Focus: Divine Light

Text: Ps.36:9

"For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light."

In God's light we see light. That is Scripture. The absence of God's light is the presence of darkness and the problem of blindness. We cannot see without God's light. In the blackness of darkness we see nothing. The Scripture says that "Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was" (Ex.20:21).

John tells us that "God is light," and James describes God as "the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (Jam.1:17). God who is light and the Father of all lights surrounded Himself with darkness - the darkness expressing how mysterious God is. Moses found himself in close proximity with God's own darkness. God can see so clearly even inside total darkness, because He is Himself the light. John declares with all authority that "God is light, and IN him is no darkness at all" (1Jh.1:5). There's absolutely no darkness in God, not even an iota of it. Mark the little word 'in.' Darkness can be found about God, but never within Him. He is full of light even when He is clothed with darkness.

There are lights and there's the light. God is the light, and all other lights derive from Him. John says that "the true light now shineth" (1Jh.2:8). Other lights are not real; the real light is a person. In God and in Christ light is personified. In the book of Revelation, John writes about the city of God, "And the city had NO NEED of the SUN, neither of the MOON, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof" (Rev.21:23). In the new city the sun and the moon lose their usefulness and relevance. The light of Christ and the glory of the Father illuminate the city of God. In that city there is no more night - darkness will make way for the brilliant light of Christ and the excellent glory of the Father. John continues, "And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it… And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev.21:24; 22:5).

John tells us that the light of Christ's life shines in the darkness, and the darkness could not overpower it. Darkness can neither stand up to the light nor be able to withstand it. Peter tells us that the light of Christ is marvellous - "his marvellous light" (1Pet.2:9). Paul tells us that God dwells in a light which no man can approach to, and he presents Christ as the giver of light (1Tim.6:16; Eph.5:14). He goes on to describe us as "the children of light, and the children of the day," and he exhorts us "to walk as children of light" (1Thes.5:5; Eph.5:8). He says God has counted us worthy to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light (Col.1:12).

God has entered the inner space of our hearts with His light - the light of His glorious gospel - to "give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2Cor.4:6). Paul also exhorts us to put on the armor of light (Rom.13:12). Paul was never the same when he encountered the light of God. He testifies, "At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light FROM heaven, ABOVE the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me" (Act.26:13). 

You cannot travel with a man who has encountered the light of God and not experience the touch and effect of that same light yourself. Divine encounter is contagious.

We all need the divine light of God in us and around us. We need to carry with us the aura of divine light. The world cannot see without the light of God, and for us as disciples of Christ, it is in His light that we truly see light. We gain the capacity for vision by His light. Let us let our light shine, for by it men will see our good works and glorify our Father who lives in heaven!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter