Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1917-01-05
LESSON FOR JANUARY 7
JESUS THE LIGHT AND LIFE OF
MEN.

of John; the remaining portion of the
year to III Kings, Ezra and Nehemiah,
being study with the prophets. One
year from now we begin the new
graded uniform lessons" recently I
adopted by the reorganized Interna-
tional Lesson committee.
John was younger than his brother,
James, and lived to be the oldest Of the
apostles, dying somewhere between A.
d. 95 and 90. His name means
peace" though he is surnamed the
''son Of thunder" mark BID. Five
of the New Testament books bear his
name. He blended the gentleness of
dove with the force and vision Of an
eagle" The purpose of his gospel Is
clearly stated (ch. :31). Only about
8 per cent Of 1t is found In the other
three gospels. Seventy-six times the
word witness" is used. The word
'.father" occurs 14O times and the
name Jesus 240 times.
I. The Word (vv. 1-5). Words utter
thoughts; word Is an expression of
an inaudible and invisible thing. AS
the Word, Christ is Creator (ch. IA 20;
S:19), he is the source of light. ''The
word is God heard the life is God felt.
and the light is God seen"--Moody.
This eternally existing person is called
the Word because In him God fully ex-
presses or reveals himself. The Bible
is the written word because in It God
speaks and reveals himself through
this person who Is the eternal Word
(Heb. 1:3). The first verse brings out
the fact that there are at least two
persons In the Godhead, the one divine
person in company with whom the
word was, and the word, himself, was
God; that is, was also divine per-
son. He who by his incarnation be-
came our brother and our savior was
first our creator and the creator of all
things, and apart from him not any
thing came into existence. The Word
did not become the light of men by his
incarnation in Jesus of Nazareth. He
was ever the Light of Men. The light
that shone in the Old Testament time
shone from him. When sin came, night
came.
H. The Witness wv. 6-10). John the
Baptizer came for witness. He was
not the light. Some might have
thought him to be the promised Mes
siah. This he denied. He was lamp
which held forth light to men concern
ing the true light switch llghteth every
man that cometh into the world" He
reflected light ". 81. John told all that
he knew. Testimony will expand as
experience enlarges. The spoken
word of man must confirm the expert
ence of the word In our lives. John
was a wonderful man, a man whom
God delighted to honor, but he was
man. Men are not asked to believe
blindly, but always upon On abundance
of testimony.
III. The World wv. 11-14). This
world was created by Jesus, and
throughout its existence he has been
in the world, though the world knew
him not. This living light had been
coming into the world, and was not
fully come until he was manifest to
Israel at the baptismal act Of John.
In order to be made manifest the
'Word was made flesh" In the person
of Jesus. The world did not apprehend
the light ". 81 nor did the world which
he was in and which was made by him
w. 10Y. Even his own people, literally
his own household servants, !. e. Israel,
received him not to themselves, but
whoever receives him, even the vilest
sinner of earth, and takes him into his
heart to be all Jesus desired to be, sa-
vior, lord, teacher, friend, thIt instant
he becomes q child of God. We cannot
attempt to explain this mystery. The
union of spirit and body was In one
person. sample fact; though unex-
planned, still true. The union Of God
with a human body, forming one per-
son, Christ Jesus, sometimes spoken OF
separately, sometimes as whole,
sometimes as divine, sometimes as hu-
man. We cannot divide his activities
into two sections and say this is divine
and this Is human; they are inexpli-
cably blended into one. This Christ
really dwelt among us. He did not
merely appear to some persons, or
come In a vision, and yet his abode
among us was only temporary, only a
few years, and we beheld his glory, the
glory of the only begotten Son. The
world expected Messiah and his own
creation, his own inheritance received
him not. rejected him, opposed him,
crucif1ed him, their lord, savior, king
and messiah. Those who received him
and believed on his name became sons.
To be a child Of God we must be-
born into the nature and character Of
God. into his spiritual life. We are
members Of his family.
| We are heirs of all things through
him, his Joy. his love, his character and
his blessing and the privileges of work
ing for him and with him. We becomel
heirs by being born Of God, not oil
blood, physical descent nor inherltance.l
n - L. <x<uI