A dark sinister haze, kicked up by political turbulence, moral pollution and cultural dust devils, is settling over our once-golden land like a shroud of volcanic ash obscuring the sun. Is it any wonder, then, that our eyes so often fail in the dim light of our day?
Sadly, many poor souls are finding themselves lost in the increasing darkness of the Cosmos Diabolicus where the blind follow after blind guides or give heed to the call of seducing spirits in the shadows. Surely a pit lies in wait to swallow up those who are groping their way through the “dark Satanic mills” of this fallen world.
Yet isn’t it interesting how, even in this gloomy predicament, a sudden ray of light can capture one’s attention and awaken dead eyes with discovery? A flickering fire in a dark and distant landscape can inspire our curiosity; the dim glow of a dangling light-bulb can reveal treasures in a dark attic; and a twinkling star can bring wonder and excitement to eyes searching the heavens for truth.
In the Bible we read about the magi who gazed upon a remarkable star in the dark sky at the time of Jesus’ birth. They, too, were captivated by its strange brilliance and filled with an instant purpose to unlock its mystery. In due time, they recognized the sacred connection between this bright light and the prophecy of the coming Messiah, and were so provoked by this timely illumination that they eventually made their way to Bethlehem to seek out the Christ-child.
Though not dogmatic in his view, John MacArthur has surmised that the heavenly light the magi were blessed to behold was “surely the glory of God, blazing as if it were an extremely bright star — visible only to the eyes for whom it was intended to be seen.”
If this is so, as MacArthur biblically reasons, then why were the eyes of the magi opened to see God’s great light over Bethlehem while others around them were seemingly blind to it?
WHAT DRAWS US TO THE LIGHT?
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, finding significance in light is a matter of one’s particular focus. The physicist, for example, sees things scientifically and thus is interested in the “physical properties of light,” while the artist with a creative eye is interested in how the light inspires “an aesthetic appreciation of the visual world.” In each case, one’s eyes will focus on what they are predisposed to see and are often blind to what does not interest them.
But what about the interest of the sinner surrounded by darkness who seeks after God’s mercy and regards the light above with a spiritual eye?
If the scientist or landscape painter can derive great benefit by understanding the power of light from their unique perspective, then how much more profitable is it for a person burdened by sin to marvel at the star of Bethlehem or consider the stunning implications of Jesus Christ coming into this dark world to pronounce Himself as the “light of the world” and the “light of life” (John 8:12)?
Surely, even now, there are suffering people, blinded by the rebellious darkness of this devilish world, who will suddenly become aware of the brilliance of the Gospel rising up like the dawn to display the light of Christ to their eager eyes.
THE SCIENCE OF LIGHT
Light, science will tell us, is the only known energy which allows you to find your physical world as a visual reality. You find it in the brightness produced by such stuff as the sun, a flame, or a simple Edison bulb. Technically speaking, light waves from these various sources bounce off this world, and the way these waves reflect off of God’s creation identifies its shape for our given sight to perceive.
Without light, we would not be able to see anything. No colors. No forms. Nothing, and nothingness. Our valuable eyes would suddenly be worthless, and no longer the object of admiration and romance. Our poets, without the necessary light to inspire them, would nevermore characterize human eyes as the “amulets of the mind,” the “jewels of the body,” or the “windows to the soul.” In the unabated darkness, our eyes would be all but dead, even if they possessed the most sparkling hues or the piercing optics of a bird of prey.
Such a lost and visionless state hardly needs to be imagined. Just travel to Missouri and take a tour into the deep, cavernous belly of Marvel Cave where the tour guide at one point might temporarily extinguish all the artificial lights for dramatic effect. As the reality sets in during those long drawn-out seconds of blindness, you will undoubtedly experience an overwhelming sense of panic engendered by the all-consuming blackness found beneath the earth where the rays of the sun can no longer save you.
Thankfully, we rarely, if ever, find ourselves in such a horrific circumstance. All of us with the ability of sight have had the steady companionship of light to guide our way through life. Even on the blackest of nights, tiny bits of light are ever present. Moonlight, starlight or distant city lights are illuminating our environment. There is even low-level radiance within the electromagnetic spectrum, unseen by the naked eye, that brings light to utter darkness with the aid of optical “night-vision” equipment.
Whether we are mindful of it or not, light is critical to our ability to live and thrive here on earth. Our eyes, despite their intricate design from God, cannot create or acquire the truth of this world by themselves. The eyes are merely the instruments that perceive the truth that has already been calculated by the existing light.
Light, therefore, is a pure transmitter of spatial and temporal reality in our world. “On the grandest scale,” notes the Encyclopaedia Britannica, “light’s interactions with matter have helped shape the structure of the universe. Indeed, light provides a window on the universe, from cosmological to atomic scales.”
And yet, if we have the eyes to see, we know that Christ, the Light of the World, is far superior to every possible scale of radiance in this created universe.
THE TRANSCENDENT LIGHT OF CHRIST
According to inspired Scripture, Jesus Christ, who created the physical light of our temporal abode (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16), even now emanates a transcendent glory that lights a path to physical, spiritual, and eternal life for a sinful humanity dwelling in the darkness of this fallen world. And just as heat banishes cold, and righteousness banishes evil, so too does the light of Christ banish the spiritual darkness of this world.
Indeed, long ago the prophets foretold: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2; Malachi 4:2). Thus, in God’s sovereign timing, the magi’s eyes were opened to see this prophecy come to reality when Jesus, clothed in humanity, came into the world to be the “true light that gives light to everyone” (John 1:9), bringing “salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6).
What, then, are the astonishing implications of Jesus identifying Himself as the prophetic “light of the world” (John 8:12; 12:46)?
As Joseph Benson comments on this mind-blowing pronouncement by Jesus, “It is as if He had said, I am the spiritual Sun that dispels the darkness of ignorance and superstition, with which the minds of men are overcast; for by My doctrine and example I show clearly everywhere the will of God and the way of salvation: and I will never leave those in darkness who walk by My light, as the sun leaves travelers when it sets, and occasions the darkness of the night.”
Jesus Christ came into this world to beam forth as the “bright and morning Star” (Revelation 22:16) and the glorious “Sun of Righteousness” (Malachi 4:2) so that the revelation of God’s pure truth is no longer hidden from view. Though the physical light of the scientific realm may bring some elemental truth to man, it will inevitably cast shadows, regardless of its source, and can hide truth from our eyes or distort its perception. But the light of Christ brightly illuminates a righteous and gracious path through this world of sin and death with “no change or shadow of turning” as if, according to Albert Barnes, “the sun stood in the meridian at noon-day, and never cast any shadow” (James 1:17).
To be sure, God is the Maker of all lights: not only of the corporeal lights of the sun, moon, and stars in the heavenly realm — but He is also the great Creator of the spiritual light of truth, knowledge, faith and holiness here below, bringing forth the light of the Gospel of Grace to light the way of salvation, and sending out His redeemed light-bearers to proclaim this bright Gospel to sinners in the hope that the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of their hearts to apprehend the light of the Son, who came in the flesh to show us the way to God (1 Peter 3:18).
THE DIVINE FILAMENT
It is no exaggeration to say, therefore, that the divine light of Christ literally outshines all other light sources in power, beauty and intensity. Surely every light known to man pales in comparison to the everlasting shining glory of the Son of God. Take, for example, the historically-significant appearance of the incandescent light bulb, one of the first man-made marvels of the industrial age to combat the darkness of this world.
As elementary pupils, we all learned the simple principle behind the light bulb’s ability to illuminate our way through the darkness. With the flick of a switch, electricity runs through a filament centered inside an enclosed bulb, which causes it to get hot. Hot objects produce light, and so the bulb glows. The hotter the filament, the more intense the light.
Yet how much more intense is the light of Christ in the world! Metaphorically speaking, Jesus is the Divine Filament burning white-hot within the firmament to light our way. Indeed, how many times did the Son of God actually transform Himself as such, projecting a vivid brilliance of light that surely overwhelmed the retinas of the awestruck apostles and refracted His rays into their very souls.
When Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, “His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light” (Matt. 17:2). On the Damascus road as Jesus spoke to him, Paul was surrounded by “a light from heaven” that was “brighter than the sun” (Acts 9:3; 26:13). In John’s first vision on the Island of Patmos, he saw Jesus standing in the midst of the seven lampstands and beheld the face of his Lord blazing “like the sun shining in its strength” (Rev 1:13-16). His hair was white like snow, His eyes like fire, and His feet were glowing like molten bronze!
Later, in the Apostle John’s marvelous vision of the New Jerusalem, the disciple whom Jesus loved eagerly reported that the eternal heavenly home of all believers was a city that “has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb of God” (Rev. 21:23). Here, then, is a picture of the believer’s eternal dwelling illuminated by Jesus Christ, the shining Lamb of God.
Thus, it begs the question: How can anyone fail to see the blessed Light, powered by righteous Electricity, that makes bright the once-darkened pathway towards an everlasting peace with God?
PERCEIVING THE LIGHT
Alas, despite this bold and radiant appearance, the light of Christ cannot be truly seen unless one’s eyes are opened to His glory. Sadly, the natural man suffers from “the blindness of those who are satisfied with their twilight” (Pulpit Commentary). Their eyes are spiritually diseased and have fixed their gaze elsewhere, no doubt into the shadowy confines of their fleshly pursuits or the counterfeit halo of their prideful self-righteousness (Matthew 13:15; Ephesians 4:18; John 3:19-21).
On top of this tragedy, man in his unbelief is hindered even more by the rebellious propaganda of the Cosmos Diabolicus that further blinds him to the truth. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers,” teaches Paul, “so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Is it any wonder, then, that a willful rebel of God is doubly blind to His glory? As Spurgeon rightly observed, “When a man does not want to see, he cannot see… and the light is hindered from its due effect.” Thus, as Jesus has made known to us, “if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness (Matthew 6:22-23).
To be a lost soul, therefore, is to be spiritually blind to the light of Christ that brought shining righteousness to a world black as coal. “For judgment I came into this world,” said Jesus, so that “those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind” (John 9:39). Here our Lord clearly lays out the stark difference between those who are blind, yet yearn for light, and those who are “wise in their own eyes,” yet are unable to see the great Light before them.
As such, while the light of Christ certainly brings a judicial testing of the false and the true, His divine brilliance is even more displayed as a beacon of hope for those who see their sorry natural state and are surveying the horizon to find salvation from their sinful condition (Matthew 7:3). Indeed, by God’s grace, the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of the blind who are broken in spirit so that they can discern the glory of Jesus and come to be saved by Him (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Such a miracle, of course, can only take place by the creative power of Almighty God. “It is well for us to remember,” says Mr. Spurgeon, “that light-giving is a divine work. God said ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light…” Thus, when God speaks, “darkness must give place,” and then His light will “shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:5-6).
REFLECTING THE LIGHT
Perhaps even more striking is how the light of Christ grows even brighter in this world each time a new believer is supernaturally energized by His shining face. Indeed all those whose eyes have been spiritually opened to see Christ as Lord and Savior are reborn as His light-bearing children to go forth into the world to proclaim His name (John 3:3; Matthew 5:16; Psalm 105:1; Acts 4:12).
Perhaps you remember as a child the “glow-in-the-dark” stickers you could put on your bedroom walls or ceiling that would illuminate in the lights-off darkness. The secret to their persistent greenish glow is in the use of phosphorescent paint that could be “charged” by UV rays to emit a reflected light for several hours after exposure.
The photoluminescent process in which a material absorbs energy and then slowly releases it in the form of visible light is strikingly similar to the abiding light emitted by the Christian that comes with their repeated exposure and daily communion with the Light of their life, Jesus Christ. Thus, the true disciple of Christ becomes, in essence, a “glow-in-the-dark” Christian.
Scripture instructs the believer that they “are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
What the Christian must display to the world, therefore, is the light of Christ, which is found in the message of the New Testament Gospel. This is the sacred call of evangelism that has been ordained as a Spirit-filled work “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God…” (Acts 26:18), so that, by believing in that light, they may become “sons of light” (John 12:36).
Indeed the light-bearing believer must always remember that “at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Therefore, walk as children of light!” (Ephesians 5:8-9).
DISCERNING THE FALSE LIGHT
There is a caveat, however: Satan and his servants will also try to imitate the light of Christ in order to deceive, and will be disguised as an “angel of light” or “servants of righteousness“ (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). One’s spiritual eyes, therefore, must be exercised unto greater discernment and calibrated to identify true and false light through dedicated biblical study and discipleship under the influence of the Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21).
As Thomas Carlyle warns, “Weak eyes are fondest of glittering objects.” In this way, Satan can draw our attention away from Christ and to his devilish imitation of a fanciful light created to disguise the darkness of sin. The believer, therefore, must always be a student of the true Light, dividing good from evil and focusing on Christ alone for divine illumination (Hebrews 1:1-2). To this, Alexander Maclaren wrote:
“All light of knowledge, of goodness, of gladness will be ours, if Christ be ours. And ours He surely will be if we follow Him. Let us take heed, lest turning away from Him we follow the will-o’-the-wisps of our own fancies, or the dancing lights, born of putrescence that flicker above the swamps, for they will lead us into doleful lands which are haunted by evil things, and into outer darkness.”
THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL
Despite the toxic glitter of fallen angels and the myopia of prideful man, the light of Christ even now is a splendid thing to behold in the gracious abiding rays that emanate from His Gospel. Indeed the Light is still beaming bright, though His believers are presently looking “through a glass darkly” to see His Countenance shining forth upon our clouded hills.
One fine day, however, the faithful throng will find themselves face-to-face with their blazing Lord and Savior in full comprehension, and what a moment that will be for their eyes to behold. After all, when all is said and done, every disciple of Christ must first “walk by faith, and not by sight” (1 Corinthians 13:12; 2 Corinthians 5:7) until the Lord Jesus appears again in full glory. Then, when the faith-filled life comes to its gracious reward, the believer “shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2) and “truly see His face” (Revelation 22:3-4).
The happy fact is, even in the midst of our current moral chaos and the further darkening of the Cosmos Diabolicus, there are untold numbers of people who are gazing upon the great Light that surrounds the Source of all spiritual knowledge. By God’s perfect grace, the sinner in darkness will soon catch the gleam of salvation displayed by the Son of God, who is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being…”(Hebrews 1:3).
How glorious the radiance of Jesus Christ strikes the eye! Not only does the Son reveal the Father, His will and His precepts, but He has opened a way for sinners to approach God’s heavenly throne by pouring a magnificent light upon those who languish in darkness and the oppressive shadow of death.
Indeed Jesus Christ, the righteous Son of God, humbled Himself in true obedience to the Father to lay down His life as a true Shepherd to save His sheep, having died to pay the penalty for their sin and rose from the grave in triumph over all enemies so that they might become the light-bearing children of God through faith alone in Christ alone. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Do you not see the Divine Filament aglow in this great hope? Are you still so blind to His bright glory? If indeed your sight is found wanting, then I pray in all earnestness that your eyes might be opened to the light above, the Sun of Righteousness who can dispel the darkness in your heart and light a clear path to an abundant life and an eternity illuminated by His sacrificial light.
