Light - Pt. 1

The Word, The Life, The Glory

[Light Illustration]

Look at the absolute necessity of light

Light is linked with:

Instruction (Isa. 2:5; Ps. 119:105, 130)

Truth (Psalm 43:3)

Good (Isaiah 5:20)

Salvation (Psalm 27:1; Isaiah 49:6)

Life (Psalm 36:9, Job 33:28,30)

Peace (Isaiah 45:7)

Rejoicing (Psalm 97:11)

Covenant (Isaiah 42:6)

Justice & Righteousness (Isaiah 59:9)

God’s Presence & Favor (Psalm 44:3, 89:15)

The glory of Yahweh (Isaiah 60:1-3)

Darkness is commonly linked with:

Death

Ignorance

Sin

Seperation from God

When we look at Scripture’s contextual use of light and darkness, we can understand Paul’s message in:

Ephesians 4:17-18 “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility (purposeless) of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.”

and then in

Ephesians 5:8-20 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.

This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

When we talk about Light, and in these previous verses, we see 3 big themes that really matter:

NEW THINKING: How we live - wisdom and intellectual and rational thinking - it matters.

The light exposed our ignorance and gave us truth (Reality)

C.S. Lewis said, “What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.”

NEW LIVING: Days are evil, make the most of every opportunity, time is short… a future is coming. Make a Difference - it matters

The light/truth gave us a new perspective - eternity - live with the future in mind now.

NEW PRESENCE: Be filled, not once, not an anniversary date when you prayed 10 years ago, continually be filled. - His presence matters

We not only have the light, we become the light because of His presence.

You are the light because you have his presence that gives light.

Matthew 5:14-16 ““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.”

Being the light is so practical! Grace is not in competition with works. Grace eliminates meritocracy not works!

Now I want to unpack these three themes of New Thinking, New Living and New Presence in regards to light and the source of the light.

The source of the light will lead you to new thinking, new living, presence - filled.

And to do so, we will look at John 1.

John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”

John is pointing to Jesus

“In the beginning” - We see the endeavor of John here is not to tell the story of just one character in one place and time but rather is the story of our Good Creator God acting in a new way within his much-loved creation. And as we will see it is about the way in which the long story which began in Genesis reached the climax the creator had always intended.

In Genesis 1 the climax is the creation of humans - made in God’s image

In John 1 the climax is the arrival of a human being, the Word become “flesh” - which gives us light on what being truly human looks like. What truly imaging God looks like.

Many Jewish teachers saw God’s activity in the world through his presence in the Tabernacle and others saw the presence in Torah.

Many in pagan philosphy saw this logos as a principle of rationality lying deep within the whole cosmos, find that and you’ll find life’s true meaning.

John is saying hey guys - it’s actually a person. If you want to know who the true God is and truth (objective truth) look at this person.

This is about the full meaning of everything He was, and is, and did

He is everything, Truth is not some abstract principle - its a person - Jesus, He is the way, the truth, the life, the light, He is wisdom, He is Yahweh, He is the High Priest, He is the Resurrection.

The very fabric of our cosmos / all creation and beyond is from and by our good creator God in and through Jesus. And so to reject Him is to walk in darkness and not get it. But to receive Him and believe in Him - makes everything new.

As God once said in Genesis 1 - Let there be light and conquered darkness and brought creation. Now he finds darkness sadly in creation and once more says let there be light - (2 Corinthians 4:6) leading to New Creation / Redemption!

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.

God is saying let there be light again, with the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is both the messenger and the message. We preach Christ and Him crucified.

John features 3 things to express the greatness of Jesus and the source of this Light.

The Logos Word

The Life, and

The Shekinah Glory.

These are the source of the light that leads to New Thinking, New Living, and New Presence.

Therefore when we talk about new thinking… What is the source of the light that gives us new thinking? -In John 1 it’s:

The Logos Word - New Thinking

Light/Truth Psalm 43:3 “Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!”

John’s use of the word “Word” is “Logos”

According to Scholar Nancy Pearcy, The Greek word means not only Word but also reason or rationality, and the ancient Stoics used it to mean the rational structure of the universe. Thus the underlying structure of the entire universe reflects the mind of the Creator… As a result, all creation must be interpreted in light of its relationship to God.

God’s living Word is not just to be memorized, though that can be beneficial, it needs to be understood.

God’s living Word is not just to be leisurely read, though that also can be beneficial, it needs to be studied.

God’s Logos Word, with all of it’s creative power is to form a new framework of thinking or what some call “WorldView”

We might say that each of us carries a model of the universe inside our heads that tells us what the world is like and how we should live in it.

A classic book on worldviews is title by James Sire The Universe Next Door, suggesting that we all have a mental or conceptual universe in which we “live” -a network of principles that answer the fundamental questions of life: Who are we? Where did we come from? What is the purpose of life?

Thinking Christianly means understanding that Christianity / Logos Word - gives the truth about the whole of reality, a perspective for interpreting every subject matter.

Why does this matter?

Because today, Christianity is not considered an objective truth to which we submit but rather of preference which we choose.

Modern societies are sharply divided by: Private Sphere (place of Personal Preferences) and Public Sphere (Scientific Knowledge)

What has happened over the past 60 or so years is that religion has been moved by secularists to the Private Sphere, kept out of the “Public Sphere”.

Which has led to a perversion of values - values reduced to individual choice, but “facts” (scientific) binding on everyone. Then ultimately to the division of truth: postmodernism - subjective truth (they put christianity there) and modernism - objective truth (universally valid because of facts and science).

Jesus - the Truth, The Light has been relegated in our culture to the subjective, value, private sphere. Christians have internalized Jesus and therefore do not have a Christian Worldview… Because Jesus doesn’t go beyond Sunday.

As one asked, “Can the world of Sunday, ever merge with the world the week”

Historian Sydney Mead in writing about this says “This internalization or privatization of religion is one of the most momentous changes that has ever taken place in Christendom”. As a result our lives are often fractured and fragmented, with our faith firmly locked into the private realm of church and family, where it rarely has a chance to inform our life and work in the public realm… We inhabit two separate “worlds”, navigating a sharp divide between our religious life and ordinary life.

Paul said in Colossians 2:6-9 “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”

We can’t just seek to save souls, we must also work to save minds - teach people how to think christianly by His Word.

When we Talk about New Living, what is the source of the light that gives us new perspective and hope? The Life.

The Life - New Living

Remember Paul said making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.

Our present actions are (aka - the way we live and behave) are based on our future expectations.

Tim Keller says “You and I are unavoidably and irreducibly hope-based creatures. We are controlled not how we live now but what we think will happen later.”

John said in 1 John, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”

The ultimate hope of the Christian is of life in the light of God. Revelation 21:21-23 “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”

This life has given us a new destiny - a new hope of IMMORTALITY. Death has been defeated and there is only life in our future.

What does the light of His Life mean for me “right now”?

We will live fearlessly unashamed of the gospel of Christ, and will live lives suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

2 Timothy 1:6-10 “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

So may we live fearless lives unashamed of the Gospel moving our faith out from the internalized and private sphere and let it shape every single atom of our lives.

We do not fear darkness Psalm 27:1 “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

The Shekinah Glory - New Presence

What is the Shekinah Glory?

Transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning “the one who dwells”. It is the immanent presence of God Himself. Sometimes appeared as a cloud but always in the NT associated with light and glory.

In the Aramaic translation of the OT the “glory of God” and “Word of God” are used synonymously.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. -John 1:14

Shekinah in Hebrew designation is a comprehensive term for any form of the presence of God.

It is his very character and essence

His glory is his presence that led the children of Israel - a cloud by day and fire by night and is within us and among us to lead us, guide us, enlighten us, reveal to us, help us, love us.

His presence gives light, that presence is in you, he will lead you and guide you with the light of His presence. Romans 8:14

It’s His presence that makes the difference.

We aren’t walking in the light because we are bright, it’s because He is in us and with us. We are transformed into His likeness.

His presence is commissioning us.

Moses

Gideon

Isaiah

Jesus to us - “as the father sent me I am sending you.” “Wait till you have been clothed with power from on High”

Live with His presence in mind.

2 Cor 4:4-6 “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 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.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.”

Isaiah 60:1-3 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

The Lexham Bible Dictionary In the Graeco-Roman World

In the Graeco-Roman world, light was not only how one sees but also what one sees

The Lexham Bible Dictionary In the Graeco-Roman World

This idea of illumination and vision leads easily into light as both the process and goal of learning. Light is understood as the act of coming to know and also what becomes known (Plutarch Of Hearing, 17; Pindar Nemean Odes, 4, 37; Sophocles, Philoctetes, 1353). Thus Paul speaks of the light of the gospel and of God shining His light in the hearts of believers in nearly the same sentence (2 Cor 4:4–6; 2 Tim 1:10).

The Lexham Bible Dictionary In the Gospels

Thus, the full symbolism of light merges in the person of Jesus as salvation, knowledge or revelation, wisdom, life, healing, and God’s presence (Culpepper, Fourth Gospel, 190). Darkness, on the other hand, refers to sin and opposition to Jesus.

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible In the Old Testament > Light

God’s blessing, described in terms of light, is also related to “the light of his countenance.” Something of that expression’s meaning is seen from its use in Psalm 4:6: “There are many who say, ‘O that we might see some good! Lift up the light of thy countenance upon us, O Lord!’ ” The parallelism shows that “good” and the lifting up of the light of God’s countenance are much the same. Similarly it was the light of God’s countenance that brought victory (Ps 44:3; here it is linked with God’s right hand and arm and his delight in his people). Those who walk in the light of God’s countenance are blessed (Ps 89:15).

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible In the Old Testament > Light

An extension of the Lord’s blessing is the light God gives to the world through his servants (Is 42:6; 49:6). God’s servants can guide others to the revelation and blessing of God.

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible In the New Testament > Light

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (Jn 8:12; 9:5), and “I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (Jn 12:46). Jesus told his followers to believe in the light while it was with them (Jn 12:35). Such passages emphasize that Christ brought a revelation from God, but he was more than a revealer. He was himself that revelation

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible In the New Testament > Light

They are to show the quality of life proper to the people of God and in this way act as light to the people of the world. They are to let their light shine before the world in such a way that people will see their good deeds and so come to praise God (not, be it noted, those who do the deeds, Mt. 5:16).

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Light and Darkness in the Old Testament

At the heart of Old Testament’s symbolic use of light and darkness is the connection the text makes between light and the personal presence of God, and darkness as all that opposes God.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Light and Darkness in the Old Testament

If light symbolizes God’s presence, and God is the author of life, then surely where God is, life abounds