Light Shining Out of Darkness
"Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12. "AND God said, Let there be light; and there was light;" or, more graphically, as translated by Young, "And God saith, Let light be; and light is." God spake and it was. Before all was dark, but the light of God shined the darkness away. FROM this narrative of creation God would have us learn gracious lessons of hope. Darkness is a symbol of sin and death, and is everywhere so represented in the word of God. Light is the symbol of righteousness and life. "The whole world lieth in wickedness," or in darkness. In sinful man of himself there is no light. In the sinful heart the chaos of darkness reigns. "The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not." BUT God in his mercy causes his light to shine. The same power and goodness which cleft the chaotic darkness of creation in that morning of earth's history, shines into our heart. Says an apostle: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." God gives us light through the Creator of the worlds; for all things were made by Christ, "and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men." "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." ALL the light which the world has comes from Christ. All the truth which enlightens heathendom is light from Christ. Every good deed and motive, every just and righteous thought, come from Christ. God is light; God is the only source of light; "and in him is no darkness at all." But God is only revealed to us through Christ; for "no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." The only light to us, therefore, is Christ Jesus. Whatever reveals good is light from him. Every longing for a better life, every desire of freedom from sin, every truly penitential sigh or tear, every pure affection, each and all are from Christ. Now ALL light comes to us that we may be saved thereby. God "hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The glory of God is his character, as has so often been shown in these columns. (See Ex. 33:18, 19; 34:6, 7.) Christ came to reveal that character to all, not to condemn the world, but to save the world, to put upon all that will believe the same glory, the same light, the same character. (See John 1:12; Rom. 1:16; 3:22.) To those, then, to whom that light shines—and it shines to all—who will open their heart to receive the light, it will shine more. To those who follow its feeble ray, it will lead to ever-increasing light, till the Great Source of eternal day is reached. For "the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." BUT not only this, he who receives but one ray of light from God—and everyone who comes into the world does—and accepts and cherishes that light as from God, is accepted of him; for it is not the amount of light that comes to us which saves us, but the way we treat that light. Of two men in darkness he who follows the dimmest taper to the path of safety, is as surely saved as he who follows the brilliant electric light, though the responsibility of the latter is greater. So he who accepts every ray of light as "from the Father of lights," for the sake of that Father, is in the way of salvation. That ray leads to the great Central Source. And God, "who is not far from every one of us," knows the longing of every heart for more light, and just how we use the light already shining. HE who walks in the light keeps his face toward the light. When he turns from it, he walks in his own shadow and stumbles. So he who turns from the light of God will stumble in the darkness of self and sin. On the other hand, he who keeps his eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, beholding the light and glory which shine from him, will find his whole being becoming irradiated, the darkness of sin being shined away, and his character growing more and more like that of the Lord Jesus Christ. "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass [God's word] the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Blessed, then, be the light of God. It shines for all; it shines for everyone. We need but to look that we may see it. We need but to open our hearts, and it will shine in, and shine the darkness away. Then "awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Let the darkness thicken into gross darkness, God is light; and "to the upright in heart there ariseth light in the darkness."