Sunday, June 8, 2014

The Sun is Really Bright Today!

“There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.” John 1:9

Here the Gospel writer John calls Jesus Christ “the true light.” That would be the real deal. The true light. The light that makes the other lights seem minor or insignificant.

On a sidewalk in Annville, PA recently,  I thought the sun is the true light of this physical world. It is the one light we absolutely could not do without. The Earth needs to bathe in its light 24/7.

Many lights, - tail lights, a flashlight, a neon sign, help us in various ways. They offer us warnings, convey information, guide us, and make life convenient. We can and often do live without some of these. They are relatively minor lights that are made possible by the true light of the sun. It is the source.

So John calls Jesus “the true light.” The true light came into the world. The Light of God. The moral light. The example. The pattern. The true Illuminator.

 That light “enlightens every man.” He makes it possible for us to see. Just as the sun enables vision, so His inner light enables us to see reality. By it we can discern what is right. Every man and woman has received this light, to some degree. That’s what John says.

Every culture has some norms of what is acceptable and what is not. There are some norms of decency acceptable in every nation or tribe. They don’t all agree, but they do exist. C.S. Lewis wrote, “The moralities accepted among men may differ, though not, at bottom, so widely as is often claimed…”[1] There is not an inhabited place on earth that does not have some acceptable standard or some concept of what is good and what is not good. This can be referred to as moral “light.” This is the light that Jesus, “the true light” has enlightened us with.
Just as the sun has enlightened all of us, so the true light, Jesus, has shined in our hearts and we have some vision. He is the one moral light we cannot do without.

John goes on to say, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name…” (John 1:12) Receive the full light of Jesus today. Believe in Him! The Sun is really bright today!







[1] C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain,(New York: MacMillan Publishing Co, 1962)  21-22

Quotes of Note ... The Invisible World

“Spiritual warfare is learning to recognize the strategies, refusing to cooperate with them, and aggressively cutting off the schemes of the devil in Jesus’ name.” Dean Sherman

“those who protest that God cannot exist because there is too much evil evident in life… Evil exists; therefore, the Creator does not. That is categorically stated… If evil exists, one must assume that good exists in order to know the difference. If good exists, one must assume that a moral law exists by which to measure good and evil. But if a moral law exists, must not one posit an ultimate source of moral law, or at least an objective basis for a moral law? By an objective basis, I mean something that is transcendingly true at all times, regardless of whether I believed it or not.” Ravi Zacharias

“But the Devil is no big threat to God’s purposes; he is not even remotely comparable in power. He has been given a limited time before his final judgment to try to prove his case, just as all other moral beings who have chosen to live in rebellion against heaven.” W.A. Pratney

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I've served since 1975 in missions. I lived overseas for about 30 years. I have a great wife and three lovely daughters. I hope you enjoy some of the thoughts. Let me know what you think.

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