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“The Fulfillment of God’s Word” No.3 by Rev. Toru Asai
In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (John 1:4-5).
In the Bible, life is often expressed together with light, and death with darkness. We have, for instance, the following verses:
He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom (lit. the shadow of death) and broke away their chains (Ps 107:14).
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned (Isa 9:2).
That “the light shines in the darkness” indicates that life has victory over death, and that “the darkness has not understood (or, overcome) it” indicates that death has opposed life, but has not been able to defeat it. It points to the death and resurrection of Christ.
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, while the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters, God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness (Gen 1:1-4, translation mine).
That “God saw that the light was good” indicates that he did not see that the darkness was good, and wanted to do something about it. So he said, “Let there be light (lit. let light be),” and that word was fulfilled: what he desired was accomplished. And the same work of creation is seen in the New Testament: he saw the darkness of our human world, and desired that light would come to it. So he sent his word—the life and light, and it was accomplished.
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12)—
Those who received the preexistent Word came to have “the right to become children of God.” It indicates that they had not had it, or had lost it before they came to believe. However, we know that when God created humans, he created them as his children.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground (Gen 1:26)."
All children grow to be like their parents in their personality as well as in their physical appearance. The physical resemblance comes from a gene that is contained in every cell of our body. In the same way, God passed on his gene to humans when he created them as his children. Humans were to grow according to his gene—his nature and power, and to show his glory on earth by working with him and bearing fruit for him as it was programed in the gene. There was, however, one very important condition for this purpose to be fulfilled.
And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Gen 2:16-17)."
They needed to be obedient to him keeping his commands—his words. Humans were created under the covenant with him, and they were to live by every word that came from his mouth.
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By Davar Kingdom of GodIn him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (John 1:4-5).
In the Bible, life is often expressed together with light, and death with darkness. We have, for instance, the following verses:
He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom (lit. the shadow of death) and broke away their chains (Ps 107:14).
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned (Isa 9:2).
That “the light shines in the darkness” indicates that life has victory over death, and that “the darkness has not understood (or, overcome) it” indicates that death has opposed life, but has not been able to defeat it. It points to the death and resurrection of Christ.
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, while the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters, God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness (Gen 1:1-4, translation mine).
That “God saw that the light was good” indicates that he did not see that the darkness was good, and wanted to do something about it. So he said, “Let there be light (lit. let light be),” and that word was fulfilled: what he desired was accomplished. And the same work of creation is seen in the New Testament: he saw the darkness of our human world, and desired that light would come to it. So he sent his word—the life and light, and it was accomplished.
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12)—
Those who received the preexistent Word came to have “the right to become children of God.” It indicates that they had not had it, or had lost it before they came to believe. However, we know that when God created humans, he created them as his children.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground (Gen 1:26)."
All children grow to be like their parents in their personality as well as in their physical appearance. The physical resemblance comes from a gene that is contained in every cell of our body. In the same way, God passed on his gene to humans when he created them as his children. Humans were to grow according to his gene—his nature and power, and to show his glory on earth by working with him and bearing fruit for him as it was programed in the gene. There was, however, one very important condition for this purpose to be fulfilled.
And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Gen 2:16-17)."
They needed to be obedient to him keeping his commands—his words. Humans were created under the covenant with him, and they were to live by every word that came from his mouth.