The Spark of Light
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 2 viewsNotes
Transcript
When I was a kid, I remember a commercial for Toys-R-Us. The commercial starts off with a little boy sitting on a couch watching a television show, and there is a piece of paper in his arms that says “Rain Check”
He leans over and says, wasn’t that funny, rain check? The commercial goes on to show him playing, swinging, hide n seek, etc… And the voiceover comes on and says, “here’s something you’ll never see - a little boy playing with his favorite rain check.”
A rain check is a guarantee, that an out of stock item will be sold at the sale price when back in stock, or that your ticket to a sporting event that was rained out will be valid on the day of a make-up game.
It’s not the real thing, but it promises the real thing, it points to the real thing, and it gives the possessor of it some guarantee and hope.
Of course, the real joy comes with the real thing. The little boy doesn’t want to run around with his rain check, he wants the toy that it promises!
The fiance doesn’t just want her beautiful engagement ring for the rest of her life, she wants the promised husband who gave it to her.
And so it was in the story of the Bible.
Through all the history leading up to Jesus, there were sparks of light pointing to Him, but He is the full and final light.
Through all the history leading up to Jesus, there were sparks of light pointing to Him, but He is the full and final light.
We could spend a lot of time looking at these things, but I wanted to go to John 1 this morning, because John highlights several of these types and shadows in his opening chapter. John 1 is a realization of anticipation.
1. The Prophets
1. The Prophets
A rain check is a promise, and God made many promises to be certain. He made them, himself, personally, but more often than not, he made them through individuals. Speakers. Mouth-pieces.
There were many prophets, both prophets who spoke and prophets who wrote, in the Old Testament. And we read of their prophecies about Christ this time of year.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
Prophets didn’t only speak prediction - they did actually more “preaching” than they did predicting. But they spoke for God.
There was one final prophet of this Old Testament period, one promised by God.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
Notice the things that identify and describe this John, John the Baptist.
He was sent from God
He was to bear witness
There was an intention that his message would lead to belief
He was not that light
What does it mean that he was not the light? Wasn’t he shining light by proclaiming the coming of Jesus, Just as Isiah and Malachi did?
Of course, and the prophets did shine light - there is no questions about it. But the scripture doesn’t say he didn’t shine the light, it says “he was not that light.”
Just as the moon reflects the rays of the Sun from the hidden region of the galaxy when it has set, the prophets, right up to John, reflected the light that God gave to them until the true sun/Son came forth.
2. The Tabernacle
2. The Tabernacle
in the story of God’s chosen people, he gave them words, and we are thankful for those words, for they are ours today also. But he also gave them pictures. Not an illustrated picture Bible, but living and physical pictures that pointed to a bigger thing.
One of those such pictures was the Tabernacle. It was the precursor to the Temple in Jerusalem, but the Tabernacle travelled with them as they wandered in the wilderness. It gave the place of service by the levites, the priests, and it gave the set-apart place of worship and sacrifice for the people to honor the Lord by their obedience.
The tabernacle offered two basic things to God’s people.
A place of worship
to wean them from the idolatry of Egypt and begin to separate them out as his Holy people.
Relationship
Revelation
And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.
It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory.
A place of witness
Numbers 17:7-8
The Presence of God
And he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
The tabernacle was a wonderful gift of God to His people. To show them that he wanted to dwell with them, that he wanted them to be holy worshipers of Him. That he wanted a relationship with them, and to reveal himself to them.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The word “dwelt” that John used in his writing was the Greek synonym for his Hebrew word “tabernacle.”
I don’t think that is a coincidence, I think John wrote it that way to make such a strong statement as this - if the tabernacle was a sign, then Jesus was what the sign pointed to.
revelation
No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
relationship
he dwelt “among us”
witness
we have beheld his glory
3. The Law
3. The Law
God gave gifts of words and pictures to his people, little sparks of light, pointing to the true light.
In a real sense, the written word of God is a lamp and a light.
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
When David wrote that, the only written scripture that he possessed was the first five books of the Bible.
the pentateuch
the books of Moses
The Law
In fact, all of Psalm 119 is a treatise of how much David loved and cherished God’s revelation in those books.
When we speak about “the law” we speak about it in several layers.
The five books
Genesis, Ex, Lev, Num, Deut
They account for the beginning of all things, the beginning of God’s relationship with people, and the giving of his ways and standards
The List of Rules
613 Commandments that cover every area of life from field to family to finances to festivals.
The 10 Commandments
No Other Gods
No Idols
No Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain
Honor the Sabbath
Honor your Parents
Don’t Murder
Don’t Commit Adultery
Don’t Steal
Don’t Lie
Don’t Covet
The law represented a covenant - a promise. God said, if you keep my ways, things will go well. I will be your God, you will be my people.
Moses also represented that covenant, as a Mediator.
The law was light - it was God telling people what he was like, how he designed things to function best, and how they could stay faithful to Him and experience blessing.
The law was light, but it was only a spark that pointed to something else.
the only problem was the people
Individuals
the Mediator
The law was all “truth” - it was fairly rigid. There was room, of course, for forgiveness, but there was always going back for forgiveness for the law never budged.
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Grace and Truth - that full picture that couldn’t be accomplished by Moses or any of the people. That doesn’t mean the law wasn’t light, and it doesn’t mean it wasn’t a gift. It was and it was, but it wasn’t THE LIGHT or the final gift.
That was Jesus, Jesus who showed grace and truth.
Truth in that he kept the law, he fulfilled it.
Grace in that he mediated a better covenant, a covenant of eternal forgiveness and relationship.
4. The Fulfillment
4. The Fulfillment
The sparks of light are to be cherished still - for they still show us God, his ways, and his will.
But the sparks are not to be cherished above the flame of true light.
These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Paul and the author of Hebrews wrote to people in a context of having to cherish the light of Jesus above the sparks that pointed to Him. For so many, the sparks were the substance, the shadows were the reality.
That is why he faced such opposition at his coming. They people were so entrenched in the shadows, that they missed the substance when he walked on their streets and spoke in their ears.
We, too, have this danger. We might not come from a Jewish background where the law and traditions might overshadow Christ, but we still have warning to heed here.
Don’t cherish the rain check more than the real gift.
Our traditions might still overshadow the substance. They might reach a place of importance in our mind beyond that of the One they point to.
Legalism in our Sanctification
Sacred Cows in our Tradition
Form over Function
Glittering over Glory
It all comes down to this
all the tradition and decoration and observance can be good and wonderful and pleasing to the Lord, but it is not the Lord.
It all comes down to a person. The Light is a Person.