We Have Seen His Star

The light showed the way to the Promised Land and the way to Emmanuel.

Numbers 24:17 I see him, but not here and now. I perceive him, but far in the distant future. A star will rise from Jacob; a scepter will emerge from Israel.

We saw in the previous post that God is always in control, it is difficult to understand this idea, but somehow this is true even when he is allowing us to have free will. We saw this truth in action in the life of Balaam, we learned that God let him have his way so that he could use this unwilling false prophet.

God shows us in his word that he is sovereign at all times and he will use anyone to work out his divine plans and his purpose despite our free will. We saw that Balaam had no desire to bless God's people and he certainly had no desire to announce the ultimate blessing.

Balaam's prophecies concluded with one of the earliest predictions of the Messiah:

• A Savior that would be the redeemer of God's people, the Star that would bring light to our darkness.
• A Ruler that would be the Lord of God's people, the Scepter would establish an eternal kingdom.

Each time that God came to Balaam there wasn't anything spectacular about it, God spoke to him like he had done so many times before in scripture, it was just a normal conversation. There are plenty of times when this was true like when God spoke to Adam and Eve, or to Abraham, or Hagar or Jacob. (Genesis 3:8-9, 6:13, 12:1, 16:7-12, 28:12) 

But that was not always the case, as we will see, sometimes God's presence was very visible.

The Light To The Chosen

1 John 1:5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.

Sometimes when God interacted with people, his presence was an impressive display of light so spectacular that it is amazing that he interacted with some people without his glory being on display.

Abraham was the first to directly experience God's glorious light, not the first time when God called him from his homeland but later when God showed himself in a ceremony to confirm the covenant to bless Abraham's descendants. (Genesis 15)

Moses saw the light as it got his attention when God's glory caused a bush to light up as if it were on fire yet it was not consumed. The voice from withing the bush makes it clear that the source of the light was not natural. (Exodus 3:1-5)

God's people saw the light as it led them away from the darkness of Egypt to the land that was promised. But first the light led them to Mount Sinai where they saw the light as a sign of God's presence.

And now we will see the same Light that was revealed to God's chosen people throughout the Torah will also guide the nations to the new Promised Land. (Isaiah 9:2; 60:1–3).

The Light Of Christmas

Matthew 2:2,9-10 "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him."

9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!

The same God that occupied the mountain in the wilderness came without the grand entrance that he deserved to occupy a lowly manger in Bethlehem. It seems that the Light was revealed only to a very select group of people that God chose. 

The men that saw the star were not part of God's original chosen people, none of the Jews, including the religious leaders in Jerusalem seem to know anything about the star even after the Magi asked about it. Even if they looked outside for it, they may have missed it because the star did not always appear or maybe the star wasn't for them.

The special star that led them to Bethlehem reminds me of the Old Testament pillar of fire that gave direction to a specific people to go to a specific place. Think about the unique characteristics of the pillar, it appeared and disappeared, it moved in various directions and it started and stopped at various times and locations. 

It is very unlikely that either of these lights were natural, it seems to me that God's glorious presence that led his people in the Old Testament is the same source of light that led the Magi. It makes more sense that God was personally guiding these men in a similar manner instead of trying to explain the source of light as a natural star or astronomical event. 

The understated entrance didn't confuse the Magi, they knew this was divine revelation that the King of the Jews was here, they had anticipated this event because they knew God's word, they knew that this wasn't an ordinary star and this was no ordinary baby. 

Once again, God chose to guide men on the right path as he did for his people in the wilderness, but this time he is lighting the way for the nations to come to him. (Psalms 119:105, Isaiah 60:3, Matthew 28:19)

The Light Of The World

John 3:19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil."

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

The light showed the way to the Promised Land and it showed the way to Emmanuel. The same God that said "Let there be light" was now with us in our world as the Light that dispels the darkness of sin and death for anyone who follows Him.

When Jesus announced at Sokkot that he is the Light of the World the people knew without a doubt that he was claiming to be the Messiah. Many rabbis and prophets understood that the blazing lights that filled the temple on the Feast of Tabernacles was pointing to the coming Messiah. (Zechariah 14:16–19)

Jesus ministry to everyone was an invitation to leave the darkness and come to the light to become children of the light that would then also become the light of the world that would show God's glory to others. (Matthew 5:14-16, Ephesians 5:8)

The Light Of Eternity

Revelation 22:5 And there will be no night there-no need for lamps or sun-for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.

Our Savior proved that the light cannot be extinguished, even in death, he defeated death in his own life and he will defeat it again in each of our lives as well. He will take us to our Promised Land to dwell with him in light that is unending.

The end of the story is bright for those that have seen the Light, miss the light and you will spend eternity in darkness.

Light Of The World

The world waits for a miracle, oh come, oh come Emanuel.

 Video: Lauren Daigle - Light Of The World

John 1:1-5 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him.

4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John 1:9-14 The One who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He came into the very world He created, but the world didn't recognize Him. 11 He came to His own people, and even they rejected Him. 12 But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.

13 They are reborn--not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. 14 So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son.

I Am The Good Shepherd

Jesus provides outstanding care and protection for his sheep.

John 10:1-5  "I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber!  2  But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

3  The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  4  After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.  5  They won't follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don't know his voice."

John 10:9-11  Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through Me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.  10  The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.  11  "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices His life for the sheep.

---

In the previous post we saw the Light of the world in action bringing light to a man that had never seen it before. This should have been a great reason to bow down and worship Jesus but as we saw there was only one man that responded correctly to Jesus. The Pharisees reaction to Jesus miracle was horrendous, the very men that had been appointed to take care of the sheep made it very clear that they didn't care at all about the condition of the flock. (John 9:39-41) The response that you have to The Light of the World is an indicator of what your spiritual condition is.

The Sabbath rules were more important than the man, we saw the same thing in John 5, when Jesus healed the lame man by the Pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath. They were the worst shepherds, more concerned with making money off of the sheep and promoting their self righteousness, Jesus didn't let their obvious lack of concern for this blind man go without a lesson on how the good shepherd should behave.

The Good Shepherd loves his sheep and he makes his love known by the great lengths that he will go to in order to take care of them. He left the riches of heaven to join us in our world and experience our heartache but he went way beyond our experience and suffered much more than most of us will ever endure.

Who has ever seen love like this? Nobody has ever loved like Jesus loved. I imagine that this blind has never felt love at all, he was a burden to his parents, he was accused of sinning before he was born, he lived in a culture that didn't have any social programs to give him any care or relief from his circumstances.

Psalms 23:1-6  The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need.  2  He lets me rest in green meadows; He leads me beside peaceful streams.  3  He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to His name. 4  Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me. 5  You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.  6  Surely Your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.

Jesus is the Shepherd that we need, the only source of salvation, safety, and sustenance for the sheep, his personal care for the sheep reminds me of the intimate relationship that David had with God. I don't think that anybody else has ever spoken of their relationship with almighty God in such a warm affectionate manner.

God Provides What Is Best

God is almighty, powerful and we should fear him but that isn't a good way to build a relationship with anybody. The Warren Wiersbe Bible study points out that many of the compound names for Jehovah in the Old Testament focus on the type of relationship that David talks about in Psalm 23:

"I shall not want”

Jehovah-jireh, “the Lord will provide” (Genesis 22:14)

"He leads me beside still waters”

Jehovah-shalom, “the Lord our peace” (Judges 6:24)

"He restoreth my soul”

Jehovah-Rophe, “the Lord who heals” (Exodus 15:26)

"He leads me in the paths of righteousness”

Jehovah-Tsidkenu, “the Lord our righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:16)

"thou art with me”

Jehovah-shammah, “the Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35)

"presence of mine enemies”

Jehovah-nissi, “the Lord our banner” (Exodus 17:15)

"anointest my head”

Jehovah-M’Kaddesh, “the Lord who sanctifies” (Leviticus 20:8)

David said that because we have such a Good Shepherd there isn't anything else that we need.

Despite God’s Care There Will Be Danger

It is interesting to me that even though he "guides me along right paths" sometimes those right paths will lead us to places that we don't really want to go. Sometimes the right paths will lead us to the dark valley but we do not have to experience the scariest places in life all alone.

Isaiah 43:1-2 But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD who created you. O Israel, the One who formed you says, "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are Mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.

The Good Shepherd will be there with his rod and his staff to defend us from danger and to pick us up when we fall. Jesus isn't going to throw away something that he paid such a high price to obtain, he has already given his life to protect his sheep from the sting of death, so don't you think that he will take care of you through any other catastrophe that comes?

God Gives Special Attention To His Guests

I have an invitation to God's house, a house that he has been preparing for me to live in, he has been preparing this place for a long time because I will live there forever. The house is amazing but the host is even better.

The Shepherd honors me by anointing my head and he prepares a feast for me, a benefit that my enemies do not have, and he also takes care of the enemy so I can enjoy being at his table. Imagine how refreshed I am and ready to cope with anyone that is against me.

Jesus provides outstanding care and protection for his sheep.

Under the old covenant, the sheep died for the shepherd, but under the new covenant, the Shepherd died for the sheep! The old covenant had been twisted into a huge burden that kept the sheep in bondage, there wasn't any thought of allowing for mercy, the shepherds of God's flock told them that you had to do everything right or else. (Matthew 9:13)

We will have trouble in this world, Satan is against us, we are objects of scorn because of our attachment to the Shepherd. (John 16:33) We may suffer, we may loose our family, our job, we may be deprived of our rights but in every circumstance we should look to the one that loved us enough that he "made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,” (1 Peter 2:25)

The Light Of The World In Action

The Light of the World has left us here to be the light of the world while he is gone.

 

John 9:5-11  "While I am here in the world, I am the light of the world."   6  Then He spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man's eyes.  7  He told him, "Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam" (Siloam means "sent").

So the man went and washed and came back seeing!  8  His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, "Isn't this the man who used to sit and beg?"  9  Some said he was, and others said, "No, he just looks like him!" But the beggar kept saying, "Yes, I am the same one!"

10  They asked, "Who healed you? What happened?"  11  He told them, "The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.' So I went and washed, and now I can see!"

---

God sent light into our world because we desperately needed it, we had the sun for physical sight on this planet but we were still in the dark spiritually. Just like this blind man, we had sunshine all around us but we couldn't see it, we need Jesus help to give us spiritual light.

This man had no hope of seeing the light, nobody ever healed a man that was born blind, and he didn't have any reason to believe that his situation was going to change. He lived everyday knowing that he would never see, he would always be a beggar, and he would always be stuck depending on others.

This man never knew the light of the sun so he couldn't know that the light of the world was on the way. He may have been physically blind but there must have been some amount of spiritual light that gave him the faith to follow Jesus instructions. He didn't have to obey and go to the pool, what if his faith in Jesus wasn't any better than the Pharisees?

John 9:15-16  The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, "He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!" Some of the Pharisees said, "This man Jesus is not from God, for He is working on the Sabbath." Others said, "But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?" So there was a deep division of opinion among them.

Now what do you do with Jesus? The religious leaders are really in a bad way. There are too many witnesses to the fact that this man has been blind all of his life but now he can see. The fact that he is healed seems to be undeniable, at first they try and say he isn't the same man but that opinion was quickly shot down and now they need a new story.

What can we do with Jesus? He isn't the Messiah, the Messiah wouldn't break the Sabbath, he wouldn't tell us Pharisees how bad we are, but how can we deny his power? Maybe we can say that his power is from Satan. As God's number one creation, man will go to great lengths and create outrageous stories to deny God's glory. We will explain away what is so easy to accept when you aren't spiritually blind.

John 9:30-33  "Why, that's very strange!" the man replied. "He healed my eyes, and yet you don't know where He comes from?  We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but He is ready to hear those who worship Him and do His will.  Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind.  If this man were not from God, He couldn't have done it."

Now what do you do with an ex-blind man? Someone that is pointing out the obvious about Jesus. Someone who just received physical sight has more spiritual sight than the religious leaders. They were sure that he was born in sin, a total sinner, how could he think that he is going to teach them anything (John 9:2, 34)

The simple logical reasoning of this guy couldn't be denied, he broke it down and made it plain, there wasn't any other explanation for the facts. No pressure from the Pharisees would make him change his mind, not after what he has just experienced, so they verbally attack him and expelled him from the synagogue.

John 9:38  "Yes, Lord, I believe!" the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.

Jesus never left people wondering, he found the man and helped him understand, if they had mustard seed sized faith then he was going to water it and help it increase. There are a lot of different responses to Jesus but this man gets it right and responds in worship, he even does it right there in front of the Pharisees, he doesn't care what anybody thinks or what the consequences will be. Out of all of the people that were a part of this story there was only one that was worshiping.

Giver Of Light

2 Corinthians 4:4,6  Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

The "giver of darkness" has been defeated by the "giver of light." God said "Let there be light" and shortly after that Satan brought us back to the dark but that dark has been defeated by the Light of the World.

To those that believe in Jesus it is difficult to imagine standing right there in front of him and not having a clue about who he is. We look back and think how could they be so blind? The giver of light is right there in front of you. We need to remember that if they are blind then it doesn't matter how much light there is, there isn't any way to comprehend it, everything about the gospel will be foolishness to them. (1 Corinthians 1:18-19)

John 10:24-27  The people surrounded Him and asked, "How long are You going to keep us in suspense? If You are the Messiah, tell us plainly."  25  Jesus replied, "I have already told you, and you don't believe Me. The proof is the work I do in My Father's name.  26  But you don't believe Me because you are not My sheep.  27  My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.

I was amazed when I did a search on Google for "giver of light." A lot of the search results had nothing to do with Jesus or the gospel, Satan knows that we want to live in the light so he has developed a lot of counterfeit sources of light.

Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.

The Light of the World has left us here on this dark planet with a job to do, since Jesus our Savior has opened our blind eyes for God’s glory, we should work to point others to Him. Now it is our turn to be the giver of light, sure we are small candles compared to the true light of the world but as a community of believers we can shine very bright as we live for him and love like he did.

I need to remember that this world is blind, they live and behave like they do because they can see nothing better. I need to be the light and pray to Jesus that their eyes will be opened so that they will see the glory of God through my life. (Matthew 5:16)

Help me to be a light house for you in this dark world. Amen.

You Have Work To Do

The days are short so work for your Savior while there is still time. 

 

John 9:1-5  As Jesus was walking along, He saw a man who had been blind from birth.

2  "Rabbi," His disciples asked Him, "why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents' sins?"

3  "It was not because of his sins or his parents' sins," Jesus answered. "This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.  4  We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the One who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.  5  But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world."

Isaiah 35:4-5  Say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you."  And when He comes, He will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf.

---

The disciples asked the right person about sin, if anybody knew the answer to the question about the man born blind it would have to be Jesus, but Jesus takes the disciples question and redirects them to a different conclusion. They think there are only two possible reasons that this man has been blind from birth but Jesus tells them that there is a reason for his blindness that they haven't thought of.

The reason this man has suffered for all of these years cannot be blamed on a person, Jesus said that he was blind for a higher purpose, all of these years of suffering so that God's power could be displayed for everyone to see. That goes against our sense of fairness, all of the suffering wasn't anybodies fault, God wanted to give us a miracle so big that we would know that Jesus is the Messiah.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.

Jesus said that the purpose of his work was to glorify God, guess what, you also have work to do that is designed to bring glory to God. If you thought that being a Christian was about saying a magic prayer and then waiting for your turn to go to heaven then you are wrong. Jesus had work to do and we have work to do as well.

Matthew 5:15-16 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Jesus said that the night is coming and then our work will be over. Our life is our day, we must be busy and not waste daylight, it will be time to rest when our day is done. The approach of death should motivate us to cultivate every opportunity to do good works that bring glory to God.

Committed To Good Deeds
Titus 2:14  He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

We didn't become a Christ follower so that we can sit still and do nothing. When Jesus told his disciples to follow him that automatically meant that they were going places and they were going to do things.

God has a plan for my life, he has work that he created me to do, I am so amazed that he would bother to want to use me. (1 Timothy 1:12) We don't get too many days on this planet so I need to look for opportunities to do good and not allow the missed opportunities of the past to get me down.

Night is coming for all of us. Let's be busy glorifying God through our good deeds while the day is here.

Light Of The World

The Bible proves that Jesus is the light that we need.

John 1:4-5  The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone.  5  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John 8:12  Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow Me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life."

John 12:35-36  Jesus replied, "My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going.  36  Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light." After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them.

John 12:46  I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in Me will no longer remain in the dark.

---

There has been nothing but darkness in the land, the Bible and world history tell us that when Jesus came to our world it was a very dark time. The world was in turmoil as various conquering empires came and then they became the conquered.

After the Babylonian captivity the Jews had to deal with the Persians and the Greeks and finally the Romans came along. Each of these groups brought wars to Israel, changes in government and attempts to change their religious beliefs. On top of all of that the Bible shows us a four hundred year gap in between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The people of Israel had been through a lot of suffering, harassment and there was only one thing to hope for. May the Messiah would come.

The Bible tells us that at just the right time Jesus came into our world. (Romans 5:6, Galatians 4:4) I have to wonder if maybe part of it being the right time meant that the world was so dark that surely the people would take notice of the Light and come running to it. 

Man has an appetite for darkness and his passions will push him further and further into the dark as he continues to look for what he is missing. We keep looking for the good life where it cannot be found. Even if we say that we hate the dark and the lost, desperate situation we are in we still have a carnal desire to plunge deeper and deeper into the blackness to find our own answers.

Suddenly, in this dark world where immorality, injustice, and sin is glorified, where separation, death, sorrow, and hopelessness reign, the darkness is shattered and it happens just like the prophet Isaiah said that it would. (Isaiah 9:1-2)

Matthew 4:12-16 When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, He left Judea and returned to Galilee. 13 He went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah:   15 "In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River, in Galilee where so many Gentiles live, 16 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined."

The Great Light appears and it cannot be hidden, Jesus gave light to everyone, too bad that everyone didn't welcome the light. Some people are happy with Jesus as long as he keeps providing free lunch and healthcare. There are some that cannot stand to be around him and they run from the light just like the Pharisees that turned and left the adulterous woman at Jesus feet. (John 8:7-9)

Jesus is teaching in the Temple the day after the seven day long Feast of Tabernacles. During the Feast Jesus was the focus of a large commotion which grew when Jesus told the crowds that he is the source of living water. (John 7:37-38)

During the Feast of Tabernacles a priest went to the Pool of Siloam, drew water in a golden pitcher, and returned to the temple, and poured it out at the base of the altar. This part of the feast commemorated God’s provision of water from the rock that sustained Israel during their stay in the wilderness.

The people that heard Jesus offer to give them living water knew the symbolism. They knew that Jesus claim meant that he was declaring that he is the Messiah, that's why his statement caused such a stir, but wait there's more.

Another symbolic act that was a part of the Feast of Tabernacles was the lighting of huge candelabras in the Court of Women. This was to commemorate the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night that led the Israelite's through the desert. The huge light from those candelabras was gone and they were probably smoldering as Jesus says to the crowd, "You remember the light last night in the temple here which made you remember the light that led Israel...I am the light of the world."

Malachi 4:2  "But for you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.

Light is a characteristic of God that the Messiah was predicted to have. (Isaiah 9:2, 49:6, 60:1) Everybody in the temple knew that Jesus was telling them that he is the Messiah, they know that the light of the Messiah is what their hopes have been longing for, but this guy doesn't look like a Messiah to them.

God's Light Came
John 3:19-21 And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.

God sent light into our world because we needed the light. He gave us the sun for physical life on this planet and he gave us the Son so that we could have spiritual life.There wasn't any way that we could get out of the dark on our own, out of God's love and mercy he gave us light so that we wouldn't have to live without hope in darkness, misery and death.

When salt is applied, it dissolves inward and disappears, the salt speaks of the inward part, the character of the Christian. Jesus also described His people as being like light, which is on the outside, the light speaks of the testimony of a follower of Christ, revealing and illuminating the truth.

-Adrian Rogers

I need to love the Light and allow it to expose the things that God wants to change in me. I need to allow the Light to shine through me so that the world can see the truth of the gospel and have the opportunity to see their sin, choose to repent and live in the light.

God Is Light

It's a dark world, do you know where you are walking?

1 John 1:5-10  This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all.   

6  So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.  7  But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.

8  If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.  9  But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.  10  If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts.

---

In the previous post we started a study of the book of First John. In the first few verses we saw that John wanted us to know that Jesus is God (God With Us). In the next section our focus changes from who Jesus is to who God is and how that should affect the way we live.

First we are told that God is light. Most of the religions of the world disagree about who Jesus is and what he is like but most of them wouldn't have a problem describing God as light. God is one hundred percent pure light, he is holy, pure and righteous. Besides being light God also gives us light, he reveals the light of truth to us, and he gives us the light of salvation.

John 1:4-5  The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

Since we know that God is light and darkness cannot exist in the light then there are implications for us as we live the Christian life. Fellowship with God and living to please him is always characterized by walking in the light. We know that we have been saved for all of eternity but we can choose to step away from the light and stumble around in the dark because of sin.

Photosynthesis is the process of converting light energy into chemical energy that can be released later for the organism’s growth. In a manner similar to photosynthesis the light of the world shines on us and provides the nourishment that is necessary for our spiritual growth.

We shouldn't think that we can be free from sin and always do what is right. We should step up to the light and examine ourselves and admit that we have fallen short of God's perfect standard. If we confess our sins to him then he will forgive us. (Romans 3:23 / 1 John 1:8-9)

We shouldn't think that we can live as we please and still have fellowship with God, you have never seen light and dark in the same room, we cannot live in spiritual darkness and still be a friend of God and enjoy his company.

There is only one light, there isn't any other source, it came to our dark world but it didn't force us to be in the light. It is up to us to decide where we are going to walk, we cannot have fellowship with God and have one foot in the dark.

Live In The Light

We need to be concerned about who we are making happy.

Ephesians 5:6-14  Don't be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey Him.  7  Don't participate in the things these people do.

8  For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!  9  For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.  10  Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.

11  Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.  12  It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.  13  But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them,  14  for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, "Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light."

John 8:12  Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow Me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life."

---

There are a lot more people in this world that are living to please themselves than there are that try to live to please God. It can be easy to be fooled into thinking that it really doesn't matter very much how I live but the entire Bible tells me that isn't correct. From cover to cover the message of the Bible to God's people is that he wants them to be different.

Ever since man was created, God has desired to have fellowship with us, but we cannot allow ourselves to be involved in the sins that the world gets wrapped up in and think that we will be able to maintain a close personal relationship with God.

Deuteronomy 10:12-13  "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the LORD your God, and live in a way that pleases Him, and love Him and serve Him with all your heart and soul.  13  And you must always obey the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.

Before we began following Jesus we were in the dark, intellectually we were ignorant and morally we were evil, we could not help but do what pleases ourselves. The devil has plenty of delightful tricks to get us to stay in the dark, that's where he wants to keep us, it is so much "fun" that we won't even realize that we are in the dark.

Living in light means living in truth and living in holiness, living to find out what pleases God, the light exposes the devils tricks and the lies that he tells you about how good life is in the dark. God's way is best, he has our best interest at heart, he wants to give us life more abundantly and he wants to change our eternal destination.

Before we became God's children we were living in a dark cave without any source of light. We couldn't know which way to go, we couldn't see to take care of ourselves, we were hopeless to do anything without the light.Then we get rescued from that hopeless environment and the next thing you know we go running back into the cave. It is amazing that we think that there is something better for us back in the dark.

Turn away from evil.

Titus 2:12-14  And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God,  13  while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.  14  He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

Light and dark don't mix and so the the characteristics, if you're going to walk as a child of light, goodness, righteousness, truth cannot mix with the evil, unrighteous lies of the children of the dark. We are told not to do the things that they do and we are to shine our light so that it exposes the shameful things that they are doing.

I must be determined to shine my light in this dark world. It is a crime for a lighthouse to be out of service when the storms of life are raging and people desperately need the hope of Jesus.