Light
Light
Light can do many things. It can illuminate, expose, color, cause plant growth, and even disinfect. Focused light can burn; highly focused light can cut. Light can be painful too. Staring at the sun is not a good idea. Welders wear protective glasses to filter much of the light generated by the welding process. When we are in darkness and a bright light begins to illuminate things, it can be very uncomfortable.
We need light. Walking around in a dark room makes us nervous with good reason. Somehow our toes always seem to find a solid object in their path, and the pain we feel is so intense it’s almost frightening. Without light it is impossible to see. It is light bouncing off an object and hitting our retinas that enables us to view the world around us.
In 1 John 1:5, the Apostle says, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” I want to take a look at some of what Scripture tells us about the True Light.
John 1:1-9 (NIV) “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. 6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
In Jesus Christ is life; indestructible, self-propagating life. And it is that very life that is the light of mankind. His unquenchable life is what illuminates us and allows us to see in the truest sense. When we are in Christ, we are partakers of the divine nature (see 2 Peter 1:4). When we are in Him, we have His irrepressible life in us. (see John 17:21)
Perhaps this is one reason Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV) “14 You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
This begs the question, “How can we let our light shine in the world?” Many would say that we do it by living exemplary moral lives. There is certainly nothing wrong with living a highly moral life, but that cannot be the best way because none of us can do that perfectly and sometimes others see our failure. Some think it is done by pointing out everyone else’s sin; by “shining the light of truth” on evildoers. Some seem to think that maybe putting a sign in their front yard like the one I once saw that quotes a part of Numbers 32:23, which reads “be sure your sin will find you out.” Allow me to propose something I think is more in line with the extravagant love of God and the original good news of the Gospel.
In John 1:4 God said that His life is the light of men. Jesus asked the Father to make us one with Him just as He and the Father are One. (see John 17:11, & 21-22) We who believe, have accepted God’s gift of forgiveness, reconciliation, and adoption and we are “in Christ.” We read in Colossians that our life is hidden with Christ in God and that Christ is our life. (see Colossians 3:3-4) Since He is living His life through us in the form of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and He is the light of the world, the light of mankind, I think that living and walking in His grace is the way we let our light shine.
When we walk in love, He says the world will know that we are in Him. (see John 13:35) Father’s love for us is great. Though most of us were not His people (the Hebrews) and we were without hope and without God (see Ephesians 2:11-13) He wanted us as His children.
There is a wonderful prophesy about the Light of the world in Isaiah 49:6 (NIV) “he says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth. Make no mistake; God’s love is not only for the Jews. It is for all. Let us look at a couple of more passages on that.
Luke 2:25-32 (NIV) “25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."”
Isaiah 42:5-7 (NIV) “5 This is what God the LORD says-- he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6 "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”
I find this passage particularly interesting because it underscores what we read in Hebrews about the new covenant being established by God making a covenant with Himself. Look at what He says about Jesus: “I will make you to be a covenant…” And again, He makes it clear that Jesus is a light for the gentiles—that would be most of us. So, we have this brilliant beaming light of the life of Christ within us and as we live, it comes gleaming out of us; even when we do not know it is happening. Remembering that it is His life that is the light, and that His life is indestructible, we can live fearlessly.
Psalm 27:1 (NIV) carries this idea in saying, “The LORD is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid?” More than living fearlessly in this world, we also have Christ in us. Christ in us is our hope of glory. (see Colossians 1:27) Father has not left us to wonder about conditions on the other side of the veil. When we pass from temporal life, we will see the Light as He is. (see 1 John 3:2) Isaiah 60:19-20 (NIV) says, “19 The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. 20 Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.” Revelation 21:22-23 (NIV) carries that these forward. It reads, “22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” This is the hope we have, and it is hope that will not disappoint. God has promised.
In 2 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV) we find, “For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” God called light to shine out of darkness in Genesis 1:3 and He has now made His light—the unending life of Jesus Christ, as we saw in John 1:4—shine in our hearts to give us the light to see the glory of God in the face of Christ. Here is what Jesus said in John 12:44-46 (NIV) “44 Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”
When we look at Jesus, we see the Father. To know God, all we need to do is look at Jesus. His light illuminates the Father for us so we can see Him properly. We see the glory of God in the face of Jesus. The fruit of all this is shown in Ephesians 5:9 (NIV) “(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth).” These words from Jesus align very well with Galatians 5:22, where we read about the fruit of the Light. Here it is. Galatians 5:22–23 (NIV) “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.”
How could it be otherwise? Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life; and He is the light of mankind and of all of eternity. This means you can live with confidence. Confidence that you contain the Light, you are in the Light, and the Light is shining out of you in the form of spiritual fruit produced by the Light Himself.
