We left off last week learning that it
was God’s love for humanity that sent Jesus to earth to die for the sins of the
whole world. Jesus became the serpent on the pole in the Older Testament by
becoming sin for us and saving us from eternal death. Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than
this, then to lay down his life for his friends.” The Apostle John wrote in
1 John 3:16, “By this we know love,
because He laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for
the brethren.”
Next Jesus tells Nicodemus why mankind
rejects Him.
The
Verdict – John 3:19-23
“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 what he has
done has been done through God.”
The Light of the world came into the
world, but humanity will love the world and its evil ways more than the Light
of Truth -- Jesus. Darkness cannot understand the Light. Jesus said, “You are going to have the Light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the Light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the Light while you have it, so that you may become sons of the Light." John
12:35-36 Our openness to God’s Light will affect our ability to see and
understand Truth. The Light of Jesus, His Word and His Holy Spirit will make
order out of our dark, chaotic lives and breathe the Holy Spirit and the Light
of Truth (Jesus) into us. Those who
walk with Jesus will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
The Light (Jesus) of
the world is alive, just as the Word
is alive in Christ. Jesus who is also the Creator with God and the Holy Spirit
triumphs over darkness. Jesus is the
Truth and the illuminator of Truth with the Holy Spirit. He is the Living
Anointed Word. When Jesus left this earth to return to His Heavenly Father, He
sent the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Truth – to teach us. If we want to know
the Truth, we must come to the One who is the Truth. The Holy Spirit will
continually draw us to the Light and the Truth – Jesus.
Evil-doers do not want to see themselves. Evil does not like
to be exposed through Light. Satan and his demons work in darkness. They love
the concealing darkness and want to remain hidden. The darkness is against the
Light, but it cannot put the Light out because Jesus is the Eternal Light of
the world. Satan has tried to extinguish the Light from the beginning. It is a
futile effort on Satan’s part because Jesus and His Light is greater than any
devil. Light will always drive out darkness. As long as there is Light,
darkness can never win! The Light of Jesus came into the world to eliminate the
darkness by defeating Satan. The power of Jesus is undefeatable. It is only by
the removal of Light that the darkness can advance. So, as long as we have the
Light of Jesus in us, His Light will prevail. Every human must choose which
side of this spiritual battle he or she will join.
Those who do sinful, evil deeds don’t like the Light because
it will expose them. The Light exposes everything making us naked before God. “He who does the truth comes to the Light,
that his deeds may be clearly seen, that have been done in God.” These have
nothing to hide. They will be transparent before God and man.
The Light is a revealing light. It is also a guiding Light. Those
who are in darkness don’t know where they are going, but those who have the
Light of Jesus and His Word are guided into the right way. (see John 12:46) God’s Word is like stepping stones that will lead
us to the Light of Jesus and the goodness of God and His purity. The Word/Jesus
is a “light-bearer” who wants to dispel the darkness of sin and evil from our
lives. “For in You is the fountain of
life; in Your Light, we see light.” Psalm 36:9
Satan finds pleasure in sin, immorality, destruction, idolatry
and disobedience to God. God, on the other hand, is pleased with those who love
and obey His Word, will and ways. God showed us this when He announced that
Jesus was “His Beloved Son in whom He
was well-pleased.” He was well-pleased with Jesus because Jesus only did
what the Father told Him to do and only spoke what the Father told Him to
speak. Those willing to do God’s will please the Father. Those who willingly obey
God and His Word do not fear the Light. They embrace it.
Separation
of Light and Darkness in the Beginning
In the beginning at creation, the Godhead separated the light
from the darkness. In Christ, God is still separating the Light from the
darkness within each believer in Christ. In the end, there will be no more
darkness and the Light of Jesus will be the Light of the new heavens and new
earth. God’s ways don’t change.
In the beginning before creation, the Word brought Light and
then Life. This Word, Light and Life is Jesus who was with God in the beginning
along with the Holy Spirit. In the New Testament, the Word, Light and Life (Jesus) took on the flesh of man to save
the world and to reveal God in fullness. In the Older Testament, God set apart
a people who were to be the light of the world. God began revealing Himself to
the Jews but not fully. Without Jesus, the Truth cannot be fully known. The
Jews fulfilled their calling to be a light to the world in many ways, but not
perfectly. Only the Perfect Man who was also Perfect God could fulfill this
call completely. God sent the True, Perfect and Eternal Light and Eternal Truth
into the world in Jesus Christ to fulfill God’s call that His people are to be
the light of the world. Those of us who love and follow Jesus are to be the
light of the whole world with Jesus as our Head whether Jew or Gentile.
Pillar
of Cloud and Fire
To illustrate that God’s ways don’t change, way back in Exodus 14:20, the pillar of cloud and fire separated the armies of Egypt (Israel’s enemies) from God’s people. To
the Egyptians the cloud brought confusion and darkness, but to the Israelites
it brought Light and protection. This “natural” event spoke a “supernatural”
truth that would be revealed in Jesus and the Holy Spirit. For You will Light my lamp; the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
Psalm 18:28 The “natural” speaks to the “supernatural.” (see 1 Corinthians 15:46) As the
Israelites were traveling through the wilderness, the pillar of cloud (representing God’s glory) led God’s
people during the day, and the fire gave them light in the darkness. Jesus, the
glory of God and the Light of the world -- came into the world when it was in
spiritual darkness to bring the Light of Truth in fullness to people.
Jesus is the Light of which every other light in scripture is a copy – 7-branched lamp in the tabernacle and temple; the pillar of cloud and fire; the light in the broken jars of Gideon that caused the enemy to scatter and flee.
Law and the Prophets
Jesus is the Light of which every other light in scripture is a copy – 7-branched lamp in the tabernacle and temple; the pillar of cloud and fire; the light in the broken jars of Gideon that caused the enemy to scatter and flee.
Law and the Prophets
Jesus quoted Isaiah
9:1-2 in Matthew 4:12-16 to show
that He is the fulfillment of that Older Testament scripture. In this scripture, Isaiah prophesied of the
Child that would be born who would hold the government of God’s Kingdom on His
shoulders. Isaiah also said that the people walking in darkness would see a
great Light. Isaiah said that there will be no more gloom for those who were in
distress. In the past He humbled the
land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future He will honor
Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea along the Jordan. V1 Jesus
when quoting Isaiah was in Galilee and then left for Capernaum which was by the
lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali – to
fulfill what was said through the prophet of Isaiah – Jesus said, “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the
Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles – the people living in darkness have seen a
great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has
dawned.” Matthew 4:15-16 Jesus is that Great Light.
Conversion
of Paul
Paul saw “a Light from
heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions.” Paul and his companions fell to the ground. Christ, as the Light, revealed Himself to Saul/Paul so he could be a witness to the Light -- Jesus. This
was not the full Light and glory of Jesus that Paul was seeing, but still it
was bright enough that he fell to the ground before it. Our natural eyes could
not look at the fullness of Jesus’ light and glory in our earthly eyes. We
would be blinded and put to death by its power and brilliance.
Jesus said to Paul, “I
am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and stand on your feet. I have
appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have
seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and
from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may
receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith
in me.” Jesus wanted Paul to testify
of the Light of Jesus to both the Jews and the Gentiles. Jesus wants Paul to
open the eyes of the Jews and Gentiles to the Truth of Jesus and the Light of
the world. Jesus wants Paul to turn those in darkness ruled by Satan to God. Jesus also wants Paul to tell them that they can
receive forgiveness of sin through faith in Him and His sacrificial death on
the cross.
Body
of Christ is Now the Light of the World
Because Jesus is the Light of the world, those who love, follow
and abide in Him are His Body and are to be His light to the world. Christ’s Body is made up of believers of all
nations, including the Jews.
Unbelievers need to see the Light of Christ in believers so
they too might come to Him for salvation and enlightenment. The Light of Jesus
will strip us of our masks and the secrets of our souls. The more of the
darkness of sin we allow Him to remove in us, the more brightly His Light
shines from us. As in Him we see light,
unbelievers will see His Light in us as we walk in His ways to the glory of His
Name.
No comments:
Post a Comment