Turning On And Off The Light
Notes
Transcript
Throughout the bible we come across a theme wherein good is seen as light and evil is seen as darkness. That there is a clear distinction between light and dark is obvious from creation as our Creator separated light from dark on the fourth day.
17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
Again this theme is prevalent from the beginning of God’s word through to the end. In Revelation 22:16 we find Jesus describing himself as the “bright morning star.”
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
So why is knowing this important? The importance of this fact lies in the difference between light and dark. A member at the church here in Ramona made this statement several years ago that has always stuck with me. He said, “Have you ever noticed that darkness cannot turn the light out. The only way for the light to go out and darkness to come is if the light is turned off.” Now when we think about the spiritual implications of such a statement it makes perfect sense why God would use “light” as a metaphor for himself and righteousness while using darkness as a metaphor for Satan and evil. The only way evil can actually come into our hearts and rule our lives is if we “turn off the light of God” created in us. In Ecclesiastes 3:11, Solomon sates, “he (God) has put eternity into man’s heart.” In other words, God has placed light into our souls, a desire to be with him for eternity, and the only way this light doesn’t stay bright in our lives is if we turn it off or as Paul describes it in 1 Timothy 4:2, “sear our conscience.” The good news is that if we turn off the light of righteousness in our life we can turn it back on again but only if we turn to God and live for him. For those that are not a child of God they must obey the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 6:3-5) and for those that are already a child of God they must repent and confess their sins to be forgiven (Acts 8:20-22; 1 John 1:9). So be clear, it is much easier to keep the light on than to turn it off and turn it back on so let’s work our hardest to leave our light shining in our lives.