His Light!

As I've been reading, listening, praying, and studying the Bible the last couple weeks, there has been a theme running throughout the topics I've gone through. And that is the theme of light. Light is mentioned all throughout the course of Scripture, but I'll just highlight a few of them here this week.

Let there be light.

Perhaps the most obvious reference to light is at the beginning of creation. When nothing except darkness exists, and the Creator ushers in the opposite of that darkness and drives it aside. He doesn't cast darkness completely aside, for day and night are meant for signs and seasons. Perhaps the darkness is also a reminder to us, too, that no matter how deep and dark the night is, dawn always comes, because light drives out darkness. You can't drive out darkness with darkness; only light can do that. And so even at the beginning of time, God offers a contrast, a hope, a difference, to what already was (darkness) by bringing light to the world.

The Lord is my light.

I was reminded of the my post last month quoting Psalm 27. Here, David the psalmist, contrasts the light of redemption to the darkness of condemnation. In his opening verse he says, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" The name Yahweh, often written as LORD, refers to God's deity, that He is the self-existent and self-eternal One. It has its roots in the name Ehyeh which is the name God uses in Exodus 3:14 to say "I AM". As fire from the burning bush, Moses did indeed see that the Lord is our light, just as David says in Psalm 27. I've heard it said that "Only those who can say 'The LORD is my light and my salvation' can say 'Of whom shall I be afraid?'".

I AM the light of the world.

I studied this in the first half of my Bible course on John. The setting in John 8 is the Feast of the Tabernacles. All Jewish males were required to celebrate this feast which took place during harvest season. The people lived in "tents" created out of tree branches for the first seven days of the feast, commemorating God's provision for their forefathers in the wilderness.There was also a special water-pouring ceremony, as well as singing, sacrifices, and dancing. Jesus uttered this description of Himself ("I am the light of the world") likely after a special lamp-lighting ceremony took place. Huge cadelabras were lit in the Court of the Women where Jesus was speaking. These lights were apparently so bright and so large that no court in Jerusalem would have missed seeing them. Everyone danced around them in celebration while singing praise to God. They were a reminder of how God led the people by a pillar of fire at night through the wilderness. And against this backdrop, Christ proclaims "I AM the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). This is the same word that Jesus uses in Matthew 4:16 when He quotes Isaiah: "The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned." He was the physical light that led them, but He came as the promised spiritual light to the dark and empty hearts of the world.

You are the light of the world...let your light shine before others.

Matthew 15:14-16 lists some well-known verses for believers. Not only does God create light, express it in His being, and show forth the radiance of light in His Son, but He also gives that light to us. Through salvation, we become witnesses and inheritors of that light, and we're to set it on a hill and spread it all around. We share in that light, that Gospel message. It's ours to claim through faith in Christ, and it's ours to share through His commission. 

Let us...put on the armor of light.

Paul reminds us that as children of light, walking in the light, we're to put on the armor of light. Armor is meant for protection against the enemy, and Paul details the armor of God in Ephesians 6: the belt of truth, the breastplate of rightousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Combined with prayer and perseverence, these pieces of armor provide a formidable force against any foe. We must continue to put away the works of darkness and we do this by putting on the armor of light daily. If we profess to own the Light of the World in our hearts, then we must wear the armor of the Light that we're representing. Our ministry must match our message. 

Light in the dark.

Light is offered as comfort to us from the Lord. It's also something people would pray for in distress or praise God for in times of rejoicing. 

"Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!" (Psalm 4:6)

"For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk befor eGod in the light of life." (Psalm 56:13)

"Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous." (Psalm 112:4)

God's Word is light.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Psalm 119:105) In the darkness of this world, God's word provides the light necessary to continue walking through the valleys. For those who don't have this light, this world is the best they will ever get. But for those who have the "light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ" (2 Cor.4:4) they will have the Light of the world dispelling the darkness of their hearts and providing a path on which to walk. Our road map is the Word of light, because "the unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple" (Psalm 119:130). We're a new creation that radiates the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor.4:6).

The Lord God will be their light.

This world isn't all. There is a life after death, and for believers we will live with the Creator and Being of Light. The Light that was given to us in our hearts and proclaimed by the Word will be the light that we live forever with. We only demonstrate a fraction of this light, but in the new heavens and new earth, we will live in the light of the Lord. There will be no night, no darkness, to dispell anymore. No physical night and no spiritual darkness will be there. "[We] will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be [our] light, and [we] will reign forever and ever" (Revelation 22:5). The best is yet to come. Our Everlasting Light will not just be in our hearts, but He will stand before us, and we will bow to and reign with that Light. 

And so, with the physical light of day being our reminder, let us keep the light in our hearts burning, as we remember the Creator of Light who sent His Son as Light to the world. He offers the Word of light as comfort and direction to all who believe, and we are given the armor of light to fight against the forces of darkness. We are the light-bearers to the world, until that day when the Light comes from heaven and we reign in the glory of the Light of the Son of God.

When I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.

-Micah 7:8b

O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

-Isaiah 2:5