Tag Archives: darkness

ONCE DARKNESS – NOW LIGHT

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ONCE DARKNESS – NOW LIGHT

Let no one deceive you with empty words for, because of such things, God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore, do not be partners with them. 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 (Eph. 5:6-10).

What are the ‘empty words’ of which Paul speaks? ‘Empty’ simply means that these words have nothing in them – no substance – which implies that they are lies. What kind of words are empty of truth? Words that man speaks in contradiction to God’s Word have no truth in them. Satan is their source because he wants to lure people away from God and from the truth.

Satan spoke empty words to Adam and Eve and, when they believed him and did what he tempted them to do, they discovered that it was God who had spoken the truth, not the devil. The outcome, just as Paul had written, was the wrath of God on them for their disobedience. Scientists and philosophers who deny the existence of God, speak empty words. Those who disregard God’s moral requirements, living impure and wicked lives, are under the dark cloud of Gods’ wrath because they have believed the ‘empty words’ with which the devil has deceived them.

Deception is one of the devil’s most potent weapons. He deceives through lies which contradict God’s truth and he deceives through fear – a powerful emotion that drives people to ignore or disregard the character and promises of God.

Paul counsels his readers not to partner with people who, under Satan’s influence, propagate his deception both by their words and by the way they live.  God has preserved in written form over thousands of years, His directions for living lives that please Him and that protect us from the effects of His wrath. God’s wrath is not capricious outbursts of anger but a settled disposition of displeasure. To be under God’s displeasure is to be subject to the consequences for choosing to disobey Him He clearly describes in His word.

There is no small print in God’s Word. He hides nothing from His people. He takes no pleasure in meting out punishment to those who are disobedient. The devil has spawned the lie that God is a hard taskmaster, waiting with His rod of punishment to catch anyone out who transgresses His laws. God has clearly warned everyone who cares to take notice, of the consequences of disobedience but He has endless mercy for those who repent and return to His way.

Why should His people not be partners with those who contradict and disobey His Word? Not only is such association detrimental to our wellbeing, but it also cuts across everything we are and have been taught as children of God and citizens of His kingdom. Loyal citizens of a country are bound by the constitution of that country. Should they step outside the boundaries of that constitution, they will be prosecuted. Our prisons are crammed with people who have transgressed the laws of our land.

Likewise, those who belong to God’s kingdom have voluntarily placed themselves under the constitution of His kingdom. They have committed themselves to loyalty to Jesus as the king and have placed themselves under His authority to obey His Word because His Word has substance – it is the truth.

Light and darkness cannot co-exist. Darkness disappears when a light is turned on. Darkness has no substance; it is merely the absence of light. Light exposes the furniture in a room which would be potential obstacles in the dark. Light enables us to see what is in our environment. In the light we are able to avoid tripping over things we cannot see in the dark. In the same way, the light of God’s Word enables us to avoid falling prey to devil’s lies and destroying ourselves by believing his deception.

It is our responsibility as children of the kingdom of light, to live out in our daily lives who we are. The fruit of our lives reveals the root. Paul insists that God’s children bear the fruit of lives that live in the light – for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth. It is impossible to live in the darkness of disobedience and, at the same time, bear the fruit of light. What we do reveals what we are.

And find out what pleases the Lord. What is it that pleases God? The Bible gives us the answer. God gave King David a title He gave to no one else. Preachers and theologians often make heavy weather of this one simply because they have ignored the context.

After removing Saul, He [God] made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ (Acts 13: 22).

Did you get that? Obedience to His Word pleases God more than anything else. It is not our service or our sacrifice which pleases Him. It is our prompt and complete obedience. Obedience to God’s requirements is the one thing, above everything else, that indicates whether we fear Him or not.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3, eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – THAT THEY MAY BE ONE…

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THAT THEY MAY BE ONE…

33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said. Mark 15:33-36

Darkness, inky black, thick, impenetrable darkness, covered the earth for three hours, the physical universe responding to the disrepair spawned by the unity Adam’s sin broke in the Garden of Eden. That said it all – and Jesus,was enveloped and enshrouded in it. What was happening in those three hours inside that darkness?

The rupture of ECHAD between Father and Son was slowly rising to a crescendo of agony – deep spiritual darkness that squeezed from Jesus’ parched and bloodied lips the cry that echoed round the cosmos – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Whatever David felt that caused him to pen those words centuries before, was intensified a million times for Jesus in those hours on the cross. How natural that He should cry out His agony in the words of Scripture! Only Jesus knows what it is like to be separated from the Father, even for those few hours. He bore it so that no-one need ever be separated from God again and yet…who really understands what that means? Here and there, we have glimpses of the massive significance of this ECHAD that Jesus treasured and protected throughout His earthly life and tried to impress upon His disciples.

This unity was the passion of His last recorded prayer on earth (except for His utterances on the cross), “That they may be one, Father, even as you and I are one.”

How important is ECHAD to you and me? What will we do and what will we need to sacrifice in order to protect unity in the community in which we live? Do we treasure unity only as long as it demands nothing from us? What about mutual submission? What role does that play in the way we live out ECHAD in the body of Christ? “This is the way the world will know that you sent me…ECHAD.”

Jesus shed His blood to the last drop, suffered the worst that humans could put Him through, felt the agony of aloneness in His darkest hour… and never faltered because unity was His ultimate goal, the unity between the Godhead and the universe and all its components including redeemed mankind, restored.

Sear this truth on our hearts, Father, so that, like the Master we are called to follow, we value and treasure ECHAD with you and with our family of believers above everything.

They Knew!

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THEY KNEW!

At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ (which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’). When some of those standing there heard this, they said, ‘Listen, He’s calling Elijah.’

Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ‘Now leave Him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take Him down,’ he said. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed His last. The curtain of the temple was torn from top to bottom. And when the centurion who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how He died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’ (Mark 15: 33-39)

Jesus’ killers thought they knew. They were so certain that they had at last destroyed this blasphemer that they stood there to make sure that He was dead. They mocked and insulted a dying man because they believed they were right. They could go to bed that night with the satisfaction that they had finally rid themselves of the one man who got under their skin. They could get on with their lives in peace. But could they?

Strange how there were others who had no vested interest in Jesus but they knew. What about the earth and sky? For three hours the sun knew! Everything went black around the scoffers – so black that they could not see their hands in front of their faces. God veiled the light of the sun to shield His Son from their hostile eyes. This was no ordinary storm and certainly not a normal solar eclipse. Whoever heard of an eclipse that lasted for three hours? What went on the minds of His enemies as they stood there, unable to move in the darkness?

And the veil of the temple? How and why did it rip from top to bottom? It was so thick that it was said that not even a team of horses could rip it apart. Who tore it? How could it tear? There was no one in Israel who would dare to do something like that, even if they could. Only the high priest was allowed beyond that curtain and only once a year, with a strict ritual so that he would not die in that inner shrine if he did not fulfil his duty perfectly.

If God was responsible for the darkness, He must have also been responsible for tearing the veil in the temple. Why did He do that? What was He saying to His people? The ancient rabbis believed that the veil was God’s clothing, hiding Him from the prying eyes of His people. When He tore the veil, was He mourning for His Son by tearing His clothes, as the Jews did when they grieved for a loved one? Was He finally able to reveal Himself to His people because there was nothing between Him and them any more? Sin had been atoned for and removed. God was satisfied, and He invited His people to draw near. No more animal sacrifices or priests to intervene.

The Roman centurion knew. He was a pagan. He had no interest in the Jewish religion. He was there to do his duty, as unpleasant as it was – that was all. He had supervised and witnessed many crucifixions, but this one was different. Never had he seen a man die with such serenity and dignity. He was used to the victim’s screams and curses. He had heard it all and his heart was calloused to indifference by the suffering his men inflicted on them. As far as he was concerned, they were getting what they deserved.

He felt nothing for them, but this man . . .? His verdict was, ‘Not guilty.’ Why was Jesus being crucified? What had He done to deserve this terrible end? His very words and behaviour protested His innocence. When we put together the witness of all four gospels, what do we read? The words and attitude of an evildoer? He protested the loss of His Father’s felt presence in the words of His famous ancestor, David. He welcomed a sinner into Paradise with Him. He forgave those who did this to Him. Only once did He give an indication of His severe suffering – ‘I am thirsty!’ He entrusted His spirit to His Father and He died with a victory cry on His lips.

Was there any other person on earth who died on a cross like this? No! The centurion came to the only conclusion that fitted the evidence. Whatever he might have meant by it, he declared, ‘This man was the Son of God!’ Like Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian despot, a pagan through and through, who had to admit that the man he saw in the fire was no ordinary man, the centurion, not the Jews, admitted that Jesus was, after all, exactly who He claimed to be, Saviour, Messiah and the Son of God.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Watch this space. My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), companion volume to Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master, will soon be on the bookshelves.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

 

 

Water And Light

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WATER AND LIGHT 

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'” John 8:12 (NIV).

Although the interlude which records Jesus’ encounter with the woman caught in adultery doesn’t seem to fit, it apparently happened in the temple while He was teaching the people. The water ceremony which we spoke about in a previous post, was part of the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. The lighting of the candelabras took place on the second day of the feast.

“According to the Mishnah (part of the oral tradition of the rabbis), gigantic candelabras stood within the court of the women. Each of the four golden candelabras is said to have been 50 cubits high. A cubit is somewhere between 18 and 22 inches, so we’re talking about candelabras that were about 75 feet tall! Each candelabrum had four branches, and at the top of every branch there was a large bowl. Four young men bearing 10 gallon pitchers of oil would climb ladders to fill the four golden bowls on each candelabrum. And then the oil in those bowls was ignited.

“Picture sixteen beautiful blazes leaping toward the sky from these golden lamps. Remember that the Temple was on a hill above the rest of the city, so the glorious glow was a sight for the entire city to see. In addition to the light, Levitical musicians played their harps, lyres, cymbals and trumpets to make joyful music to the Lord. What a glorious celebration! The light was to remind the people of how God’s Shekinah glory had once filled His Temple. But in the person of Jesus, God’s glory was once again present in that Temple. And He used that celebration to announce that very fact. He was teaching in the court of women just after the Feast, perhaps standing right next to those magnificent candelabras when He declared to all who were gathered there,”

(http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/BibleStudyAndTheology/jewishroots/Feast_of_Tabernacles_Jews_For_Jesus_David_Brickner.aspx?option=print)

Although many of the Jewish leaders were scathing about Jesus’ apparent origin in Galilee (although they failed to realize that He was born in Bethlehem as the Scripture had predicted), God had promised that a great light would shine out of Galilee (Isaiah 9:1,2).

The people were unwittingly using ceremonies and symbols which they did not understand while the fulfilment of their symbolic expectation was right there among them! They were celebrating their Messianic hope with physical light while Jesus was offering them a new life of freedom from the demands of selfishness and sin (darkness) so that they could live the lives He intended for them, living lovingly and generously towards others (light).

“‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'” John 8:12 (NIV).

There was pain in the heart of Jesus over the spiritual leaders of the nation who refused to recognize and come to Him as the light. He was inviting the people to set aside all their efforts to please God by following rules and rituals. God had set out His teaching (torah) in His law but they had found it impossible to fulfil all His requirements. The leaders laid a heavy burden on the people through their yoke of legalism.

Jesus offered them a better way. ‘Follow me,’ He said, ‘and you will never walk in darkness.’ He told them that He had not come to do away with the law but to show them how to fulfil it. In His offer of “living water” there was a promise that the Holy Spirit would be in them, like the water they drank every day to quench their thirst, to give them life and enable them the follow Him.

If they followed His way of life, living for others instead of for themselves, their lives would be filled with His light, the joy and peace of God that would bring them satisfaction and fulfilment instead of dissatisfaction and discontent.

He still invites us to follow Him!

 

The Gospel of John, Chapter 1 – Unity, Life, Light

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THE GOSPEL OF JOHN – CHAPTER ONE

UNITY, LIFE, LIGHT

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5 (NIV).

Have you ever read Genesis 1 and wondered where the light came from in days one to three when God only created the sun, moon and stars on the fourth day? Or perhaps you didn’t notice!

John’s gospel begins somewhat differently from Matthew, Mark and Luke. Like the book of Genesis, he begins with “In the beginning…” The beginning of what? Certainly not the beginning of God because He was already there in the beginning. And so was the Word.

Who was the Word, and why was He called “the Word”? According to Hebrew thought, God’s Word is a manifestation of Himself in another form. So the Word can be written, as we have it in the Bible, or it can be a person; and that person was the second person of the Trinity who came in human form to speak to us about the Father and to show us what He is like.

The writer to the Hebrews put it like this: “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He also made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Hebrews 1:1-3, NIV).

John tells us that the Word was with God in the beginning and that He was God. Does that sound like He, the Word, and God were two separate persons and yet one? He did what God did — He created everything. In Genesis 1 God created the universe through His word. He spoke and creation happened. But Jesus is the Word. Through Him it all came into being. It’s a mystery, isn’t it? What was John trying to tell us?

If Jesus and God were in it together, creating the universe by speaking it into being, then they must be two separate persons and yet, since they were both doing the God-thing — creating — then they must both be God. Two, yet one? Not one person but one in nature, one in essence, one in power, one in purpose — what the Bible calls echad — unity, not two Gods.

Here’s a simple illustration: God created Adam — one person. Then He took a piece of Adam and from it He fashioned Eve – two people. Then He brought them together in marriage and told them that they were to become one flesh — echad — the same word as the Hebrew creed, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one…” — echad,  Deuteronomy 6:4 (NIV). They were to be a visual aid of unity because they were to be a reflection of the image of God — one.

John’s next theme is life. Life is much more than just being physically alive. It is the kind of life that willingly does what it can to make the lives of others better. It reflects the nature of God, is generous and kind and in touch with God and responsive to His will.

Now John introduces another theme — light, which is closely connected to life. Our first reaction is to think of visible light but again, Hebrew thought was different. They would ask the question, “What does light do?” Light reveals, exposes, illuminates and enables us to see pictures. Darkness is the absence of light. Again, according to Hebrew thought, light is everything that causes creation to function in unity while darkness is everything that disrupts unity and causes life to unravel.

When Satan was thrown down to the earth because of his rebellion against God, he brought darkness to the planet, both physical and moral darkness. “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep…” Genesis 1:2 (NIV).

Before God created the first human, the potential for him to be influenced by the evil one was already on the earth. It makes sense that God would not leave human beings to live in the environment of Satan’s influence without being able to choose to live in the light. So, according to John, God assigned the Second Person of the Trinity, who was the Word, to be present on earth by His Spirit to teach Adam and his descendants to live God’s way, which is to live in the light.

The Word was not only present and active in creation, He was also continuously active on the earth to influence His human creatures to love and obey Him and to live in fellowship with Him so that all of God’s creation could live in echad as a perfect reflection of their Creator.

That was God’s intention from the beginning but things went horribly wrong…