Have You Seen the Light? 11/29/2020

Have We Seen the Light?

All creation longs for light! We long for light because we live in a shadowy world. Darkness in the ancient world symbolized chaos, the unknown, and misery.[1] [2] In the Bible darkness often symbolize wickedness, impurity, and evil.[3] The Bible story begins in a dark, chaotic world.

Genesis 1:1–2 NIV

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

The philosopher asks, “Why is their nothing?” The apostle John responds, “because in the beginning was the Word!” The Gospel of Mark starts straight off with John the Baptist as the forerunner of Jesus. Matthew starts the story of Jesus with Abraham. Luke takes us all the way back to Adam. The apostle John insists we must go all the way back to the beginning. Before the world was the Word existed. That Word was with God. That Word was God. That Word, which was God said, “let there be light,” and there was light!

Do we Know the Power of the Light of the Word?

The Word, which was God, reveals his will in creative speech. The Word that is God spoke the words, “let there be light” and light in the sense that we know it—as the opposite of darkness–burst into existence with glory! That Word, which spoke the world into existence, over thousands of years, breathed into existence the Word of God, which we know as the Bible. This written Word of God is a creative word. Jesus speaks to us through his written Word. Light appears on our path, so we find our way to him and live pleasing to him in this murky world.[JH1] Jesus speaks to us and light appears shining on our hearts, revealing to us deepest recesses of who we are. [JH2] Jesus speaks to us and by his Word shapes our heart so that our desires change. We want to do what pleases God. The effect of His Word shaping our heart is not that we are sinless, but we do over time sin less and less. [JH3] God breathed every word of the Scriptures to shine light on our path, reveal our heart, and shape our heart. In doing this, God gives everything we need to do the good works he ordained or us as individuals and as a Church family. Jesus promised us that if we live in him and if his words live us, a prayer life through which God works through us to do big things and small things with an amazing quality of wisdom and love that brings glory to our Father in heaven. [JH4]

Do we know the power of the light of the world?

In this advent season, our heavenly Father invites sit with and in the light of His Word. Our Father invites us to come to the Word in this season, not to ask questions of it, but to let the Word question us.

Will we allow God’s Word to question:

· the paths we walk?

· the content of our hearts?

Will we allow God’s word to shape:

· the desires of our heart?

· Give us what we need to bear much fruit for his Kingdom?

The Word, who is God, speaks a creative word. “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”[JH5] The Word who is Jesus did not make all things, then leave them to work on their own power. Rather, The Word continues to pour out life-sustaining speech. If it were not for Jesus’ powerful word sustaining all things as we worship this morning, the entire cosmos would fall into chaos.[JH6] The Word who creates all things and sustains all things not only gives physical life. The Word makes spiritual life available to every person.

When we read “in him was life,” the original language conveys the idea that life has a fixed location in Jesus.[4] [JH7] Because all life exists in Him, only Jesus can produce and support living beings. Only the life given to us by Jesus in our physical birth and then in our spiritual birth through faith in Jesus can work in us genuine healthiness, happiness, exuberance, energy, and vitality in this life and in the life to come.[5] This life flowing from Jesus to produce and support all creation is the light of all people.

Do we know the power of the life-giving Light?

In this advent season our Heavenly Father invites us to let Jesus the Life-Giving Light was over us in glory and power.

2 Corinthians 4:6 NIV

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 God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

Will we allow the light of Jesus to shine on our hearts to:

· Ponder what it means in my daily life that Jesus gives and sustains my physical and spiritual life?

· Question the reason for anything that is keeping me from recognizing and experiencing the life-giving light of Jesus in me and around me?

· Discover when and how I typically know the life of Jesus is shining through me to others?

The Word, the Life-Giving Light who is Jesus, shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. [JH8]

Do We know the power of the overcoming light?

It is interesting to think about and ponder what it means that the story of creation does not begin with God saying, “Let there be darkness.” Darkness is that which exists apart the from the creative, life-giving, light-shining Word that was with God in the beginning and is God. The creation gives us a picture of God moving in, invading darkness and chaos. Into that darkness and chaos, the Word speaks “Let there be light” and there was light. The light that shone in the darkness was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. Where physical light shines into the darkness, the darkness must retreat. The more light that shines in the darkness to more the darkness overcomes the light. Light does not end the darkness. But when constant light is present, the darkness is powerless to overcome the light. The physical reality of light overcoming darkness, mirrors how the life-giving Light of the World who is Jesus overcomes spiritual darkness.

Theologian and missiologist Lesslie Newbigin described this spiritual reality well when he wrote,

[Darkness] is what confronts one who turns away from the true source of his being, tries to find its meaning elsewhere, and is thereby plunged into meaninglessness. But the light shines in the darkness. We know that there is darkness only when we look away from the light. The light does not eliminate the darkness, but it goes on shining. There is no peaceful coexistence of light and darkness. The business of light is to banish darkness, and darkness remains the background to the story which John will tell—up to the moment when Judas walks out of the light of the Upper Room into the darkness of the night (13:30), and right up to the final words of Jesus’ consecration prayer: “The world has not known thee, but I have known thee; and these know that thou hast sent me. I have made known to them thy name, and I will make it known …” (17:25f.). The darkness does not comprehend the light, but also does not overwhelm it[6]

In Jesus was and is life. The life that is in Jesus was and is the light for all humankind. Jesus spoke this truth with clarity when he said,

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. [7]

Jesus also spoke clearly when speaks to us through his word as says,

Matthew 5:14–16 NIV

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 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. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

In this advent season, our Father invites us to experience the power of The Overcoming Light.

Will we allow the Spirit to show us:

· Where the light of God is overcoming darkness in my life.

· The areas of my life that I would prefer to keep in the shadows and away from The Overcoming Light.

· Where the light of God is overcoming the surrounding darkness.

· How God is shining the overcoming light of the life of Jesus through me and through our church family into a dark world?

Have we seen the Light?

Do we know the power of The Light of the Word?

Do we know the power of The Life-Giving Light?

Do we know the power of The Overcoming Light?

As children of God, who are disciples of Jesus bound in fellowship as a family of God, our strong and sure answer is yes, we see the light. The Word who speaks to us in his written word shines his life on our path and in our hearts, so we live pleasing to him. We see the light of all humankind, Jesus who gives and sustains us with physical and spiritual life. We see the light of Jesus overcoming the darkness in our lives and in the world. Yes, we see the light! God helping us we want to be the light of Jesus shining the light of his Word, the power of his life, and overcoming darkness to the glory of the Father. The prayer of reflection can help us see the light of Jesus around and in us. The prayer of reflection helps us be the light of Jesus by noticing how he shines his life through us. Listening to the recording of this sermon may be helpful. Included with the sermon recording of this morning’s practice of the prayer of reflection. Next Sunday we will ask, Have You Seen Your Heart?

[1] Carpenter, Eugene E., and Philip W. Comfort. Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words: 200 Greek and 200 Hebrew Words Defined and Explained. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000.

[2] Myers, Allen C. The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987.

[3] Mills, Donald. “Light and Darkness.” Edited by Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, and Rebekah Hurst. Lexham Theological Wordbook. Lexham Bible Reference Series. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014.

[4] Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 1, p. 28). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

[5] Faithlife Corporation. “Life Source.” Logos Bible Software, Computer software. Logos Bible Software Bible Sense Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife Corporation, November 28, 2020. https://ref.ly/logos4/Senses?KeyId=ws.life+source.n.01.

[6] Newbigin, L. (1982). The Light Has Come: An Exposition of the Fourth Gospel (p. 4). Grand Rapids, MI; Edinburgh: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Handsel Press Ltd.

[7] The New International Version. (2011). (Jn 8:12). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[JH1]show Ps. 119:105

[JH2]Show Heb 4:12

[JH3]Show Ps 119:11

[JH4]show Jn 15:7-8

[JH5]Show John 1:3

[JH6]Show Heb. 1:3a

[JH7]Show John 1:4

[JH8]show John 1:5