Have you ever watched a room with dark walls get painted over with a wash of fresh color? It’s nothing short of transformational. I would know. I once thought it a grand idea to paint my one-window master bedroom “green bean,” which, within the shadows of my four walls looked more like the Emerald city in a thunderstorm. The black furniture didn’t help.
One day I realized that our master bedroom didn’t feel restful or refreshing, and a lot of that was owing to the cave I had inadvertently created. My husband eventually agreed to a new paint job, and I chose the palest hue of aquamarine. Of course I couldn’t wait for all three coats to be applied before peeking, and the transformation made me gasp aloud. The room felt huge, and bright, full of air, and uplifting. Light (in this case, in a paint color) had dynamically transformed my entire experience of a room, changing even my mood. One newly introduced element had recreated everything.
That’s exactly what John is describing in his witty, throwback-to-Genesis introduction to Jesus. You know, Genesis:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”
Genesis 1:1-3
Except John tells this old familiar lesson about our origin a little differently, which means we should notice how it is similar, and why it is different:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John 1:1-5
John starts at the same point in history: in the beginning. John presents us with the same fundamental problem: darkness. In Genesis God addresses this problem by speaking light into existence. John however, tells us that the Light he is speaking of pre-dates the darkness (cosmic and spiritual), and that nothing else exists (even natural light) without this supernatural Light– a light that is both darkness-dispelling and life-containing!
John says, let’s talk about the divine Light; the inauguration of a new creation—that one Element that washes over each dimly lit heart and shadowed soul, transforming everything.
Continue exploring the rich meaning of John’s prologue by listening to week one of Longing and Light, a special advent podcast Angela Sackett and I created just for you!
May the eternal light of the glory of Jesus dispel the shade in your soul, and refresh you with joy and life everlasting.
-Stephanie
