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THE KING ’S BUSINESS
deaf ear to it, shows what a man is (cf. 1 John 4 :6 ; 5:10, 13). By the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, the perfect incarnation of God, the perfect incarnation of the Light, Light and Darkness are offered to men in their most absolute form fo r each man to choose for himself what he will have. He that chooses Christ chooses the Light, he that rejects Christ chooses the darkness. “ Deliberate re jection of the Light reveals a fearful preference for darkness.” There can, therefore, be no hope either in this life or' in any future life for the man who decisively and finally rejects , Christ. Unbelief in Jesus Christ “ nul lifies all the glorious purposes of In finite LOVE, imputes folly to all the designs of Infinite WISDOM, defiant ly opposes all the operations of Infin ite POWER, falsifies all the promises o f Infinite TRUTH, proclaims to the universe that DARKNESS IS BET TER THAN LIGHT.” We are told in this verse that “ men (i. e. the human race as a whole) lov.ed the darkness rather than the light.” This is an awful indictment against the human race, but there can be no question of its truth. In'every age, it has been the select few who have chosen to believe on Jesus Christ, to accept the Light. So while the pur pose of God in sending the Son into the world was that the world might be saved through Him, this purpose is not becoming effectual in the great mass of the race, simply because of their own choice of the darkness rath er than the Light, their own choice of death rather than life, their own choice of damnation instead of salvation (cf. ch. 5:40). The last clause of the verse explains why it is that' men loved the darkness rather than the Light, namely, be cause “ their works were evil.” Their own works being evil they hate the Light which will expose the character of their own works. Men hate above
rather than the light, because (rather, /o r ) their deeds (rather, works) were evil.” These words explain why it is that the final judgment of the individual depends upon what he does with the Son of God. The Son of God is “ The Light” (not merely “ light” as in the Authorized Version), in His incarna tion “ The Light has come into the world.” What men do with the light decides what men are at heart, and thus also decides their destiny. If men reject Jesus, it shows that they hate “ the Light” and love “ the Dark ness” (not merely, “ darkness” as in the Authorized Version, but “ the dark ness” ). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the touchstone of real character, of what men are at, heart. What a man is, is determined by what a man loves and chooses: If he chooses evil, he is evil at heart; if he chooses good, he is good at heart. If he chooses “ the light>” he is right at heart; if he chooses “ the darkness,” he is wrong at heart: The man who rejects Jesus Christ rejects “ THE Light,” and chooses “ THE darkness.” It is oftentimes said of some man who is not a Christian,- who has not definitely accepted Christ, “ He is a good man, only he is not a Christian,” but no man who rejects the Son of God is a good man. He is es sentially a bad man, that is proven by his rejecting the Son of God, Who is “ the Light.” By rejecting Jesus he judges himself, he reveals what he is at heart, “ and this is the judgment that the Light hath come into the world and men loved the darkness rather than the light.” Men who re ject the Son of God reject the highest manifestation of' God, the perfect manifestation of God (cf. Col. 2:9) ; they reject the Light, and thus show themselves to be guilty o f loving the darkness rather than the Light (cf. ch. . 1:5, 9 ). What one does with God’s truth, whether he hears it or turns a
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