Shine 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.” —John 3:19-20

I remember Ruth Bell Graham’s teaching from years ago on the power of light. She said that film crews were coming into their log cabin home in North Carolina to interview her husband, Billy Graham. She cleaned and cleaned—wanting everything to look just right for the cameras. When the crews arrived and set up their equipment, she was horrified by what the bright studio lights exposed—cobwebs and dust that she had missed in her cleaning! As we all know, things can be hidden in darkness.

John, the apostle John, wrote much on light. And what is this light that has come into the world? More specifically, Who is this Light that has come into the world? Mrs. Graham used her illustration above to make the point that it is the Light of Christ which exposes our sin—those things hidden in the dark corners of our lives—so that we can confess and receive forgiveness for our sin. If we think that we do not have sin, we have Romans 3:23 (“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”) and 1 John 1:8 (“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us”) to remind us that we need the Light.

John tells us:

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘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

“I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.” —John 12:46

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.” —John 1:1-4

“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

We hear much teaching on the fact that “God is love” (1 John 4:16). But how does He demonstrate that love? In Romans 5:8 we read, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” So what I can put together from this is that I needed God as Light to expose my dark sins and then God as Love could forgive me through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross as the perfect sacrifice.

Dr. Simon J. Kistemaker, Professor of New Testament Emeritus at Reformed Theological Seminary and author of New Testament Commentary writes, “We often see plaques on walls and bumper stickers on cars that tell the world that ‘God is love.’ But no one displays the sign ‘God is light.’ But light comes before love, for light uncovers that which is hidden in darkness. And when it has been exposed, it must then be removed. The removal is the result of love. God is light for He exposes our sin—God is love because He sent His Son to remove it. Don’t forget though that He is always light before He is love.”

What does this have to do with deployment?

• Our military is currently serving in some very dark parts of the world—we must pray for them to know the Light of Christ;
• Perhaps you are tempted by sins that you want to keep secret—or hidden in the darkness. Pray for strength to stand strong against those temptations;
• Perhaps there are those around you who are watching your walk as a Christian. Ephesians 5:8-9 states,” . .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) . .” And remember Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Also Philippians 2:14-15, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world . . .”;
• Make confession of sin a daily practice—allow God’s Light to shine even into the dark corners of your heart and expose those things so that He can accomplish what John writes in 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Questions to Share:

1. How can you pray for your spouse during this deployment, so that they can be light in a dark place?

2. If you have not done this already, choose a period of the day when you and your spouse can agree to pray for each other (if possible).