The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”. John 8:12
The city [of God] 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. Revelation 21:23
This morning I forgot to take a torch on my walk to buy the paper. Part of the route is through a little patch of unlit woodland, and for a few hundred yards during these winter weeks at about 6.30, that little torch-beam is important! All right, I made it, of course (I pretty well know the path by heart), but it wasn’t easy. I needed that light!
Light... What a perfect image this is for Jesus!
Physical light is essential for life on earth. Just imagine, if you can, that one day the sun simply stopped shining. Imagine permanent darkness. Very quickly, of course, we would die, and the planet on which we live would cease to function. No wonder the first thing God spoke into creation was light: “And God said, ‘Let there be light’” (Genesis 1:3).
And so it is with spiritual light. Without the light of the God who made us we are spiritually dead; we blunder about in darkness, hurting ourselves, those around us, and the very world on which we depend. Darkness, ultimately, means death.
This is why the verses I have quoted are so powerful and precious. The first is a statement, the second contains both a claim and a promise, the third is a prophecy. Just pondering them for a few moments can give you a whole new angle on life.
I want to ask two questions...
First, what form does spiritual darkness take?
The basic answer is that grim little word: sin. As a race we human beings are separated from God by our rebellion and wrong-doing: we are sinful. And there is nothing we can do to help ourselves - we depend completely on the kindness and mercy of God.
This is where the statement of John 1:5 comes in. God has never completely withdrawn his light from us; it continues to “shine in the darkness”. And above all, this is where the extraordinary claim of John 8:12 comes in: Jesus said, “I am the light of the world”.
All of which means that we don’t need to stumble and flounder in the dark. Infinitely better than the light any torch offers us is the light of Jesus, almighty God in human form.
As you look at your life, do you feel that, in truth, you are blundering around in moral and spiritual darkness? - wrong decisions? wrong priorities? wrong relationships? wrong motives and thoughts? I invite you to turn to Jesus and ask him to shine his light on you, indeed, to put his light within you. If you do that, you will start to prove the truth of his promise: you will “never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”.
That doesn’t mean that from now on everything will be easy; indeed, there will be times you feel as if you are groping in the dark again. But the light of Jesus will never be snuffed out, and you will come through if you cling to him. And so the day will come when you will be part of that prophecy in Revelation 21: you (yes, you!) will stand in the city where “the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp”.
To sum up: The darkness of sin is eclipsed by the light of Jesus.
My second question is this: once we have entered into the light of Jesus, what are we to do with it?
Very quickly I suggest three answers...
First, enjoy it.
Yes, God wants us to enjoy him! And we do this by trusting ourselves to him day by day and living in the light of his presence. Followers of Jesus should be essentially happy people: their sins are forgiven, they are at peace with God, and he himself lives inside them through his Holy Spirit. There’s a lot to be happy about there, and plenty more besides.
Can you say you enjoy God?
Second, reflect it.
As the moon (just a big lump of rock, so I’m told) reflects the light of the sun, so God’s people reflect the light of Jesus. This can be summed up in a single word: holiness. Christ’s people are, or should be, Christlike people. Not yet sinless, it’s true, but on the way: growing daily in purity and goodness, and standing out as models of humility, truthfulness, cleanness of character, and divine love in our dark world.
Remember that as well as claiming “I am the light of the world”, Jesus also told his disciples, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).
Can you say your chief ambition in life is to be Christlike?
Third, share it.
All around us people flounder in the darkness - ours is the privilege of leading them to the light. We can do many things for our families, friends and neighbours - and so we should; but nothing remotely as precious as this!
As we have, by God’s grace, come out of the darkness and into the light, let’s invite others to do the same.
Lord God, thank you for the perfect, pure light of Jesus. Enable me, by your Holy Spirit, to enjoy it, to reflect it, and to share it. Amen.
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”. John 8:12
The city [of God] 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. Revelation 21:23
This morning I forgot to take a torch on my walk to buy the paper. Part of the route is through a little patch of unlit woodland, and for a few hundred yards during these winter weeks at about 6.30, that little torch-beam is important! All right, I made it, of course (I pretty well know the path by heart), but it wasn’t easy. I needed that light!
Light... What a perfect image this is for Jesus!
Physical light is essential for life on earth. Just imagine, if you can, that one day the sun simply stopped shining. Imagine permanent darkness. Very quickly, of course, we would die, and the planet on which we live would cease to function. No wonder the first thing God spoke into creation was light: “And God said, ‘Let there be light’” (Genesis 1:3).
And so it is with spiritual light. Without the light of the God who made us we are spiritually dead; we blunder about in darkness, hurting ourselves, those around us, and the very world on which we depend. Darkness, ultimately, means death.
This is why the verses I have quoted are so powerful and precious. The first is a statement, the second contains both a claim and a promise, the third is a prophecy. Just pondering them for a few moments can give you a whole new angle on life.
I want to ask two questions...
First, what form does spiritual darkness take?
The basic answer is that grim little word: sin. As a race we human beings are separated from God by our rebellion and wrong-doing: we are sinful. And there is nothing we can do to help ourselves - we depend completely on the kindness and mercy of God.
This is where the statement of John 1:5 comes in. God has never completely withdrawn his light from us; it continues to “shine in the darkness”. And above all, this is where the extraordinary claim of John 8:12 comes in: Jesus said, “I am the light of the world”.
All of which means that we don’t need to stumble and flounder in the dark. Infinitely better than the light any torch offers us is the light of Jesus, almighty God in human form.
As you look at your life, do you feel that, in truth, you are blundering around in moral and spiritual darkness? - wrong decisions? wrong priorities? wrong relationships? wrong motives and thoughts? I invite you to turn to Jesus and ask him to shine his light on you, indeed, to put his light within you. If you do that, you will start to prove the truth of his promise: you will “never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”.
That doesn’t mean that from now on everything will be easy; indeed, there will be times you feel as if you are groping in the dark again. But the light of Jesus will never be snuffed out, and you will come through if you cling to him. And so the day will come when you will be part of that prophecy in Revelation 21: you (yes, you!) will stand in the city where “the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp”.
To sum up: The darkness of sin is eclipsed by the light of Jesus.
My second question is this: once we have entered into the light of Jesus, what are we to do with it?
Very quickly I suggest three answers...
First, enjoy it.
Yes, God wants us to enjoy him! And we do this by trusting ourselves to him day by day and living in the light of his presence. Followers of Jesus should be essentially happy people: their sins are forgiven, they are at peace with God, and he himself lives inside them through his Holy Spirit. There’s a lot to be happy about there, and plenty more besides.
Can you say you enjoy God?
Second, reflect it.
As the moon (just a big lump of rock, so I’m told) reflects the light of the sun, so God’s people reflect the light of Jesus. This can be summed up in a single word: holiness. Christ’s people are, or should be, Christlike people. Not yet sinless, it’s true, but on the way: growing daily in purity and goodness, and standing out as models of humility, truthfulness, cleanness of character, and divine love in our dark world.
Remember that as well as claiming “I am the light of the world”, Jesus also told his disciples, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).
Can you say your chief ambition in life is to be Christlike?
Third, share it.
All around us people flounder in the darkness - ours is the privilege of leading them to the light. We can do many things for our families, friends and neighbours - and so we should; but nothing remotely as precious as this!
As we have, by God’s grace, come out of the darkness and into the light, let’s invite others to do the same.
Lord God, thank you for the perfect, pure light of Jesus. Enable me, by your Holy Spirit, to enjoy it, to reflect it, and to share it. Amen.
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