Opinion : “The Danger of Unbelief and the Life of Faith from John 1:10-13” Part 1

Be honest here: were you at one time or another afraid of the dark?  What does it really mean to be afraid of the dark?  Can darkness tickle you?  Can it hit you over the head?  Can it remove your bedroom floor so you fall into the basement?

 

No, of course not!  Darkness is simply the absence of light.  No one is afraid of darkness itself, but what darkness conceals.  We put motion detector lights and decorative path lights and a host of other kinds of darkness-eliminators to ensure the darkness does not conceal the sidewalk nor hide something that may harm us.

 

So, darkness isn’t really the problem- it’s what lies in the darkness.  The darkness can conceal a whole bunch of painful hazards like plastic soldiers, matchbox cars, legos, micro-machines, and hair clips.  I think that’s why someone invented slippers.

 

Jesus speaks to these kinds of things, the kinds of things that darkness may conceal.  He says:

 

“But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear! “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”  Matthew 10:26-28 NLT

 

So, according to the words of Jesus Christ, even those things that darkness may conceal, like murders and villains, we are NOT to fear them.  

 

Now this obviously sounds counter-intuitive, doesn’t it?  Why shouldn’t we fear those who can kill us?  God’s Word gives several reasons here.  

 

First, villains can only kill your body: they have no power over your soul.  So, even if someone were to take your life, if you belong to Jesus, that is, if you have repented of your sins and trust him daily as your Savior (Matthew 4:17), he will one day give you a new body immune from death, disease and all human suffering (2 Corinthians 5:1-4). 

 

Second, we’ll all certainly die one day.  Death is inevitable (Hebrews 9:27).  So whether someone takes your life, or you die in peace upon your bed, all life ends the same: in death.  Death is that final, irreversible event that concludes our existence upon this earth.  

 

Third, the death of the soul is an infinitely worse death than the death of the body.  That’s why Jesus said don’t fear having your body killed by villains- fear Jehovah God who can destroy both body and soul in hell.  In other words, God has the power of eternal life and eternal death.  He offers escape from eternal death if we turn from our unbelief of him and live instead a life of faith, believing in him and what he said about himself in his Word, the Bible.

 

This brings us to the point of John 1:10-13 which says:

 

“He [Jesus Christ] came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him.  He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.  But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.  They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”  NLT

 

Here’s what I think this means.  The first sins of Adam and Eve plunged the entire world into spiritual darkness, leaving mankind without the ability to see the Truth and the Light - Jesus Christ.  All who continue living in their unbelief of him will certainly perish, but whoever will turn from their unbelief and live their lives believing in the Truth and Light, they will have eternal life.  

 

So, according to Apostle John, our own unbelief is more dangerous than any villain in the universe.  If our hearts are filled with unbelief, we are at the mercy of the One who holds perfect justice, death and life in his hands.  

 

Next time in ‘Part 2’, we’ll explore the imminent danger of unbelief as the Apostle John gives it here in this text.  Then finally in ‘Part 3’, we’ll look at what the life of faith that the Apostle John describes looks like.