The Word Became Flesh – Part 4

Thank you for following this four-part series on The Word Made Flesh. Some parts of it are difficult to comprehend, but I tried to explain it as clearly as Dr. John MacArthur who presented this sermon to his congregation in California.

Today I conclude with the idea that Jesus is not only the life, but He is also the Light.

LET THERE BE LIGHT

We get our first glimpse of this idea in Genesis 1:3, And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (ESV). This wasn’t merely saying that light had been created. Remember back in Genesis 1:2, the Bible says that darkness was over the face of the deep (ESV). Indeed, a light switch had been turned on, but it wasn’t so much the sun or the moon that brought forth the light, but, the light came from Jesus who was and is the Light. Remember that Jesus was with God from the beginning, and remember that Jesus is the Word, and remember the Word is God.

Read further in Genesis to 1:14-16. Here we see the creation of the lights in the expanse. There was the greater light which ruled the day (our sun), and the lesser light to rule the night (our moon)—and the stars.

Now go back and read Genesis 1:3-5. The light was Day and the darkness was Night, and there was morning and evening, but the sun and the moon hadn’t been created as yet. How could that be?

The Word Became Flesh - Part 4 @DDuPreeWilliams #faith #writing Share on X

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Jesus was there from the beginning with God, and He was the Light. Now turn to John 8:12 (ESV) Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” We’ve already established that Jesus is life. All life is in Him. But here, life and light are joined. Dr. M. says, “Life is the principle; light is simply an analogy. Light is simply the illustration. The life, the preexistent, coexistent, self-existent life of God in human form in Jesus became the light of men. In other words, when He showed up, the light went on. The light overcame the darkness of ignorance—the light overpowered the darkness of sin. It’s an analogy.”

Dr. M. goes on to speak about the Shekinah. I’ve heard the phrase, Shekinah glory, most of my life, but I never knew what it meant. Did you know that the word Shekinah isn’t in the Bible? I didn’t until I was in the middle of writing this post.  It is related to the Hebrew word shakan, meaning to dwell or reside. We see this display of God’s dwelling with man in the Bible described as God’s glory. In essence, it is God appearing as a blazing light as He did to Moses on Mt. Sinai. In this form, it came and went. But when Jesus came to earth—The Word made flesh—the Light stayed.

MARY’S SONG AND SONG OF SIMEON

One of my all-time favorite portions of scripture is Mary’s Magnificat (read Luke 1:46-55). In its sung form, it is usually followed by Simeon’s blessing. I’m giving you the words we sang. You’ll find them in Luke 2: 29-32. Its proper name is the Nunc Dimittis. You will see that Jesus came to be not only a light, but the Light. And there is that word, glory, again. So many meanings. That’s why we study God’s Word, why we did deep. I’m so glad we discovered Dr. MacArthur.

Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace,

According to Thy Word,

For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation

Which Thou hast preparest before the face of all people,

To be a light to lighten the gentiles,

And to be the glory of Thy people, Israel.

Clearly, Jesus entered the world to be the Light of all people. Not only for the Jews but for the gentiles—the whole world.

This Word made flesh, was the Light of the world who overcame the darkness of our sin.

This concludes my series about this astounding sermon. Perhaps one day, I’ll be at a place where I can share how the Light of Jesus shone into our lives in 2020. I wouldn’t be writing this now had He not made a huge difference in my life. He can in yours, too. Contact me. Let’s talk.

Blessings, y’all.

 

If you would like to hear this sermon by Dr. MacArthur, go to YouTube and then to John MacArthur. Look for the sermon titled the same as this post. It was truly amazing. That’s why I did these posts. I pray they have blessed you in some way, and that you have dug a bit deeper into God’s Word.

 

I love this so much. The years I spent singing this lovely music, both in Concert Choir at Birmingham-Southern College and at Independent Presbyterian Church, both in Birmingham, AL, were some of the most rewarding ever, musically speaking. Because of those two choirs, I have memorized more scriptures than I would have otherwise. Truly, a blessing.