John 1:4

In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

God said “Let their be light, and there was light,” (Genesis 1:3). This was the first thing created. It was not literal sunshine type of light, which was not created until later, but it was spiritual life. The “light” is the principle of spiritual truth. It is the light that allows us to know God.

It is interesting that the Genesis account of creation begins with the earth being void and formless, and in darkness (Gen. 1:2) This is the natural state, both of the world and of man. We are bound up in this darkness, and we have no hope. As natural humans, we have no way of making light. (though the foundation of religion is man making that effort to create light.)

But into this dark hopelessness, the light of God shines.

It is fitting then that John begin his account of Jesus with references to the creation account. His “in the beginning” is the same as Genesis’ “in the beginning.”

Before there was an Earth, there was truth, or light. Jesus was and is that light.

Jesus was the human manifestation of the light, or the truth of God. Because of this, He is the source of our spiritual lives and the source of truth. There is no life apart from the life given by the creator, and as God, Jesus is the one who imparts this life.

The word he uses for life in Greek is ZOE, which means the principle of life, or life itself. It does not only mean life like an animal or plant has life, which would be BIOS. One theologian describes ZOE as “all of highest and best which the saints possess in God.”

God has given all men life, as well as all animals and plants. He does not stop there though, in Christ, he now offers us spiritual truth and life. We all have the natural life he has given, but we must receive the spiritual life he offers.

In John 10:10, Jesus says that he came that we might have life abundantly. This is misunderstood in some circles who say that this means Jesus wants us to be rich materially. What it means is, is that Jesus came so that we might have the full light and life of God living in us. He came so that we might have the fullness of truth and the fullness of life.

He came to give us all of the spiritual blessings and to give us his life so that we might have a real abundance of spiritual life. This is a fancy way of saying, a deep and meaningful relationship with God.

We are not saved only as fire insurance (to stay out of Hell), nor are we saved only so that we may save others, and we are not saved so that we may live nice moral lives. All of those things are a part of the picture, but the main reason we are saved is so that we can have a relationship with God. We are saved so that we may have life abundant.

God wants to have that relationship with us, a deep and meaningful fellowship.

Stop and think about that for awhile. God WANTS to have a relationship with you.

If you are saved today, don’t settle then for anything less than an abundant life.

We have all been invited to a great banquet. Out in the hall are little snacks and finger food, which will keep you alive. But, further inside is the banquet where there is every good thing. Let us not then stay out in the hall, content with a surface relationship with God. Let us enter in to the fullness of life.

This may sound mystical and all, but it is relatively simple.

How do you develop any kind of relationship? By spending time with the person you get to know the person and develop a relationship. This includes you letting them know you. It is not any different developing a relationship with God, except that God will not turn his back on you as a human friend might.