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Genesis Framework
GF 11 John 12.46
September 6, 2015
Part 11

Scripture

John 12.46

John 12.46
I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.

Look at in context…

John 12:36-50
"While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.
37 But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him,
38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?"
39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:
40 "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them."
41 These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.
42 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue;
43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
44 Then Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.
45 "And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.
46 "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.
47 "And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
48 "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him –the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

One “having heard” Christ’s recorded word and rejecting it, that word will be his judge in the last day.

49 "For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.
50 "And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."

Today, we are still continuing to answer the question:

(Q) How variously identified( conceptualized) is the Glory-Spirit in the Scriptures?

We have already discovered in the Scriptures that in most instances the theophanic( God-shining) glory is expressed as some form of light, and that the creation of light was always intended by God to dispel all forms of darkness.

We have also discovered, as we traverse the use of expressions dealing with the existence of God’s holy light throughout the Scriptures, that God moves His holy light from being an exclusively externalized guide and glory to becoming an internally realized manifestation, as the Spirit of Christ comes to abide everlastingly within true believers.

Physical Realm

As a hovering avian form
As a light separating light from darkness
As a rainbow-cloud radiance
As a bright light from heaven
As a flame and light of divine glory
As a fire bearing glory light brighter than the sun
As a light to dispel physical darkness and to guide
As varied modes of the sky; a clear firmament, a sheltering
canopy (to John), a whirlwind, a thunderhead of terrifying
trumpet and flashing arrow

(most distinctly perceived as anthropomorphous)
As a divine figure enthroned in the Glory
As the divine face or parts thereof- eyes
As a divine arm or parts thereof- hand and finger
As the power of God stretched out exercising sovereignty
As the feet of God standing as divine witness
(the dual columnar Gory-cloud as pillar of cloud and fire)

Spirit Realm

As a Light( Christ) come into the world
As a Spirit-light internalized, the light of life

John 12.46
"I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.

The affect of His incarnate appearance is not unlike that of the Spirit of God at creation, God’s light transforming uninhabitable darkness, into habitable existence.

God’s Glory-Presence can bring judgment and transformation unto life, as was experienced by Saul.

As doctor Luke tells us in Acts 9 and 22, and as Paul bears testimony to a king in Acts 26…

Acts 9.3-6
As he (Saul) journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven…

Acts 22.6-11
Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me.
7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?
8 So I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.
9 And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me.
10 So I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.'
11 And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.

…a consequence of the unapproachable character of the light.

A further implication is that in this judgment of God, He extends mercy and grace by indicting Saul, thereby revealing to him the true nature of his “spiritual blindness,” graciously allowing Paul to “see” reality and truth, and to make known to him that up to now he had been blindly groping about in the absolute darkness of his own spirit. Compare this to the way Jesus dealt with Scribes and Pharisees, who insisted that they were not “blind.”

John 9:39a
And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world,

We know Jesus to have already said that He has not come into the world( lower-register) for the purpose to cast final judgment upon it.

John 9:39 b
that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

We also know that in order for Christ to bring the children of light to salvation, they must first know the indictment and judgment from the Lord, and be enabled by the Spirit to see their “blindness” for what it is, that they grope in darkness as the consequence of their sin, and that only by the transformative light of God’s Glory-Spirit shining, as it were, into their inner darkness, can anyone be brought to the true light of Christ’s atoning life.

There are distinctly two sides to this coin:

“For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

There are those who are given insight to their own blindness and are enabled by the light of the Spirit to see their need for salvation,and those who think they already see, reject the light given them in favor of all forms of darkness, and find satisfaction in groping in the darkness on their own; these Jesus’ judgment is to simply leave them in their darkness.

John 9:39-41
Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"

Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains.

Apparently, redeemed Saul was empowered by the Lord to administer heavenly judgment upon a divisive sorcerer.

Let’s first see the backdrop of this scene.

Acts 13.4-7
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit [from Antioch], they went down to Seleucia [16 mi. to port city in Syria], and from there they sailed to Cyprus [130 mi. SW].
5 And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John [John Mark] as their assistant.
6 Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos [90 mi. SW], they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus,
7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

To explain several things:

“They” were Paul and Barnabas. John Mark was assisting them, before the split. The second port city Paphos was the Roman government seat of Cyprus. Bar-Jesus was a magician, similar to Simon, a Jew, and a false prophet, characterized by Paul as a “son of the devil” suggesting that his magic was assisted by demonic powers.

At that time magic was practiced by both pagans and Jewish people with the goals of healing diseases, bringing physical blessings, cursing or otherwise harming others, and guarding against both curses and demons. Magicians also claimed to foretell the future.The proconsul was the highest-ranking official in a Roman senatorial province. Some inscriptions have been found bearing the name Sergius Paulus. Bar-Jesus, also known as Elymas, was apparently opposed to the missionaries because he viewed them as a threat to his own profitable relationship with the proconsul, regarding CD and bookselling opportunities and world-wide TV and Internet exposure. The man who called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God was the proconsul.

Acts 13.8-11
But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him
10 and said, "O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?
11 "And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time." And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went
around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

To explain:

When Elymas was miraculously struck blind, it was the proconsul who became a believer, not Elymas. We have no record of what happened with Elymas, his role was secondary in this event. At any rate, I rest assured that had this event occurred today, it would have been be politically correct for Elymas to have received a trophy for his participation.

On the other side of the coin…

Acts 26.13

"at midday, O king (Agrippa), along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.

2 Corinthians 4.6
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

out from within darkness

This is an obvious reference to the creation event.

Let’s remember that we are supposed to rank God’s Word above all other words, to guide and illuminate our spirit and mind.

The king spoke, and said to Daniel,

Daniel 5.14
“I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.

Ecclesiastes 2:13
Then I saw that wisdom excels folly As light excels darkness.

Many will be surprised on the Day of Judgment when they discover that it was just as the Word of God says; only the righteousness of Christ is able to save you.All men are sinners and no one can save himself. God is just, so He must punish sin; but He is also merciful, moreover gracious, and offers His Son as the perfect sacrifice in order to purchase a place for you in heaven, which He offers to you as the free gift of eternal life.

Jesus is God Incarnate

In order to pay the debt of our sins, He came from Heaven, having been sent by the Father, where He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father even unto the shameful death upon the cross in order to pay the debt of your sins.This gift must be received by faith, believing that Jesus’ perfect life and Cross Work was His complete and necessary Atonement for your sins, in your behalf.Faith is a gift that comes by the Power of God the Holy Spirit working in a person’s innermost being. The Holy Spirit has the authority and power to quicken your dead spirit, to make it come to life. If you have not done so before this moment, ask Jesus to forgive you your sins, tell Him you’ve stop trying to be your own savior, and ask Him to come into your life right now, and to give you eternal life. Then, in faith believing, thank Him for the gift that He is giving you, the one He paid for in full in your place, in Jesus’ name,AMEN

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