Let His Light Shine

LET HIS LIGHT SHINE!

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

When the author and poet, Robert Louis Stevenson, was 12 years-old, he found himself, one evening, looking out into the dark from his upstairs window, watching a man light the streetlamps. When his governess walked by, she asked, “What are you doing?” He replied, “I am watching a man cut holes in the darkness.”

That’s not a bad picture of what the Lord is asking of us, as He tells His followers, to “Go, and make disciples of all nations….” which means sharing with others, “the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”  Or put another way: As Christians, our task is to be sharers of God’s light …to be people who are busy cutting holes in the spiritual darkness of this world.

Ever since Adam disobeyed God and took a bite of that forbidden fruit, he, and all of creation was cast into a spiritual darkness that was so thick that it permeated the very souls of all mankind, and brought sin, death, and everlasting damnation to every human being.

It was a darkness, of which no mere mortal could ever escape. As Paul once revealed: “All have sinned [are lost in spiritual darkness] and have fallen short of the glory of God.” (Ro 3:23)

But the same God, who, in the beginning said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” had such a love for fallen mankind, that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to rescue us from that condemning darkness.

It was Jesus, who fulfilled God’s will and commandments perfectly, and who purposely sacrificed His sinless life on the Cross so that the debt of sin would be paid. And it was Jesus, who rose victoriously from the grave so that we, too –now forgiven– would rise to a new life …and a life everlasting!

That heart-felt knowledge and understanding of Jesus, and the salvation He accomplished for us, is the Gospel light, that broke through our darkened hearts, and brought us into His marvelous light of life!

By God’s amazing grace, He created this life-giving light in our hearts, not merely for ourselves to enjoy, but that we — children of light — might be instruments of His will in spreading that Gospel-light to others.

As Christians, that’s our purpose: To be ever growing in our faith; growing in the “knowledge of God’s glory,” so that, through God’s Word, the Holy Spirit makes the light of Christ shine brightly in our lives, revealing Christ to others, and bringing glory to our Heavenly Father!

As the children sing: “Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m gonna let it shine!” — May God enable us to be and do what His light does: dispels the darkness, by bringing saving light to the lost!