John 1:6-8

(6) There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

John’s spiritual assignment was ordained before the foundation of the world and was prophesied in Isaiah 40 centuries before John was born. John was sent by God with an assignment from God as we all are but in a unique way—his assignment was to prepare the way for the Lord; the coming messiah.

John’s spiritual assignment—proclaiming the coming of the messiah—contains both common and unique elements. It is common in that every believer has a specific and particular spiritual assignment from the Lord; a calling or specific purpose in the Earth. It is unique (or at least not common) in that John knew his assignment and received the grace to accomplish it before he was even born. John recognized and proclaimed Jesus when they were both still in the womb (Luke1:41)

(7) He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.

John was sent as a witness but as a man John did not exist before his conception so he could not have known Jesus in a natural sense. A witness is one who testifies of that which he knows. This combined with the fact that John acknowledged the presence of Jesus while they were both still in their mothers’ wombs indicates that God must have given John a super-natural knowledge of Jesus; the grace to perform his assignment.

John refers to Jesus as “The Light” three times in these passages. Jesus was the light of life coming into a dark (dead) world. His purpose was to shed light into a dark place; to raise people from death (darkness) to life (light).
“All” must refer to specific individuals that God had targeted to believe during John’s lifetime. It could not be referencing all people until the end of time, all people alive during John’s time, or even all people whom John proclaimed the coming messiah; not all of these people ended up believing.

(8) He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

John was sent by God, not as the light but as the one to bear witness about the light. This is a difficult role to fulfill; imagine proclaiming the greatness and majesty of one coming after you, getting the crowds and multitudes enthusiastic and excited in advance, and then stepping to the side as the one you have been proclaiming comes onto the scene. Imagine redirecting those who are choosing to follow and exalt you, to the one you have proclaimed. How tempting it would be to maintain even a small following for yourself; to hold onto just a small portion of the glory and admiration for yourself. How often today do men fail in this calling? Pastors and ministers so often lose sight of this fact and build enormous congregations, beautiful facilities, and a plethora of church programs, all to their own glory—not the Lord’s. What we are meant to take from this is that all glory and honor is the Lord’s. The Church belongs to Him and all we do, we do unto Him.