Light, Glorious Light!

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Light, oh glorious light! How amazing, how refreshing, how needful it is to have light.

The more birthdays I have, the more I have the need of light to help my eyesight. My first memory of needing help with my eyesight started in an apartment north of Moscow, Russia. At first, I thought it was the new LED bulbs. Then I found my eyes were sensitive to light while driving and in stores. Somewhere I decided, it was not the light, but my eyes that needed some help.

I bought my first pair of reading glasses off a table in the Alexandrov market. Although I found them to be somewhat less than desirable, it began my life with corrective lenses. Strangely enough, getting my vision corrected also helped with my sensitivity to light.

God created humans with the need for light to see. Unlike many of the nocturnal creatures that can see in the dark, we are blind without some sort of light to help us see. This is true both in a natural as well as a spiritual sense.

We use the term “light” in ways beyond just referring to visible light. Light means direction. It can mean an open door to opportunity or a way that seems right to go.

Since Adam and Eve listened to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, spiritual darkness has encompassed humanity. We have no way of creating light by ourselves to drive it away; we have no internal, redemptive light. This means it takes a source of spiritual light from beyond us to give us hope.

Jesus is the true light. If you have a Thompson Chain Reference Bible, look up number 2168: Christ The Light Of The World, or take your Bible and look up verses on Christ being the Light. There are many verses, especially in St. John, which refer to Jesus as the light.

Many songs have been written about Jesus being the light of the world. I am thinking about the children’s song, “This Little Light of Mine,” which brings the message to children that when we have Jesus in our hearts, His light shines out to those around us. It repeats the thought numerous times: “I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” It also refers to the scripture when it says, “Hide it under a bushel, oh, no I’m gonna let it shine.” This thought strikes me as having a responsibility to let Christ shine through us. Meaning there are things that we allow, do, or do not do that prevent the light of Christ from shining in our lives. We have a responsibility for the light given to us. I can open the shade on my heart to allow His light to shine in, but it cannot be stored; light needs a constant source of energy.

How long can the light shine in our hearts without it reaching others? The very nature of the light that Jesus brings, which is love, cannot be contained, at least not for long. When the true light is in our hearts it changes our countenance which we cannot hide. How many times have people noticed an outward change in someone who has experienced the peace of God filling their heart without them ever saying anything? This often happens. It reminds me of a lady we learned to know in Russia. She had a booth where she sold things in the market. One day at work, she had an encounter with Jesus, and He forgave her sins. When she came back to her booth, one of her coworkers asked her what had happened to her. The change that took place was immediately noticeable. This lady went on to tell other inspiring experiences that reflected the change that Jesus had made in her heart. She was a true example of transformation, from a life of darkness and selfishness to a life of light, life, and joy.

If the presence of light is evident, so also is the lack of it. We all experience this before we give our hearts to the Lord. We may not have even known we were living in darkness. Then when we surrender to the Lord, and His light illuminates our lives, we are surprised and filled with peace and joy. Other times as we walk the Christian journey, we may develop dark areas that we do not know are there, but need to be brought to the light.

There is real light, sunlight, as well as artificial light. One gives energy and the other takes energy. Not only does the sun give light, it also gives warmth. On the other hand, our artificial lights give some warmth, but it takes energy, i.e., electricity or fuel, to make them work. The sun naturally provides the necessary components to make things grow. Whereas it takes a specific type of artificial light to make things grow, and that is just in the area where the light is present. The sun shines everywhere, providing the same light and energy for the entire world, which never dims or burns out.

In the first chapter of St. John, he refers to Jesus being the “true” light. He also mentions angels of light, sent to deceive. Deceptive spirits indeed give a sense of light but are full of self. These spirits are not the true light, whose source is from Satan, the father of lies, who dwells in darkness.

So how can the true light be known? Turn to the word of God and examine what it produces, and you will find its source.

True light produces power to change, healing for the weary, and takes no honor for itself. Its rays are made up of the fruit of the Spirit, comparable to the rainbow. Take, for instance, the fruit of the Spirit, which are nine: love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Galatians 5:22-23). Whereas the rainbow has seven colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. Although one has seven and the other nine, each are parts that make up one entity. The nine fruits that are listed are not individual fruits, but attributes of one. Similarly, the seven colors make one rainbow. Seven appears to be God’s special number, signifying complete wholeness. Seven days in a week, seven continents, seven seas, seven colors of light, seven notes on the scale of music, seven lamps on the golden lampstand in the tabernacle, seven churches in Revelations, and Jesus told Peter to forgive not just seven times, but seventy times seven.

When we see a rainbow, what is visible is the light spectrum. The rainbow splits the light, allowing us to see the individual colors that light is made of. Between the colors, they flow into each other creating combinations of colors as one melts into the other, until there is no defined line between them. Likewise, the fruit of the Spirit, is the individual attributes of Jesus, the light of the world. They are perfectly blended so one cannot discern where one attribute ends, and another begins.

I know this is not a perfect metaphor, but it creates some inspiring thoughts. God chose light to create the rainbow of promise to Noah that never again would a flood cover the earth. This promise still speaks to us today of the goodness and mercies of God. Likewise, God sent Jesus to be the light of the world, which, when we accept it into our hearts, shines forth the fruit of the Spirit. Our hearts then become a rainbow of promise and hope, against the backdrop of darkness and sin. This is only evident when the true light, the light of Jesus Christ, shines through us. Any bit of self and sin dims the rays.

There could be many more aspects and analogies we could draw. Our focus must be on the Giver of light, Jesus Christ, and our whole body will be full of light. 

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Luke 11:33-36 KJV 33 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. 34 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. 35 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 36 If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

 

Mat 6:22-24 KJV 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.