G VS. E AND WE
JOHN 1:4-5
#John1
OPENING ILLUSTRATION… Samurai Jack (p) en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samurai_Jack
Samurai Jack is an American animated action-fantasy science-fiction television series created by animator Genndy Tartakovsky that aired on Cartoon Network from 2001 until 2004. This is one of my favorite shows. If you talk to Kelly, the story she will tell you about me taping over our wedding with an episode of Samurai Jack is exaggerated and only partly true.
The series tells the story of a heroic samurai's adventures in a distant, dystopian future ruled by the shape-shifting Aku, who is the demonic personification of pure evil and darkness.
Aku is the narrator at the beginning of the show and says: “Long ago in a distant land, I, Aku, the shapeshifting master of darkness, unleashed an unspeakable evil! But a foolish samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in time and flung him into the future, where my evil is law! Now the fool seeks to return to the past and undo the future that is Aku!”
The show has action. The show has great storytelling. It is animated, but I don’t mind that. The entire show is a whole story of good vs. evil. The whole show is a whole story about light vs. darkness. Good vs. evil is told in each story and every episode. I like that. I like in the show as well that the good guys remain the good guys and the bad guys remain the bad guys. The show presents the idea that the virtuous Samurai Jack will overcome the evil Aku because he is good, virtuous, and loves his neighbor and only by staying good will he win. Seriously, that is the whole point of the show.
JOHN 1:4-5
Today we are going to look at a few verses in John 1 that also introduces us to this idea of good vs. evil. The verses are not complicated, but do have a flavor of poetry and symbolism to them. I say poetry and symbolism because light is a symbol of life. Light and life are words associated with Jesus. The opposite of light is shared as darkness. So we get this idea in John 1:4-5 that the Apostle John is speaking about the tension and struggle and conflict of light and life verses darkness and death.
READ John 1:4-5
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
GOOD VS. EVIL tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlackAndWhiteMorality?from=Main.GoodVsEvil
Good versus evil is a theme that is told over and over in books, music, movies, TV shows, and even in the Bible. It is white hat versus black hat. It is the story of the shining knight of light and destiny with a flowing cape versus the dark mustache-twirling, force of pure malevolence. It is the Republic, The Alliance, The Federation, or the Fellowship of the Ring fighting for freedom and happiness, helping the helpless, and running soup kitchens, versus the Evil Empire of oppression and tyranny run by The Legion of Doom, greedy corporate scumbags, and an Evil Overlord Sorcerer with deadly sidekicks.
In these stories, the villains never have a sympathetic motivation for their actions, but their intentions are entirely for the sake of evil and may involve taking over or destroying the world. Likewise, the forces of good never have any evil, ulterior motives for their deeds, as they do good because it's The Right Thing To Do. In these stories, at least the ones I tend to like, all the major choices that the heroes are faced with are either right or wrong. In these stories, the good guys are good, and the bad guys are bad. If there are any morally ambiguous or grey characters around they will eventually shift firmly to one side or the other.
When I think of TV shows and movies when I was a kid:
* On GI Joe… the GI Joes were always good fighting for freedom and Cobra was always bad.
* On Transformers… the Autobots were always good and the Decepticons were always destructive and bad.
* In Star Wars… there was the light side with the Jedi and the dark side with the Sith.
These were before my time but still true:
* Dick Tracy is the law abiding cop that always wins the day against all the law breaking gangsters.
* In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs it is Snow White against the evil Queen.
* The Mission Impossible Team from the 1960s was the good guys carrying out missions against the bad guys.
* Perry Mason was always good and always won the day against crime and the mystery of the week.
Even in sports and entertainment good vs. evil exists. Did you know in Mexican wrestling (known to the locals as lucha libre), there's no such thing as a character that is in between good or evil. In the drama and action that is Mexican wrestling, you know the kind with the masks, one is either a good guy (technico) or a bad guy (rudo), period.
My point is this: you and I understand that life has this thread of good vs. evil in it. Everyone understands this. That is why this good vs. evil theme is present in so many movies, TV, songs, and books. It is simply part of our existence as human beings.
ILLUSTRATION… Stargate SG1 (p) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_SG-1
Perhaps my favorite TV show of all time is Stargate SG1. The story of Stargate SG-1 begins about a year after the events of the feature film (Stargate), when the United States government learns that an ancient alien device called the Stargate can access a network of such devices on a multitude of planets and in space. SG-1 is an elite United States Air Force special operations team, one of about 20 teams from Earth who explore the galaxy and defend against alien threats such as the Goa'uld, the Replicators and the Ori. This whole show is a constant story of good vs. evil. Each one of the main bad guys and villains are set out to conquer earth and the heroes you become acquainted with in the show defend earth and freedom and all that good stuff.
This show lasted for 10 seasons on various networks I think because of the great storytelling that was rooted in the good vs. evil idea. I think it is human nature to like stories of good vs. evil because we know that reality is like that… and we all want to see the good guys win in the end… don’t we? Stargate SG1 would leave you hanging at the end of a season making you think the good guys were going to lose, but in the end, good always won over evil. Good always wins over evil. I like stories like that.
Now that we kind of have this idea of good vs. evil in our minds, I would like to take that background and go back to the verses we read earlier. These verses have the comparison of good vs. evil present right in the verses. Let’s re-read them and break down what we read.
RE-READ John 1:4-5
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
JESUS IS LIFE AND LIGHT
The “Him” in verse 4 is Jesus Christ.
The “life” in verse 4 is Jesus Christ.
The “light of men” in verse 4 is Jesus Christ.
The “light” shining “in the darkness” in verse 5 is Jesus Christ.
The “not understood” “it” in verse 5 is Jesus Christ.
The Apostle John wants us to understand very clearly that in the real struggle and tension and conflict of good vs. evil that we experience in our lives (not on a TV show or in a book) that Jesus Christ is good, light, and life and the world is filled with evil, darkness, and death. John sees existence in white and black. John sees existence in good and evil. John makes the statement in 1 John 1:5, a small letter he also wrote: “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.” We have two basic ideas presented in these verses: life and light.
LIFE
The first phrase in John 4 says, “In Him was life." What “life” is the verse talking about here? Physical life? Spiritual life? Which one? John already explained to us in verses 1-3 that Jesus is God and is indeed the Author and Creator of our physical existence, so here he is moving deeper to something else. The life described in this verse is new life in Christ, spiritual life fueled by the Holy Spirit, and the gift of eternal life made possible by the death of Jesus on the cross.
Everyone faces physical death, but those in Christ do not face spiritual death. In John 5:24, Jesus Christ teaches us, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” Not being in Christ means death. In Christ, means life. Jesus is the only source of eternal life for our souls. Jesus says believing in Him brings that life to us. He is it. He is life.
Jesus says time and time again throughout His ministry that He is the giver of life. He is the source of life for us. In fact, John 5:26 says, “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.” Jesus is our source of eternal life with God in Heaven forever.
* Jesus says to crowds: " I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10).
* Jesus says to Maratha as Lazarus was in his tomb: "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25).
* Jesus says to Thomas: "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6).
LIGHT
The second phrase in John 4 is “and that life was the light of men.” What “light” is the verse talking about here? Physical light like the sun or moon? Spiritual light? Which one? John already explained to us in verses 1-3 that Jesus is God and is the Creator of physical light, so here he is moving deeper. There is definitely a contrast here between darkness and light but he is being poetic when talking about good and evil. Good is light. Evil is dark. God is light. Evil is dark. The light described in this verse is tied to the good moral God-centered way of living Jesus lays out for us which is a stark contrast to the evil immoral ways of the world we find ourselves in.
Ephesians 5:8-11 helps us understand this a little bit: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”
The New Testament is clear that you and I were once not just lost in darkness, but notice Paul says… we… were… darkness. We had only the sinful nature. Hopelessness, shame, selfishness, disrespect for human life, guilt, grudges, greed, and all those sorts of things are the fruitless deeds of darkness. Jesus Christ came and by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior we now have the light of Christ in us to chase away the darkness. We don’t have to live in darkness, but rather the light of Jesus chases away the darkness from us.
POEM… “Chase Away the Darkness” by Brian Drummond (used with permission)
“Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the Name of God and rely on His Name.
Chase it away, chase it away, chase away the darkness.
Chase it away, chase it away, chase away the darkness with His deeds.
The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it for believers live in the light and walk in the light… and the rest do not.
Chase it away, chase it away, chase away the darkness.
Chase it away, chase it away, chase away the darkness by His love.
The True Light that gives light to every man has come into the and led us to this great and holy land.
Chase it away, chase it away, chase away the darkness with His deeds.
Chase it away, chase it away, chase away the darkness by His love.”
Jesus Himself speaks about Himself as light.
* Jesus says in John 8:12: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
* Jesus said again in John 9:5 that He was the “light of the world.”
* He says in John 12:36, “Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.”
* John 12:46, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.”
When John said Jesus is the light, he is claiming that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah. It was another way he was saying that Jesus is God. When Jesus declares Himself the light, He is saying that His way of living and the manner that He would provide for our lives is the correct and right way of living.
You don’t have to believe in Him, but if you don’t you are stuck with the fruitless deeds of darkness.
You don’t have to accept Him, but if you don’t, then you choose a life separate from the source of life.
You don’t have to choose Jesus, but understand there is no middle ground.
GOOD VS. EVIL REVISITED ILLUSTRATION (p)
God has set up reality. God by His very nature is good, righteous, holy, and perfect. He is always that way and remains good, righteous, holy, and perfect no matter what. Anything opposite of God or not in His will is then bad, unrighteous, sinful, and imperfect. There is no middle ground. The spiritual reality is really good vs. evil and you and I need to pick a side.
We either side with Samurai Jack or Aku.
We are either with SG1 or with the Goa'uld or Replicators.
We are either GI Joes or Cobra.
We are Autobots or Decepticons.
We are Jedi or Sith.
We are cop Dick Tracey or villains Prune Face, Flat Top, Breathless Mahoney, or the Blank.
We are either on the side of Snow White or the side of the evil Queen.
We join the Mission Impossible Team or we are on the side of evil and corruption.
We either are with Perry Mason or a crook.
We are with the Hobbits or we are with Sauron.
We are with the Federation or we are with the Borg.
I don’t want you to think I am making light of anything here in Scripture, but just the exact opposite. You see we have a human tendency not to see our spirituality in terms of black and white, but rather gray. Our entertainment is now reflecting this shift and we have a muddying of the moral waters into gray. Lucifer has his own TV show where he’s the good guy (2015-Current). There was a show about a good guy serial killer (Dexter, 2006-2013). Netflix has a film where Jesus is gay (2020). One of the latest Star Wars movies has the hero stating the good guys have to go away to make way for middle ground (2017). The Terminators are good guys (2009, 2015). Amazon Prime has a show where an angel and a demon have to be friends to save the world (Good Omens, 2019).
The reality of life that the Bible presents is not gray. Morality is not gray. Good and evil are not gray. There is not wiggle room between what is right and wrong. Sometimes I wish the morality and character of God presented in the Bible was gray because it would make many things so much easier. The truth is reality presented by verses like John 1:4-5 is that there are indeed two sides in physical life, morality, and our spiritual lives.
Goodness and light stays in its lane. One side is light with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Evil and darkness stays in its lane. One side is dark with immorality, impurity, debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, envy, drunkenness, and the like.
(see Galatians 5:19-23).
SUMMARY
I want to summarize a little bit of what we have talked about today and then apply what we have been talking about.
RE-READ John 1:4-5
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
In John 1:1-3, which we talked about last week, the Apostle John introduces the eternal Divine Word Who is Jesus Christ. Jesus is God. Trust in Jesus. The following two verses we have talked about today tell us a little bit about the nature of this One he has described and the nature of the world we live in.
Jesus is life.
Jesus is light.
You and I live in an existence that is at its base instinct is sinful and separated from God. The world is lost. The world is dark. The world is gray. The world and the ways of the world only lead to death. The only way out of darkness is by way of Jesus Christ. He is life. He is light.
APPLICATION
So how do we apply this? I believe application of these two verses and the view of reality that it presents causes us to ask a serious question about our lives: “Where do I want to live?”
* You can choose to live in the gray. The gray is a made up immoral world where right is wrong and wrong is right and all paths lead to emptiness and questions and confusion. The gray is the middle ground that our world presents to us that it tolerant and good and what we should be shooting for. The gray is not what God wants for us for it is not His way.
* You can choose to live in the black. The black is darkness and evil and life that doesn’t understand God or want to understand Him. The darkness leads to eternal separation from God. The black doesn’t understand God and chooses its own way no matter what. The black is not what God wants for us for it is not His way.
* You can choose to live in the white. White is Jesus which is life and light. The white is the path of abundant life taught by Jesus Christ, paid for by His blood, and leads to God the Father in Heaven forever. The white is what God wants for us for it is only His way.
You pick.
CONCLUSION IN PRAYER
