John 1:4-5: What does “in Him was life” mean?

Question

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John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
John 1:3 All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.

John 1:4 In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.
John 1:5 And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Questions:
What is this “life” that the writer is talking about?
What does the “light of men” mean?
What is this “darkness”, and why did the darkness not “comprehend” the light?

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http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/John/john_02.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMVej6QXwhk

Answer 1

in Him was life - because of sin we deserve death (physical and spiritual-eternal separation from God). when we put our trust in Jesus, that he paid for our sin we He died in our place on the cross-taking our death penalty, then because of Him, we have life-meaning eternal life with God.

Light and Darkness - scripture says that God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all. dark refers to sin. light refers to without sin.

another example, in darkness you can not find your way but when you light a candle you can see.

in the same way, when we are in sin we are often blinded and can not see the way. Jesus said He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and no ones comes to the Father except through Him.

The darkness did not comprehend-The darkness (those in sin) could not comprehend that Jesus, the Light was there way out, the way to God

Answer 2

John's style of writing is such that he uses "keys" to interpret. These expressions will be explained in the text as you move through them (he does this in the book of Revelation, using keys in the first 3 chapters)

If we were looking for life and light, we would eventually find Jesus saying:

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life"

John 8:12 "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

Answer 3

The fountain of life; 1Jo 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
1Jo 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
1Jo 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

Life obtained, possessed, sustained, ministered, abounding, and resurrected.

The light ; Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

A spirit fire.

Darkness is nothingness, if that is a word.

LIGHT G5457
φῶς
phōs
foce
From an obsoleteφάω phaō (to shine or make manifest, especially by rays; compare G5316 and G5346); luminousness (in the widest application, natural or artificial, abstract or concrete, literal or figurative): - fire, light.

Answer 4

The life was the gift of eternal life through Jesus.
The darkness did not comprehend it because those who reject Jesus prefer to stay in the dark.

Answer 5

light = grace (light of life; understanding)
darkness = law (shadow of death; ignorance)

That God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.
Allegory: there is no law at all in the God of all grace.
Allegory: there's no discomfort in the God of all comfort

It's always about law and grace no matter how allegorized

Answer 6

There various opinions on his exact meaning. Some believe that he meant the life of grace, which permeates our lives.

Answer 7

In union with Christ is real substance and fulfillment to this difficult thing we call life when practically embraced one will discover the truth that His life is truely the light we so desperately need to live a purposeful life.This light is what lights our spirit and brings illumination daily as the Word of God becomes our meat and drink life in Christ quickens us to understand things at such a level that we can now experience the abundant life.

Answer 8

This is a superlative question. The answer comes from the Summa of Thomas Aquinas.

The Word which is The Christ is eternal. Therefore, the Life which is spoken about is also eternal. It was revealed to first the Jews of the Old Testament and then to the Christians of the Good News, that Jesus+ is the Incarnate Word of God. As prophesied in Isaiah the Father promised that the Messiah that He would send would be His Own Son and that He would be born of a Virgin. He would be the Wonderful Counseler, the Mighty King and the God made Man. Incarnate means that Christ took his human form from Mary, born in the flesh and dwelt amongst us.

So that which is eternal, took human form. The infinite and eternal contained within the finite being. And in this Christ also teaches that the Holy Spirit would come. Then the indwelling of Christ, the Light of the World, would begin to be made manifest on earth. We see this proceeding out of the Pentecost as the Apostles spread the Light all over the earth.

Christ's birth was preceeded by a star. The star was a wonder which Kings and Shepherds followed. The darkness which does not comprehend the light is the inversion of power upon itself, founded in the corrupt and evil angel Lucifer. To comprehend is to understand. Lucifer failed to understand the Light that is Christ, for he turned against him and refused to serve the Son of God. This non-servim was devised as an eternal condition by the powers of darkness with horror and hatred and murders and abominations.

The devil subverted many natural and supernatural creations to build his evil power, but was cast into hell out of heaven. Jesus says: I saw satan fall like lightning out of heaven. Thus satan has a dominion which fights against the weaknesses of creatures to take them as captives.

The Holy Spirit is God breathed forth into the Third Person of the Trinity by the Father in the Son. He came into the world as the Strong Man, the Holy Ghost, to save us from satan, the powers of darkness in a bestial form. The Plan for our Salvation is put forth by the Father, who is the Author of Life, the Creator of the World and the Maker of Mankind.

The Creed says that WE Believe in God the Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth and of All Things seen and unseen. What God made He called "good" as a seal upon it all. But the subsequent betrayal of 1/3 of the angels presented a dilemma to the generations of life already put into motion.

In the Beginning was the Word ...All things came to be by Him, because He is the Word of God. When God the Father spoke the Word "Let there be Light" the command was spoken through the Son and the Plan was formed in Him. Therefore He has authority and dominion over all things because He is the context within which all things are made.

Therefore the context of all things, the comprehension of all things, is only possible through Him. Thus we see that the darkness does not comprehend the Light. Also we see that the darkness can never overtake the Light. Thus we know that Christ will conquer and has already conquered.

That which is a creature can never be greater than the Creator. Christ existed in God before the world began. The Nicene Creed prayed at the Mass is a statement of the central beliefs regarding Him. It says that He is God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God. The Creed says that He was eternally begotten by the Father. This means that from the Father's heart and life, and from his very essence and being which is all spirit, He begot His only Son, Jesus Christ.

When Adam and Eve were tricked by the serpent, the plan of the Incarnation was made to save mankind from the cruel subjogation of the prince of darkness. A young virgin named Mary was chosen to become the Mother of the Incarnate Word. And from this point the Plan of our Redemption was carried forward by the Messiah, who is Christ the Lord. The Most Holy Trinity continues to fulfill the Plan of God until the fullfillment of all Time when we come to dwell in the Eternal City, where the Lamb is the Light of the City of God.

The Nicene Creed
As approved in amplified form at the Council of Constantinople (381), it is the profession of the Christian Faith common to the Catholic Church, to all the Eastern Churches separated from Rome, and to most of the Protestant denominations.

The Church
The Catholic Church was instituted by Christ through the Apostle, Peter the first Pope. The word Catholic means Universal and was first used by St. Ambrose around the time in which the Nicene Creed was formulated through the power of the Holy Spirit (325 AD) The Church offers the sacramental life as a means of sealing the human person against the foes of darkness, that we might contain that which can not truly be contained, the indwelling of the Godhead. Just like sealing wax was used to seal a royal letter, the Seal of the Godhead, the Trinity is placed upon the soul in the sacraments. But this is by no means mere wax, but the very blood of the Son of Man poured out for us on the cross of Calvary.

And as mentioned by the writer of the preceeding response, the gracelife is eternal and is sealed within us. Through the sacraments we may acquire the Divine Life which is the very nature of Christ Himself. Hence we may be perfected finally and in due course of salvation.

Jesus promises: Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

From these teachings we see that things are made with a great preponderance in a Mystery meant for our eternal good. We Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow.

St. Thomas Aquinas
Philosopher, theologian, doctor of the Church (Angelicus Doctor), patron of Catholic universities, colleges, and schools. Born at Rocca Secca in the Kingdom of Naples, 1225 or 1227; died at Fossa Nuova, 7 March, 1274.
Since the days of Aristotle, probably no one man has exercised such a powerful influence on the thinking world as did St. Thomas.

For those faithful to the Word of God we take as our final reminder the word given to St. Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles, who said: Of this we are certain, that no power, principality, dominion or throne, nor height nor depth nor anything can seperate us from the Love of Christ Jesus+ the Lord.

Answer 9

Sperm.
Again, sperm.
If you have to ask what the darkness is, you should talk to your parents.