses the herald
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for the King. The true light is self sourced.
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The others are sent. OK, so we have the ultimate
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revelation, the Creator himself entering his own world.
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Now let's talk about the scope of this illumination.
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Because John says this true light gives light to everyone.
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That phrasing seems really central to understanding God's
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universal revelation. It is gives light to everyone.
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It refers to a universal shining.
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And we can really break this down into a couple of layers,
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all flowing from the word. OK, so first you have the most
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general revelation, the light that shines through creation and
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through conscience. Since Christ is the divine Word
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who made the world, the very structure of creation reflects
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his invisible attributes. People know God in a real way
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just by living in His world. That's the same principle Paul
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lays out in Romans 1, isn't it? That humanity is without excuse
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because God has made himself plain to them.
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They have enough information to be held accountable.
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It connects perfectly. Romans 1 describes how knowledge
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of God's attributes is, you know, clearly perceived in the
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created world. And then Romans 2 talks about
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the inner witness of conscience, where the law is written on our
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hearts, testifying to God's moral standards.
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All of that initial, pervasive light flows from the Word.
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And it's not just creation, is it?
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It's also historical. Right as Christ comes in the
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flesh and as the gospel spreads, that light reaches people of
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every nation. It confronts everyone with the
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person and the claims of Christ. The notes we looked at really
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zeroed in on a dual function of this universal light, which
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seems incredibly important for what comes next in the passage.
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The light doesn't just guide, it also exposes.
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It acts as a decisive force. The Light absolutely sheds light
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on truth and reality. But, and this is critical, it
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also reveals the rebellion and others.
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This universal shining confronts every single person with
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Christ's existence and His claims, and it ensures that
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humanity stands without any excuse before God.
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The moment the light hits the darkness, the darkness is
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exposed for what it is. That's right.
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So the same illumination that draws some people to repentance,
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it simultaneously condemns the spiritual condition of those who
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turn away from it. So.
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It's not the light's fault. Precisely.
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The light is intrinsically good. It's the reaction to it that
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separates people. Just as Jesus says later, this
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is the judgement. The light has come into the
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world, and people love the darkness rather than the light.
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The universal presence of this light is directly related to
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human condemnation, this general illumination.
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It never saves anyone automatically.
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What it does is expose and seal the guilt of those who willfully
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turn away because they prefer their own moral autonomy.
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And that transition in John's Gospel is so abrupt, so
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devastating. After the majesty of the light,
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we are hit immediately with the deep shadow of the human
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response in verses 10 and 11. Let's start with that staggering
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irony of the world's blindness. It really is the ultimate
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paradox, John tells us the eternal word was in the world,
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and the world was made through him and then the punchline.
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Yet the world did not know him. It's.
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Absurd when you think about it. Just think about the absurdity.
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The maker is present in his own house, and he's treated like a
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stranger. The one who spoke the cosmos
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into being walks among the very creatures he formed.
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But he's ignored. He's unrecognized.
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He's denied his rightful place. But wait, if the world was made
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through him, didn't everyone have at least some level of
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intellectual knowledge of him just through creation?
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So the failure to know him must be something deeper than just a
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failure of intellectual awareness.
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That is the essential point John is making in his gospel.
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Knowing is not just bare factual awareness, It's relational.
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It's relational recognition and acceptance.
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It's a covenantal knowledge. To know Christ is to recognize
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Him for who He truly is, the divine Word, the Creator, and to
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receive Him as Savior and Lord and the world.
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Here it refers to humanity and its fallen God opposing state
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that fallen world which is characterized by suppressing the
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truth. It just failed to grant him that
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relational recognition. So the ignorance isn't from a
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lack of information, it's a moral failure.
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The light was sufficient, but the response was one of
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suppression. Absolutely.
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The true source of the ignorance is internal.
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It's not external. People had real accessible
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knowledge through creation and conscience like we just
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discussed. But they suppress that
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knowledge. They refuse to honor him as God.
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The Universal Response of Unbelief is the most vivid
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portrait of human depravity you could ask for.
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Our minds are darkened. Our hearts are hardened.
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And our wills are turned away from God.
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The failure to know Him is a choice, and it's a choice rooted
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in rebellion. It reminds us that the problem
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isn't in the quality of the light, but in the the disease
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nature of the human will. The human heart, as the sources
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put it, loves the darkness. It actively wills the darkness.
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This is not passive ignorance, it is a willful moral and
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spiritual refusal. The light shone universally
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enough to leave all of humanity without an excuse.
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But the defining condition of the fallen world is that
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stubborn suppression of truth which ultimately leads to
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condemnation. And if the universal rejection
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by the world shows us depravity, then the next rejection, the
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rejection by Israel, his own people, shows the depth of that
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sin in an even more heightened, specific way.
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Yes, the rejection by his own people is it's just
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heartbreaking and it's so specific to covenant history.
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Christ came to his own possessions, His land, his
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people, and his own people. Israel did not receive him.
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And this is happening among the very people who had the most
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incredible spiritual privileges, the highest.
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Privilege is imaginable. They had the covenants, the law,
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the prophets, the temple worship.
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They were being prepared for centuries to receive the
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Messiah, and they still rejected Him.
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This rejection among the religiously privileged seems to
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make a huge theological statement about the
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insufficiency of what we call externalism.
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That's a keynote in Reformed theology.
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It is a profound warning, and it cuts against every form of
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inherited or ritualistic salvation.
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The tragedy here shows that sin is so deep that it can flourish
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even under the cover of religious forms and practices.
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Even in the church. Even in the Church, outward
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possession of covenant benefits, sacraments, temple rituals,
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circumcision, heritage, even knowing the scriptures backwards
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and forwards, it does not equal saving faith.
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Israel, the nation with the closest possible connection to
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God's covenants and His light, still rejects that the promised
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King. So the lesson here is that just
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being familiar with religious things, being surrounded by the
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institutions of God, it doesn't secure your heart.
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You can be descended from Abraham and still reject the
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promised son. That's right, the rejection by
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Israel just emphasizes that you can be steeped in religious
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culture. You can have a tenant services
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your entire life, but baptized, confirmed, and still be a total
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stranger to the Son of God. The physical descent from
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Abraham, which the Jews so often relied on for their assurance,
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is shown to be meaningless without faith in Christ.
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It's a profound warning. It is, it warns, that external
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connection to covenant blessings cannot produce the necessary new
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birth. It just drives home the need for
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a radical internal transformation no ritual, no
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matter how sacred, can ever accomplish.
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OK, so moving from that darkness of rejection, John introduces
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this contrasting reality in verse 12.
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He says, but to all who did receive him, who believed in his
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name, he gave the right to become children of God.
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That but is so powerful. It signals a group of people
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defined not by their heritage or their rituals, but by their
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positive response. That contrast of but is the
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point where God's grace breaks into history.
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Despite the universal rejection we just talked about in verses
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1011, there is a specific company of people who did
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receive Him and who believed in His name.
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This dual human response is the immediate condition.
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It's the human requirement for being adopted into God's family.
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Let's define that response really carefully.
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What does it mean to receive the Son, and how does that relate to
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believing in his name? To receive the Son is to welcome
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Him as He truly is. It means embracing His person,
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His full deity and His full humanity, His claims to be Lord,
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and the saving work on the cross.
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It is an act of submitting your entire self to Him.
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Than just a polite interest. Oh, far more.
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It's not passive acceptance. It means opening your life to
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Him as Lord and Savior. It means taking Him to yourself
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in a decisive, life altering act.
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And that idea of reception is then clarified.
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It's specified by the phrase believing in his name.
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This seems to be the language John uses to define genuine
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saving faith. Exactly.
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To believe in His name means to personally rest your confidence
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entirely on everything that His name summarizes.
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This belief covers Christ's complete identity, His unique
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status as the Son of God, the Messiah, and His mission to save
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sinners through his finished work.
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The source has defined this as the soul's embrace of the sun as
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He is presented in the gospel. It's a posture of personal
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trust. So let me see if I have this
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right. If I agree with the historical
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facts of the Gospel, but I don't personally rely on Christ for my
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own justification, that wouldn't qualify as belief it in His
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name. It would not Biblical saving
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faith, the kind of faith spoken out here.
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It's not just knowledge that the facts are true.
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I mean, even demons have that. And it's not just agreement that
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they're possible. It is personal reliance on
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Christ alone. It's turning away from every
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other source of hope or effort or righteousness and just
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resting everything on his person and his work.
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John ties salvation directly and exclusively to a specific
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person, Jesus Christ, into this definite, active response of
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trust. And the immediate, incredible
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result of this welcoming response is a new legal status,
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adoption. Christ gave the right to become
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children of God. That word right suggests legal
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authority, and it really emphasizes that this new status
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is a pure gift. It's granted with sheer
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generosity. It's not something the believer
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achieves or earns. The word for right here is
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exugia, and it's a term that speaks of legal authority or
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entitlement. The very fact that we were given
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the right means we had no prior claim to it whatsoever.
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It's a legal transaction. It is this legal transaction
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which we call adoption. It grants the believer a new
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legal standing and a new saving relationship before God.
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They're moved immediately from being defined by sin and being
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under wrath to being inside God's household.
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Why do you think salvation is defined here primarily as
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adoption into God's family instead of just, say,
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forgiveness of sins? What does that family reality
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add to the picture? That's a great question.
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Forgiveness is the legal cleansing, but adoption is the
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relational dignity that comes after.
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Adoption brings a completely new identity.
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It establishes a new relationship where God is truly
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known as Father in a saving, covenantal way.
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And a new liberty. A new liberty, Yes, we're now
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sons and daughters, not slaves who are bound by fear or the
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law. And of course it ensures a new
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inheritance. We become heirs of God and Co
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heirs with Christ. This status is absolutely
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exclusive. It draws a sharp distinction
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between those inside the family and those outside.
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In direct contrast to the rejection we saw in the previous
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verses, it's a permanent status of being legally and
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relationally accepted into the saving family.
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That language of adoption is so potent it elevates the believer
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to the highest status you could imagine.
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Not just a servant, but kin. It completely refutes the idea
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that being saved is just, you know, having a clean slate.
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It means being elevated to the dignity of a family member with
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all the rights, all the privileges, and the relational
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intimacy that comes with that status.
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It is a work of grace that changes our entire legal and
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spiritual identity. And now we arrive at what is
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probably the most concentrated theological point in the whole
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passage, verse 13. While verse 12 lays out the
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condition faith in reception, verse 13 explains the hidden
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reason why anyone is actually able to meet that condition in
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the 1st place. This is the engine of the entire
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process. This is exactly where we shift
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our focus from the flick of the switch, which is faith, to the
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unseen Sovereign engine that runs the whole system.
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That's regeneration, and the notes are crystal clear on this.
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The capacity for a person to successfully receive Christ is
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entirely dependent on a divine prerequisite.
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We call it new birth or regeneration.
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And the source of this new birth is absolutely exclusive.
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It's God himself. The sole positive source is
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stated so simply but so powerfully, but of God.
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New birth is defined as a divine act.
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It's a work of God. Sheer, unsolicited grace from
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start to finish. It's achieved by the sovereign
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will of the Lord, who grants life where there was only
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spiritual death. So the ability to believe is a
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miracle. It is a miracle of God's will,
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totally independent of human merit.
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This work is also described in other places as being born of
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the Spirit. It's a unilateral act of
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quickening the soul. And to make sure that no one
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could possibly mistake this for some kind of cooperative effort,
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the text immediately piles up 3 explicit denials.
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They seem designed to rule out every single potential human
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contribution to the new birth. This really guards the sovereign
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nature of God's grace. Yes, the three denials, they
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systematically eliminate all forms of human effort or lineage
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or religious externalism. And they're placed so
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strategically to contrast with the rejection by Israel, who,
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you know, so often relied on those very factors for their
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standing. OK, let's start with that first
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denial, which deals with heritage, not of blood.
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This one rules out physical descent, ancestry, ethnicity,
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family tradition, any kind of Christian heritage.
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In the 1st century, this was aimed directly at Jewish pride,
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which often rested its assurance on the phrase we have Abraham as
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our father. This denial teaches that no one
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becomes a child of God in the saving sense just by belonging
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to a specific family line. It didn't matter if it was
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Jewish lineage then or a modern line of, you know, church
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families today. Spiritual life is defined by
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faith, not by your lineage or your blood relation.
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Your spiritual status is not inherited.
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That is a direct confrontation of that common assumption that
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just being born into a covenant community somehow guarantees
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spiritual life. It is.
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It confirms the absolute necessity of individual
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supernatural regeneration, regardless of how pious your
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parents are or the history of your nation.
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As Jesus says, the flesh profits nothing in the realm of the
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Spirit. The second denial is even
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broader. Nor of the will of the flesh.
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And this one rules out relying on fallen human nature in any
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form. This cuts against all forms of
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moralism or self effort, or religious driving.
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Moral effort, religious discipline, asceticism, self
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improvement, none of it can bring about this birth.
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So even our best efforts are useless here.
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Fallen human nature, even at its most sincere, cannot raise
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itself from spiritual death. The will of the flesh, that is,
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the unregenerate self, trying its best to please God, is just
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incapable of initiating this spiritual transformation.
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It is not achieved by the strength of our body or our
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fallen mind. So if someone tries to make
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themselves better or follows a really rigorous religious code
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hoping to earn God's favor, that is just the will of the flesh
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striving in vain. Exactly.
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This is the biblical answer to Pelagianism, or any system that
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suggests A Sinner has some innate ability to choose God
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apart from God's prior work. The dead do not decide to become
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alive. The will of the flesh is a
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denial that human willpower, no matter how strong or disciplined
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it is, can generate spiritual life.
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And then the third denial is the broadest of them all, ruling out
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any kind of external decision making, nor of the will of man.
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This rules out any other human decision and encompasses actions
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taken by others on behalf of an individual.
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It specifically eliminates any reliance on a parental choice or
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a priestly action, or some ecclesiastical.
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Right, so no one can do it for you.
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No parent, no priest, no preacher can, by their own sheer
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decision or a Sacramento action or a liturgical right, create a
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child of God. This guards against any kind of
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magical view of the sacraments. It makes sure we understand that
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while ordinances are necessary, they are not the source of life
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itself. The new birth is not an
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ecclesiastical or a familial project.
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So if we put these three denials together, what we see is a
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complete and total exclusion of all human contribution, whether
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it's physical, moral, or external to the source of
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spiritual life. The conclusion is just
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inescapable. The new birth is entirely and
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exclusively the work of God. It is a sovereign, gracious,
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unilateral intervention. Let's circle back to that
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original distinction. We made the cause and the fruit.
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Regeneration is the hidden cause and receiving Christ.
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Faith is the fruit. Can we elaborate on the
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relationship between those two? Sure, if you use that analogy
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you brought up earlier. Regeneration is the unseen
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engine that provides the necessary power receiving Christ
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or faith is the flip of the switch that makes that power
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evident. The switch only works because
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the engine is already running, powered by God's will.
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So to put it plainly, a person doesn't get born again because
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they choose to believe. They are able to choose to
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believe because they have already been born again.
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That is the Reformed reading of this text.
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Regeneration, being born of God, is the hidden causal work that
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enables the response. It removes the Stony heart, and
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it grants the capacity to embrace the light receiving
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Christ. Faith is the conscious,
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experiential fruit of God's prior work.
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It's not the trigger that activates the new birth.
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The ability to believe is a gift.
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The capacity to successfully receive Christ is a gift given
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by God in regeneration, So the entire ability to become a child
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of God rests completely on divine sovereignty and grace,
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which ensures that God receives all the glory for it.
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Faith is the necessary condition, but regeneration is
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the necessary 'cause that produces that condition.
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This whole dynamic ensures that salvation, adoption, and even
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the ability to believe are all understood as a gift from start
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to finish, not a human achievement, which is really the
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only possible conclusion given the deep depravity that John
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detailed back in Section 2. That's right, the rejection by
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the world and by Israel proves the engine is dead.
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Verse 13 reveals the divine mechanic who replaces that
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engine, and by doing so enables the act of faith.
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OK, so John 1.9 to 13. It's brief, but it really does
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provide this concentrated theological map for the journey
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of salvation. Before we wrap U, let's just
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synthesize the main points into a cohesive Reformed view, and
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then maybe alley these verses to correct some popular contemorary
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errors, just like our source material suggests.
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I think that's a good idea. The synthesis confirms a really
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tight logical flow. The true light, Christ, provides
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the ultimate revelation, ensuring that everyone is
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without excuse. Right then, the widespread
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rejection reveals that sin is a deep seated moral refusal, a
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preference for darkness even among the most religiously
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privileged people. And then salvation.
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And then salvation is defined entirely by faith, new birth and
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adoption by grace. And the sources we've looked at
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make it clear that this particular structure, this
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order, is vital for guarding against theological drift.
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So let's look first at how this passage repeats.
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It's the error of, say, generic spirituality, which is a very
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common error today. Oh, very common generic
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spirituality promotes this vague feeling of being spiritual or
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believing in something bigger while completely ignoring the
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specific claims of Christ. And this passage refutes that
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how? Well, it ties salvation to a
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specific person, Jesus Christ, the true Light, and it requires
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A definite personal response to Him.
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The true light is not one spiritual option among many or
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some template for all other prophets.
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Salvation is about receiving the sun, the Word made flesh.
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John leaves absolutely no room for a spirituality that rejects
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the exclusive claims of the sun. Another error this passage
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confronts directly is universalism, the idea that
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God's love or his light will eventually just save everyone.
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John is so explicit about the division here.
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The text draws a sharp definitional line between those
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who receive Christ and are adopted and the world in Israel
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who did not know or receive Him. So the light shines everywhere,
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but it doesn't save everyone. Right.
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It shines universally, but it acts to expose stubborn refusal.
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It does not automatically save everyone it shines upon.
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We have to take seriously the fact that the family, language,
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children of God is an exclusive gift and it's tied to the
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condition of faith in the sun. To preach universalism is to
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completely contradict the tragic reality of verses 10 and 11.
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And given our focus on regeneration, a really relevant
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correction here is aimed at some decision centered methodologies
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in modern evangelism. I mean, if new birth comes but
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of God, then relying solely on the human decision to initiate
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salvation has to be flawed. It does.
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The necessity of being born of God confronts any method that
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reduces salvation to a quick formula that treats it like a
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human project that could be achieved through, you know,
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psychological pressure or emotional music or some clever
26:29
technique. The.
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Decision isn't the cause. The sources state plainly that
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the new birth is not switched on by a human decision.
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Rather, the human decision is the fruit and the evidence of
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God's prior work. This passage forces us to rely
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entirely on the Spirit's generative work, knowing that
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without it, even the most persuasive sermon is completely
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useless. And that distinction ensures
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that evangelism stays focused on proclaiming the gospel and
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summoning people to faith while relying on the unseen miracle of
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God's will to give life. It keeps us from reducing faith
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to just a signed card or momentary surge of emotion.
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And finally, the text gives us a crucial correction to moralism
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and religious externalism, a theme we saw so clearly in
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Israel's failure. Right.
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Israel had all the highest privileges, the Temple, the law,
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the covenants, and yet they failed.
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Their failure is the ultimate warning against religious
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routine, relying on religious tradition or routine,
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sacraments, rituals, church culture, ethical living.
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It does not, and it cannot produce new birth.
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The focus has to be on a vital personal reception of the true
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light, not on mere religious compliance.
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Familiarity doesn't save. No familiarity with the
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language, the place, or the customs of God's covenant does
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not produce saving faith. You can be surrounded by
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scripture and worship your whole life and still be hostile to the
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Lord. So this synthesis really
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confirms that the true light holds up a mirror and it exposes
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the ingrained spiritual disease of the heart.
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Whether that heart is, you know, Pagan and unaware or religious
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and self satisfied, The structure of John 1.9 to 13 is a
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powerful defense of God's sovereignty and salvation.
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And the positive application of this teaching is incredible
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assurance for the believer. If you can look inside yourself
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and see a genuine desire to receive Christ, you can have
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confidence that it's because God has already performed the
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miracle of new birth inside you. So our standing isn't based on
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us. Your standing as an adopted
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child rests not on your own performance or your fluctuating
28:29
feelings or your perfect behavior, but on God's
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sovereign, completed act of new birth and the finished work of
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His Son. It grounds our spiritual
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confidence entirely outside of ourselves.
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Absolutely, and it fuels our evangelism with both a sober
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realism, recognizing that the light was rejected by many, and
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a profound confidence, knowing that the God who grants new
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birth still works through the foolishness of preaching to
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bring dead souls to life. That's a great place to land.
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The true light shines on every person, but it really does act
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as a powerful mirror. It doesn't just illuminate the
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world, it exposes the state of the human heart, and it reveals
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its preference for darkness. The choice is presented in this
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passage is stark, and it's exclusive.
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Either you're one of the many who refused to recognize the
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Creator and suppress the light, or you are one of those who, by
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God's gracious sovereign act of regeneration, received Him and
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were granted the right of adoption.
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John will not allow us to take refuge in some vague
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spirituality or to rely on a thin shell of religiosity that
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was passed down through our family.
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The passage sets before us the Lord who made the world, who
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entered it, and who grants eternal family rights to all who
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come to Him in repentant faith. So the question for you is, have
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you personally welcomed the true light as your Savior and Lord,
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thereby finding in Him the grace of new birth and the dignity of
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being called a child of God? That is the core question
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presented by the structure of John 1.9 to 13.
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Thank you for engaging in this deep dive.
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We will see you next time.