THE LIFE AND THE LIGHT

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. In him was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:1,4).

"He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12).

Because Christ was God, He could be the Word of God. Because He had the life of God in Himself, He could be the revealer of that life. And so, as the living Word, He is the life-giving Word.

The written Word can be made void and of no effect when we trust human wisdom for an understanding of it. The written Word must be accepted as the seed in which the life of the living Word lies hidden. When it is quickened by the Holy Spirit, it can become to us the Word of life. Our communion with God's written Word must be inspired and regulated by faith in the eternal Word, who is God.

Life Brings The Light.

This same truth comes out in the expression that follows: the life is the light. When we see the light shining, we know that there is a source of that light in some form. This is also true in the spirit world. There must be life before there can be light. There can be reflected light from a dead a dark object. There can be borrowed light without life. But true life alone can show true light. He that follows Christ will have the light of life.

These verses from John's gospel confirm what we learned about the Spirit of God. Even as Christ knows the things of God because He is the life of God, so Christ is the Word because He is God and has the life of God. So the light of God only shines where the life of God is. When the written Word brings us the life of the eternal Word, its light within the heart shines out into our life. Only as the Holy Spirit, who knows the things of God because He is the life of God, makes them life and truth within us, can our study of Scripture really bless us.

The one great lesson the Spirit seeks to enforce in regard to God's Word is this: only as Scripture is received out of the life of God into our life can there be any real knowledge of it. The Word is a seed that bears within it the divine life. When it is received in the good soil of a heart that hungers for that life, it will spring up and bring forth fruit like all seed, "after its kind." It will reproduce in our life the very life of God, the very likeness and character of the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit.

Wait On The Lord.

We want to apply these lessons in a practical way to our private Bible reading. The rules are very simple.

"Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). Take time to be quiet and to be aware of God. "Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God" (Zephaniah 1:7). "Be silent before the Lord" (Zechariah 2:13). "The Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him" (Habakkuk 2:20). Worship and wait on Him that He may speak to you. Remember that the Word comes out of the life, the heart of God, carrying His life to impart it to yours. It is nothing less than the life of God, so nothing less than the power of God can make it live in you.

Believe in Christ, the living Word. "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). "He that followeth Me.. shall have the light of life" (John 8:12). Follow Jesus in love and longing desire, in obedience and service, and His life will work in you—His life will be the light of your soul.

Ask the Father for the Holy Spirit to make the Word in your heart living and active. Hunger for the will of God as your daily food. Thirst for the living spring of the Spirit within you. Receive the Word into your will, your life, your joy—the life it brings will give the light with which it shines.

Understand The Word.

My own experience has taught me that it takes a long time before we clearly understand that the Word of God must be received into our lives and not only into our minds. Even after we understand, it takes time before we fully believe and act on it. Study each lesson until you know it. The Word comes out of the life of God, carries that life in itself, seeks to enter my life and fill it with the light of God. This life is the light of men and gives the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.

You may find that this lesson takes more time than you think, that it hinders you more than it helps in your Bible study. Do not be afraid or impatient, but be assured that if you learn this lesson, you will realize that it has become a key you never had before to the hidden treasure of the Word, giving you true wisdom in the hidden plan.

So I repeated again the simple words so blessed and true. The Spirit that lives in God alone knows the things of God. In the same way, it is only the Spirit living in me that can make me know the things of God by imparting them to my life.

Christ was the Word because He was God and had the life of God. In the same way, the written Word can only bless me as Christ, the living Word, brings the life of God to me. The life of Christ is the light of men. Therefore, it is only as I have the life of Christ, through the Word, that I have the light of the knowledge of God.