Walk in the Light
Left Behind Part 5
I was recently reading in Revelation about how there is no sun, moon, or stars but all light comes from God/Jesus. It made me think of all of the references to God and light, so I decided to do a study on the subject. I’ll start with the Old Testament. Then I’ll investigate the New Testament. Lastly I’ll investigate Revelation in particular. I won’t post every verse, but those that seem to have the deepest meaning and relevance.
Old Testament:
Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)
Studying God’s word leads us to the truth. When we don’t know God’s word (and John refers to Jesus as the word of God), we will have a wrong understanding of everything around us: relationships, religion, science, beginnings, ethics, etc. Belief in Jesus and knowledge of the Bible helps us to understand things properly. If we don’t have the right foundation, we can’t understand the things around us.
For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light. (Psalm 36:9)
Faith in Jesus helps us to see things as they really are. It helps us see the truth. It helps us see the good that God does through everything, including what we would consider the bad things in life.
When we don’t know Jesus and don’t have the Holy Spirit in us, all of the sin in the world is only seen as bad. When we do have them, we can be grateful for all of the good in our lives and the good things that God is doing even through the bad decisions of others and the other bad things that happen. We know that everything will end with the righteous judgment of God and an eternity of joy in heaven with Him. All darkness becomes light in Jesus.
Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. (Isaiah 2:5)
Although this verse specifically calls Jews to “walk in the light of the Lord,” other verses show that this call is given to all of the world. We can chose to walk in our own strength and knowledge or we can chose to walk in “the light of the Lord.” We can chose the darkness and despair and failure of walking according to our own desires or we can chose the light of walking the path designed for us by Jesus from the beginning of creation. When we walk the path we were designed to walk, we will find joy and fulfillment. We will make right decisions. We will make a difference in the world for good. We will honor our God.
New Testament:
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” (John 8:12)
It is amazing the clarity that comes from believing in Jesus and submitting to His will. Everything is better (though not necessarily easier). We can know what we should do and how we should do it. The light of Jesus not only affects the life of His followers, but also shines on those who don’t know Him. Some of these will eventually come to trust in Him as well. Others will run from Him or try to attack Him through His believers because of the guilt they feel when the light is shined on their sins.
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:5-7)
Because Jesus is light, we cannot have fellowship with Him and live a life of sin and darkness. He has blessed us by covering our sins and giving us the Advocate (Holy Spirit) to guide us and to help us live according to His will in a way that we could never do without His help.
It is amazing how being a follower of Jesus can help us have fellowship/friendship with those with whom we might never have a close relationship. When I was in high school, we went on a boat down the St. John’s River with my parents and my Dad’s cousin. My parents aren’t Christians, but my Dad’s cousin is a Christian and a pastor of music. We talked nonstop as if we had been friends our whole life. After the trip, my Mom asked what in the world a high school girl and a married, middle aged man had in common. I told her we were both Christians. Although my Dad’s cousin and I have always lived states away from each other and have never seen each other face to face since that time over 3 decades ago, we still stay in touch. We are brothers and sisters in Christ and that makes close, just as 1 John says “if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another.” Faith in Jesus really makes our lives different, or at least it should.
Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:7-10)
The light of Jesus should change our lives. No matter how dark and evil are past lives were, we should continually grow closer to Jesus and more like Him. We should convert from darkness to light, from evil to righteousness, and from hate to love. A true believer should have “the fruit of the Light.”
This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” (John 3:19-21)
When I was a young Christian in college, I attended a Sunday School class with a teacher who I would describe as an expert at exhortation. He would talk and ask question, to help lead you to the truth instead of just telling you what to do or what to think. Frequently these questions were uncomfortable to me as a new Christian who had not grown up doing “Christian” kind of things. In the beginning, I’ll admit I did my best to hide from him because I didn’t want to be asked the questions because I didn’t like the answers that I knew were right. You could say I hid from the light or that I “loved the darkness rather than the light.”
Thanks to the grace of God, I learned to love the light. I learned to seek the truth. I learned to expose myself to the truth so I could grow in Jesus. I spent more and more time around him, so I could learn from his wise questions. Now I love that kind of relationship. I learned to prefer the light instead of the darkness as I grew closer to Jesus. We all need to expose our sins to the light, so we can grow in the light.
So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” (John 12:35-36)
Our desire in life should be to “become sons of Light.” We need to trust and obey Jesus, so “darkness will not overtake you.” Although Jesus no longer walks among us, we do have the Holy Spirit with us to guide us. We can also surround ourselves with mature Christians to help guide and teach us, always comparing this advice to the Bible to insure that it is truth.
Revelation:
The passage below is the passage that inspired this whole post.
The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; (Revelation 21:19-26) {emphasis mine}
Notice that this description of the New Jerusalem in Heaven is described as “the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.” This whole city, and presumably the whole universe, will be lit by the glory of Jesus. It will be a light brighter than the Sun, but not harsh like the Sun. It won’t blind us. It won’t beat down on us. It will expose us all to the joy of His glory and the beauty of His new creation. As I read about heaven, I don’t think there will be shadows. Every inch of Heaven will be fully lit by His glory.
The city is made of precious jewels which will transmit the light of His glory throughout the city and glow in beauty only surpassed by the glory of God. John describes the streets as “the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.” On Earth gold doesn’t look like transparent glass. It is opaque, but in heaven it looks transparent. I think this might be more due to the quality of light of the glory of the Lamb rather than the quality of the gold. His light will shine upon and through everything bringing out the beauty in everything.
And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)
There will no longer be night and there will no longer be darkness. Without sin in heaven, we don’t need to hide. We can revel in the glory of God. We will be illumined by God.
Trust Jesus.
your sister in Christ,
Christy
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