John 1:5 And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. "The darkness overcame it not." Sin did not succeed in extinguishing the inner light. "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord" — a candle lit by God's own breath. When man fell the candle was sadly bruised, but it did not blow out. The great fundamental truths God planted in man continue to shine despite sin and its grievous consequences. Accordingly the darkness of the Fall was not complete — complete, I mean, in the sense that it could not be blacker; a little light was still continuing to glimmer — candle-light, if you like, but light all the same. Much talk is indulged in concerning original sin, though not quite as much as in former years; but we ought also to speak of original light, a light deeper and more primitive even than our sin. Do I not believe in the total depravity of the race? Yes, in the sense that every power is more or less tangled, that every faculty is more or less corrupt. No, in the sense that the derangement could not be greater, that the putridity could not be more advanced. The confusion and depravity here are great, but in hell they are considerably greater. So far a little light doubtless glimmers in the soul of every man on his coming into this world; the golden beams of the Sun of Righteousness are to be seen playing in the mental faculties of childhood. "The light shineth in darkness" — the darkness of our fall — "and the darkness overcame it not"; the light still burns. But if the darkness did not overcome the light, on the other hand the light did not overcome the darkness. In the other world, the world prior to the Incarnation, the light and the darkness confronted each other without making much impression one on the other. The darkness did not conquer the light, neither did the light conquer the darkness; and if the light is to win the victory, it must receive an ample increase, and this increase we find in the gospel of Jesus Christ. (J. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.WEB: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome it. |
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