Every time I turn on the TV news, there is “breaking news” that is designed to anger me or frighten me. Have you noticed this too? As a country we are more divided than we ever have been. We argue a great deal about our rights. We argue over authority. We argue over wealth and taxes and inflation and the economy. We argue over life and when it begins and the rights of one against the rights of another and who has the authority to figure out whose rights are… right? We wish that someone… anyone… could just shed some light over this darkness.

Into the midst of this chaos… a chaos that has existed for a very long period of time… it’s not just a recent phenomenon… comes the Gospel of John 1:3-5. Let’s read it together and see if it could shed some light.

Just as a reminder from the past two Sundays: John is talking about the Word. This Word is the Son of God - Jesus - Who has always been WITH God and at the same time always WAS GOD. We go all the way back to the very beginning of all creation, there we find the WORD.

Today we come to a most obvious question…

Most of our confusion over rights and authority and order and civilized behavior all come back to this question: Who is the Maker and who is the made?

Most of our stress and worry and feeling out of control come back to this same question: Who is the Maker and who is the made?

Most of our happiness, satisfaction, joy, and feelings of worth… or our lack of happiness, satisfaction, joy, and feelings of worth also come back to this question: Who is the Maker and who is the made?

It seems like this is a pretty important question and one that should be answered before most of the other questions of life. For this reason, this is where John begins his good news Gospel with this basic assertion about the Maker and the Made:

At the risk of over-simplification, let’s break these two sentences down into their two contrasting statements:

(A) Through The Word / Without The Word;

(B) all things / nothing;

(C) were made / was made that has been made.

Let’s summarize. If something is made, it’s because The Word (Jesus) made it. If something is not made, it’s because The Word (Jesus) did not make it.

That leaves us with three possible categories: Maker, Made, Not made. Which category do you find yourself? When you think of you… when you think of your life… when you think of your problems… when you think of your opportunities… when you think of your hope, your future, your success or your failure… do you think of you as Maker, Made, or Not made? It makes a big difference in how you approach your life!

This is where I get myself into all kinds of control problems. When my plans don’t work out the way I want them to. When I don’t get that job or promotion that I think I should have received. When the love of my life doesn’t return my love or walks away. When my health doesn’t go the way I want. When that loved one gets sick or dies. When no matter how hard I work or how badly I want something, life just doesn’t go the way I want it to go… it helps to remember that I’m not the Maker! I’m not in control! When I’m worrying I don’t have to worry because worrying doesn’t solve the problem. And I can’t solve the problem. But I can turn my worry into prayer and go to the Maker Who IS the Creator. I can take the burden off my shoulders, where it doesn’t belong, and transfer that burden onto the shoulders of the Maker Whose shoulders can handle the weight - where no burden is too great or too heavy.

Living out my life as if everything is a cosmic accident - without purpose or intent - leads me into narcissism, selfishness, drifting from one meaningless relationship into another, feeling like nothing I do or say really matters because everything just sort of happened. I can’t explain it. I can’t defend it. I can’t understand it. I’m an accident and it really doesn’t matter whether I’m here or not.

Our Gospel preacher John says, no that’s not right either. Nothing is an accident. All things that were made was made because of the Word. If something wasn’t made it’s because The Word didn’t make it. If you’re here, if you’re alive, there’s a Reason behind that. There’s The Word behind that. There is a purpose for it!

I’m a made man! I’m alive because The Word decided to make me. I am a creature, and not just any creature. I am human. I am not only made, but I am made in the very image of God Himself. I have the capacity to worship The Word with words! With music. With a life lived with meaning and purpose to please the Creator Who made me. I don’t have to worry about those things that are out of my control. I pray and give them to the Maker Who is in control. When things don’t go the way I want them to go, it’s ok because - after all - I’m not the Maker. I’m not in control. I’m here to serve the Maker by loving Him and loving all those other creatures He has made.

Do I know myself as Made and not as Maker or not as Not Made? The difference in how I live my life, in how I think about my life, is profound!

This difference is not something that I decide just once in my life and then it stays fixed. Our lives change. We can drift one way or the other. When I’m feeling worried and stressed over life, that’s a sure sign that I’m drifting into MAKER thinking. When I’m feeling like nothing I do matters, that’s a sure sign that I’m drifting into NOT MADE thinking. The best way to keep my right thinking about being a MADE man is to daily spend time with my MAKER, Who reminds me He can handle whatever I’m facing and that He has a purpose for my life.

As we study and read through the Gospel of John, we shall discover two great themes - LIFE and LIGHT. John introduces us to both in verse 4.

The word, “life,” appears 47 times in the Gospel of John. It is a major theme of this gospel. You know this because the most famous verse in the Bible is

The Greeks had 3 different words for “life” - “Zoe,” “Psuche,” and “Bios.” Let’s talk about these 3 words for life.

“Bios” is used in Luke 8:14 where Jesus is talking about the “anxieties and riches and pleasure of this “bios”/life.” Bios refers to the life of the physical body and this is where we get the word, biology. With that in mind, John never uses the word, “bios,” in his gospel.

“Psuche” is use in Matthew 16:25, “Whoever wants to save his (soul-life) shall lose it.” The Greek word here refers to the psychological life of the human soul: the mind, emotion and will. It’s where we get the word, psychology. John uses “psuche” only a few times in his gospel.

Almost always (39x) John uses “Zoe” when he is writing about life. It is the word he uses here in John 1:4. “In Him was life/Zoe, and the life/Zoe was the light of men.” Here the Greek word refers to the uncreated, eternal life of God, the divine life uniquely possessed by God.

“Life” Gospel of John Word Study. Take this home and read over it often this week. See where John is going. Connect the dots. His gospel has a major theme and that theme is “ETERNAL LIFE!” This is the one kind of life that only the eternal MAKER can give and according to John’s gospel, the good news is that the WORD wants to give it!

Not only is the Word the LIFE of the world, but that very LIFE is also the LIGHT for all humans. As you now understand that there are different kinds of LIFE, there also are different kinds of LIGHT. We can perceive one, both, or neither.

When we are born physically in the world - if our eyes are healthy - we can perceive physical light.

But there is another kind of light - a spiritual light - and that is the light John is talking about, a LIGHT so important that the Son of God (the Word) had to come into our world and declare it and impart it to humans. This same “light” from 1:4 is what Jesus talks about in John 8:12:

This is the light of His Word, the light of His Truth, the light of eternal Life. Those who perceive this Light will never walk in spiritual darkness.

This LIGHT signifies goodness. It literally brightens up our world, and goodness brightens up our souls. From the Word, Jesus, Christ, this supernatural power of light compels us to goodness. God is good. He cannot operate outside of Who He is. Neither can we if in His LIGHT.

The “In The Beginning” book (Genesis) has two chapters of all good news - In the beginning God… God spoke and creation happened… Every day “it was good.” God made man. God made woman. And it was very good! Then we come to chapter 3 and sin and expulsion. The first 4 verses of the Gospel of John are all good news too! In the beginning was the Word… with God… was God…The Word created… The Word as life and light! And then we come to verse 5: “darkness.”

We cannot live our Christian lives without an awareness of darkness. Darkness is real! But it doesn’t have to be our reality!

(1) The Light shines! You can count on it. The light shines! And when / where the light shines, the darkness cannot compete. There is no such thing as a light shining and also darkness in the same space. There is either light or dark. Dark - by definition - is the absence of light. John tells us that the light shines! When a light shines in the darkness, creatures have two responses: (a) some move towards the light; (b) some move away from the light. Which creature are you?

(2) The darkness has not overcome the light. There is a battle between light and dark. There is the matter of one “overcoming” the other. John reveals the ending of the story at the beginning of the story: The darkness has not overcome the light! Light can be seen by any and all. Darkness - on the other hand - hides, conceals and covers. Light exposes truth. Light is powerful and far-reaching. Light is able to illuminate everything. If you want to find God, the Word, just follow the Light. Move toward the Light! If we seek God, we will find Him!

(3) The darkness has not understood the light. This is how some English translations interpret John 1:5 and it is worth remembering when it comes to your walk in the Light. Not everyone you come across will understand why you love Jesus, why you seek one universal Truth, why you have such a non-wavering faith in the resurrection of Jesus and in your own coming eternal life with Him. The darkness of the world around you cannot OVERCOME your faith, but you also can’t always expect the darkness to UNDERSTAND your faith either. There is a battle going on - a spiritual battle - and you have to decide which side you are on.