Light.

As I was reading through John 3 yesterday afternoon I spent a bit of time considering the significance of the themes of light and dark in the bible. These are just a few connections that I've made - I'm certain there are many more cool, interesting and helpful ones that could be made, but it was good to think through a little.

When is light first mentioned in the bible?
At creation in Genesis 1:3-5

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Light was the first thing God created. It was the start of his glorious creation, the first step in his plan to bring us to life and eventually to show forth his glory through saving us. It was his first blessing for us and the first thing he created to glorify himself.

And it was also good. The first thing that God spoke into existence (as far as it is recorded).

In John 3:19-21, Jesus says:

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. 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. 

So when we hate the light because of our sin, we are actually hating God's plan, his blessings and his glory. We are hating his first words, and therefore we hate his whole word and Jesus who is the word (John 1).

God created everything and it was good. When we rejected him through sin we began to hate what is good and love what is evil. Instead of loving the light, which God made to symbolise his good creation, we loved the dark - the absence of God and his plan. We wanted to be in control and we rejected him. Instead of his eternal blessing we chose his wrath - hell - the absence of his blessing.

But if we turn to God in repentance there is salvation - we can live by the truth and rejoice in being part of God's plan, bringing glory to him - "so that it may be seen plainly that what [we] have done has been done in the sight of God."

How do we turn back to God's blessings and his plan?
We need to follow and trust in the light of the world.

'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)

So the question for you is this: Have you put your faith in Jesus? Have you given up your sin and repented of it? Or are you still living in darkness, treasuring your sin instead of God's measureless grace and mercy and blessing? Are you rejecting God's good gifts and clinging to worthless things that will lead only to his wrath?

Are you a Christian?

God Bless
Nat.