“Wherefore He saith, ‘Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” Ephesians 5:14
Light is a very significant, and important theme of the Bible. The Apostle John writes concerning God: “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” (1 Jn. 1:5) He goes on to say that we are to “…walk in the light as He is in the light.” (v. 7) In T. Bimney’s great hymn, “Eternal Light, Eternal Light,” he writes: “Eternal Light! Eternal Light! How pure the soul must be, When, placed within Thy searching sight, It shrinks not, but with calm delight, Can live, and look on Thee.” Why is Light so very important, and what should be the manifestation of it in us, and through us to the world?
The beginning of all Bible Study begins with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our understanding and grasp of the essence of this Light, and how it works in the lives of men, is only possible as the truths of Scripture sink deeply into our hearts and souls, the meaning and power of it revealed to the soul by the Life-giving Spirit of God. The beginning of our consideration of light is at the feet of the One who has declared Himself to BE the Beginning. So what does He say about light? In the most simple form Christ declares: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of Life.” (John 8:12) In a very short statement the Lord Jesus brings us face to face with not only the truth of where light came from, but what Light truly is. Christ is Light, His life, and all that pertains to the revelation of His glory. When Paul writes to the Ephesian believers that they are to awake, and arise from the dead, he is comparing such a state of existence which is “life-less” and inert, as opposed to the One who gives light, which is the manifestation of His life as the light. The knowledge of Christ, not only by the revelation of its truth, but also by the experience of His power and Life, is the very act and process of Christ “shining” on the individual soul. Charles Wesley would put it this way in one of his great hymns: “Long my imprisoned spirit lay Fast bound in sin and nature’s night; Thine eye diffused a quickening ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.” But how does one know this Light, and experience the power of it?
In Psalm 80, we find the Psalmist communicating to the individual life, but also, to a nation, the imperative of seeking the God of light, appealing to Him to “shine forth.” (v. 1) Later in the Psalm, because of the very conscious and convicting need to be restored to communion with God, he writes three times: “Turn us again O God and cause Thy face to SHINE: and we shall be saved.” (v.3,7) In Psalm 36:9, the Scriptures declare: “…in Thy light we shall see light.” We discover here that it is in seeking God as the source and essence of light, that He reveals that light to us, both the truth and the power of it. How? In Psalm 119:130, the Psalmist writes: “The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”
But how does the One who is the Eternal Light come and minister the life-giving Light to the souls of men? He first comes in answer to a conscious need. Israel was convicted that she needed to be restored to communion with God, therefore she sought Him earnestly. She specifically understood that to receive God’s power and authority to be restored, she had to be willing to submit to His authority. She desires earnestly that His right hand be upon her, the quickening Spirit strengthening her to call upon His name, and finally for God’s face to shine again.
Dear Father, Shine on us today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.