Tag Archives: light

WATER AND LIGHT

Bible Study, ,

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 ten-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 (because 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!

Acknowledgement

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.

FLEE DARKNESS – LIVE IN THE LIGHT

Bible Study, ,

FLEE DARKNESS – LIVE IN THE LIGHT

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 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 (Eph. 5:11-17).

Bugs and creepy crawlies live the darkness. Kick over a stone and they scatter, scuttling off to find another dark spot where they can take shelter from the light. Bugs don’t hide from the light because they are evil; they hide under stones to stay out of sight because predators are continually hunting for a tasty morsel.

People hide in darkness for a very different reason.

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God (John 3:20-21).

What is darkness in this context? Ignorance or willful disobedience to the standards God has set for us leaves us in darkness. ‘Light’ and ‘darkness’ are common metaphors in Scripture. Light represents the truth about God and us that He has revealed in His Word, and the moral and upright living that flows from obeying God’s instructions. Darkness is the opposite – immoral living in contradiction to God’s Word.

King David understood the part that God’s Word plays in keeping our feet on the right path in life.

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path (Psa. 119:105).  

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you (Psa. 119:11).

Obedience to the prescriptions and instructions in God’s Word enables us to navigate the pitfalls in life without damaging our consciences or our souls. First of all, God teaches us how to have harmonious relationships with one another – within the closest of all bonds in the family, and then with the people who radiate outwards from our inner circle, friends and acquaintances and those with whom we rub shoulders in the world.

God created an interactive universe as an expression of the unity within the Trinity. God is one – according to the daily confession of the Israelites:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one (Deut. 6:4).

The word for one – echad – can mean either a single unit or a compound unity, depending on its context. Jewish scholars argue that God is a single person while Christians believe that God is a compound unity – three persons in one Godhead.

However, both man and the universe bear witness to the amazingly complex unity that exists in every system which is an expression of the echad in God. Everything in the universe is interdependent and interactive.

No Man Is an Island is a famous line from Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, a 1624 work by the English poet John Donne – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Man_Is_an_Island – retrieved January 2016.

The Apostle Paul expressed the same thought:

For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord (Rom. 14:7-8).

The point is that the human race is interconnected and interdependent, just as is the physical universe. Whether we live by the God’s Word or in defiance of God’s standards, what we do affects other people in a ripple effect. My sin and your sin contribute to the chaos around us and we cannot escape the consequences of our disobedience and the disobedience of others.

On this basis, Paul pleads with his readers to live in the light. Wisdom, in the simplest terms, means doing what works. God has told us in His Word what works. Sin in all its ramifications does not work because it creates chaos in relationships.

Our responsibility as believers is to maintain harmony in all our relationships by walking in the light with God and with one another.

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.

19 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THE POWER OF LIGHT

Christian Life, ,

19 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THE POWER OF LIGHT

Light, and its counterpart, darkness, is one of the major themes of Scripture.

John declared:

“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.” 1 John 1:5 NLT

God is the source of all light. This includes physical light as well as revelation, enlightenment, understanding and righteousness.

In the beginning, before God sorted out the darkness and chaos that existed on the earth…

“The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” Genesis 1:2 NLT

… He spoke “light” into the situation. This light was not physical. We know that because He spoke the sun, moon, and stars into existence on the fourth day.

“Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.” Genesis 1:14-19 NLT

What was this “light” that separated “day” from “night”? Sometimes we have to decide whether the Bible is speaking literally or figuratively. If it makes no sense to interpret a statement literally, we must look for its meaning in another way.

If there was no sun or moon to reflect God’s light, since He is the source of all light, this light must have come directly from God. Does the Bible confirm this idea?

John begins his gospel record by taking us back to the beginning of time. He wrote a commentary on Genesis 1 that clarifies what Moses wrote.

‘In the beginning, the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” John 1:1-5 NLT

So, it seems that John is telling us that the Father and the Son were involved in creation together. Of course, everything came about by the power of the Holy Spirit. All three persons of the Godhead were active in creation.

However, it is the Son’s presence in creation that brings enlightenment to us since the Son’s role is to explain the Father to humans. Jesus came to earth as a human being to explain the Father and His purposes for us so that we would receive the truth by faith and be restored to our position as God’s children in His family.

“And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.” Hebrews 1:2-3 NLT

“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” John 1:14 NLT

John called Jesus “the Word”. God spoke the word and the Word brought what God said into being through the Spirit.

I think that what John was getting at here is that Jesus, the light of the world, brings enlightenment, understanding, and meaning to what God did in creation and in all His dealings with us as part of His creation.

“The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” John 1:9 NLT

Before John started telling us his version of the story of Jesus, he made it clear that everything we need to know about our relationship with the Godhead only gets its meaning through the life and teaching of Jesus. He is the only one who can make sense of life for us. Every other philosophy or religion is nonsense, brings confusion and leads us away from what God purposed for the human race… true life as children in the family of God.

When we believe that this is true…

“To all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.” John 1:12-13 NLT

… therefore, Jesus could say…

“I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12 NLT

LIGHT AND DARKNESS IN THE SPIRITUAL CONTEXT

We have looked at “light” in the context of revelation and enlightenment. Now we add to our understanding by seeing light and darkness in the context of righteousness and sin.

When Adam chose to disobey God, he stepped out of light into darkness. He lost his status as innocent and became guilty. His mind became confused and he could no longer receive or live according to God’s light.

“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.” Romans 1:20-22 NLT

Adam, and the human race that was born through him, became God-haters. Their thoughts and lives functioned in the realm of sin, “darkness,” Jesus called it and, because of this, judgment will come on all who hate the light.

“And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.  All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.” John 3:19-20 NLT

Therefore, according to Jesus, everyone who has not received “the Light” is under judgement.

Jesus is “the Light of the world” but how can we be sure that we are walking in this light and following Him?

There is a close and intimate connection between the written Word of God and Jesus, the Word who became human. Everything that Jesus embodies for us was written down so that we would have a permanent and infallible point of reference.

Psalm 119 uses a simple illustration.

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” Psalms 119:105 NLT

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” Psalms 119:130 NIV

Paul told Timothy

“But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:14-17 NLT

So, once again, we come back to the importance of filling our minds and hearts with the written word of God.

Jesus assured His disciples that His departure would be of great benefit to them because He would send His Spirit to live in them.

“But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you…. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.  He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.  All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’” John 16:7, 13-15 NLT

It is the Holy Spirit’s role to imprint God’s Word on our hearts from which source He will bring to mind whatever we need to guide us on our journey to the Father with Jesus. He can only do this if the Word is in us and available to us when we need it.

We have been exploring two major interlinking themes in this series on engaging the powers of the kingdom. We are learning how to be true sons and daughters of God by overcoming the environment and influence of the world, the evil desires of our flesh and the lies of the devil that try to lure us away from our trust in God.

As children of light

“For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.” Ephesians 5:8-9 NLT

… we are called to walk in the light. According to John, the test is simple….fellowship with our fellow believers shows that we are in fellowship with the Godhead.

“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:5-7 NLT

As we live our daily lives guided by the truth of God’s Word which the Holy Spirit helps us to remember, we will also be in harmony with our Christian family. The blood of Jesus will keep on keeping us clean from the effects of sin in our lives.

This leads us to our next topic… the power of unity.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All Scripture quotations in this series

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

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

THE BOOK OF ACTS – BLINDED AND BLIND

Bible Study, ,

BLINDED AND BLIND!

“As I arrived on the outskirts of Damascus about noon, a blinding light blazed out of the skies and I fell to the ground, dazed. I heard a voice, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?’

“Who are you, Master?’ I asked.

“He said, ‘I am Jesus, the Nazarene, the One you’re hunting down.’ My companions saw the light but they didn’t hear the conversation.

‘Then I said, ‘What do I do now, Master?’

“He said, ‘Get to your feet and enter Damascus. There you’ll be told everything that’s been set out for you to do.’ And so we entered Damascus, but nothing like the entrance we had planned — I was blind as a bat and my companions had to lead me by the hand.” Acts 22:6-11 (The Message).

Blinded and blind! Paul’s vivid encounter with the alive and living Jesus outside Damascus was forever engraved in his memory and coloured his understanding of the ways of the God. Was he writing about himself when he penned the words, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God”? 2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV).

En route to Damascus, it was a spiritually blind Saul who was bent on wiping out the people who were following Jesus in a new way of living. Then a blinding light shone in his eyes, blinding him so that he had to be led by the hand into the city. Blind on the outside, it was the first time he had really “seen” the light. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV).

Jesus claimed the title, “Light of the World”. On the first day of creation, God declared, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. What was this light, since the heavenly bodies were only created on the fourth day? John gives us the answer. “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 men. The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not understood it…The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” John 1:3-5; 9 (NIV).

Before He made the physical lights, God assigned the earth to Jesus to be the light of understanding and truth in a world controlled by the prince of darkness. His presence dominates the Old Testament but His people were blind to Him. He tried to alert the religious leaders of His day to this truth in His encounters with them but they persistently rejected His claims because they were too blind to recognise Him.

“‘Your father, Abraham, rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.’

“‘You are not yet fifty years old,’ the Jews said to Him, ‘and you have seen Abraham!’

“‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!” John 8:57-58 (NIV).

That sent His opponents over the edge! They refused to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus.

This kind of blindness is a choice. “‘This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly, that what he had done has been done through God.'” John 3:19-21 (NIV).

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 (NIV).

Hatred Is doing Nothing

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HATRED IS DOING NOTHING

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves his brother or sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. He does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded him. (1 John 2: 9-11)

Isn’t it strange how many of us have moved the goalposts to soothe our conscience so that we don’t have to do anything about the rifts and schisms we are part of in our families or in the church family. But John is very clear about the standards within the family.

What are darkness and light and what are the implications of “walking in darkness” or “walking in the light”? Darkness is essentially the absence of light. Light reveals and makes visible what is there. When a light is turned off or a lamp extinguished in a room, everything that the light revealed is no longer visible. It is still there but it can’t be seen.

Before we came to faith in Christ, Jesus said that we were in darkness, walking in ignorance of God and His ways. Ignorance, for example, is a form of mental darkness. Our minds have not been informed. Unbelief keeps us in spiritual darkness. Everything we can know about God has been revealed but we have not received it and therefore remain ignorant about Him, His requirements for us and the life He promises us when we return to Him.

True light is to be found in God and in His Word. Paul said that what can be known about Him has been revealed through creation, but people deliberately choose to ignore what creation is telling them and choose to believe their own lies. David was conscious of the unceasing voice of creation, calling out the greatness and the glory of God in silent witness, day and night.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the end of the world. (Psa. 19: 1-4a)

Wilful sin keeps people in darkness. Although they have the voice of creation and the voice of conscience, they choose to remain in the dark because they love their sin.

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. (John 3: 19-20)

It is easy for believers to sit back and think that we are okay because we believe in Jesus. We are not in darkness any longer. But Jesus warns us, “Not so fast!” From His perspective, walking in darkness is as much about not doing the right thing as it is about doing the wrong thing. We can congratulate ourselves because we don’t hate our brother or sister, either in our natural family or in our Christian family.

How many times did He fall foul of the Pharisees because He healed people on the Sabbath? On one occasion He released a woman from a disabling condition that kept her bend over and unable to look up for eighteen years. The synagogue leader announced to the people:

‘There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.’  The Lord answered him, ‘You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?’ (Luke 13: 15-16)

For Jesus not to do anything for her just because it was the Sabbath was as wrong as doing something really wicked.

To John, then, walking in darkness by hating one’s brother or sister was as much about ignoring their need as it was about actively holding grudges against them. In chapter 3 of his letter, he spells it out quite clearly.

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3: 17-18)

When we choose to ignore a need we can do something about, we are as much in darkness as the pagan who bows down to an idol and calls it “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 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), 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.

For more details, check my website:

http://luellaannettecampbell.com/

Have you read my blogs on www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com