the_arrival

Becoming Like Jesus

By Pastor Samuel Chess

Grace Emmanuel Church

Port St. Lucie, Florida

The Arrival of the Light

Introduction: Let me read you a wonderful promise in Scripture:

(1 John 1:5-7) This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of

Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (NIV)

I have read that scripture hundreds of times and used it in sermons. I have never in 25 years of preaching given it enough thought to really understand the depths of the truth in that passage and other similar ones. I have become intrigued by the truth underlying this promise and I pray that I can unfold it in the next 30 minutes or so until the light bulb comes on in your mind too.

I. The Creator of Light

1) We discussed the first day of creation when God said, “let there be” and creation began.

2) We noted that the “God Said” according to John 1 was none other than Jesus himself long before he came to this earth to die for our sins.

3) He wasn’t just the one who spoke creation into existence; in him was literally was the power of being through which all matter formed and by his living word all matter continues to exist! (Sustainer)

4) We noticed that on the first day of creation the Word created light. That was odd because the sun, moon, and stars weren’t created until the fourth day. The original light created on day one was created to dispel the darkness that enveloped the earth in Gen 1:1. And I have a feeling that that means something far deeper than any of us here are capable of grasping

5) Sometime after creation mankind rebelled against God, fell from the light and spiritual darkness enveloped the earth.

(Genesis 6:5-6) The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. (NIV)

Throughout the Old Testament God begins the process of redeeming mankind. It’s interesting that God often presents himself to man in the Old Testament in the form of physical light; burning bush, pillar of fire, glory of God in the tabernacle… and the examples and warnings about spiritual darkness fill up the pages of the Old Testament.

But Israel is given a blessed promise:

(Isaiah 60:1-3) "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. (NIV)

(Matthew 4:13-16) Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum,… to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: .. the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."

II. The Arrival of the Light

When Jesus came into the world and he was the predicted light of the world…did that actually mean something or was that just a symbolic way of saying that satan is symbolically the dark one and Jesus is symbolically the opposite of the dark one so he is the light one?

Did Jesus entrance into this world bring with it something substantive called “light” that was not here before his arrival?

Was there something about his coming that would raise the light level of the whole world even for those who didn’t believe he was anything other than a man?

Would his coming have the effect of slowly pushing back the darkness over the whole world as when one candle is lit in a room and then a second off the first until finally everyone in the room is in the light even if they are not holding a candle?

(Luke 1:76-79) And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace." (NIV)

Paul was sure that was what the Old Testament had been trying to teach:

(Acts 26:22b-23) …. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen-- that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles." (NIV)

Jesus himself made the point very clear:

(John 12:46) I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. (NIV)

(John 8:12) When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (NIV)

III. The Transfer of Light

Here’s the thing we live in a world where truth is more and more becoming relevant. Many people in this country have come to accept the fact that truth is whatever you believe it to be. Morality is in the eye of the beholder… Sin is simply a word that someone might use to describe another persons actions that are out of line with what they have come to accept as truth.

In spite of the fact that in our day that kind of a world-view is said to be enlightened…from a biblical perspective.. that way of viewing truth is no different than the people in the Old Testament that were said to be walking in darkness. Most of the people in the pages of scripture we would have considered barbarians. It was common is ancient times to kill other people just for disagreeing with you. Most countries agenda for the year was….”go over to the next country…kill as many people as possible…steal everything they possess, drag their woman home to rape at will. The people surrounding the biblical characters commonly sacrificed their children to idols, commonly used rape and murder as part of their worship experience. Everything that horrifies us about Saddam Hussein and his regime was more or less common practice throughout the world in ancient times. Some civilizations like the Assyrians made Saddam look like a Sunday School boy.

These people were not without morals…they just believed that morality was whatever they decided it to be.

We looks at those barbarians and say, “How could they have acted that way”. How could Hitler and the Nazis have murdered so many people without any moral compunction, How could the Auca Indians have murdered missionaries in cold blood, then boiled them for supper? Why??? What’s wrong with that. It’s just your beliefs of what right or wrong over against theirs! Isn’t it?

The only reason you believe their behavior to be wrong, is because somewhere along the way absolute truth edged its way into your mind pushing out the darkness that could have been there.

Saddam Hussein, this very moment is 100% sure that he is completely on the right track and that he is fighting for his life against people who are 100% in the wrong. If you said to him, what about those mass grave, he would say: I had no choice I had to do that…it was the right thing to do… What about the human shredding machines??? “That’s what those people deserved.

Why would we fault the poor man, His daughters, Friday, said he is a man with a big heart! The man is just doing what he thinks is right… there are millions in this world who see him as a hero but you and I look at him as an evil monster… Why?

(Ephesians 5:8) For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (NIV)

Somewhere along the way a light began to flicker in your conscience. It began to dictate to you right and wrong. That light that dictates your daily action is part of what Jesus brought into this world…in fact it’s him in you…He is the light of the world! He is the darkness eliminator…. has been since day one of creation!

Those who reject Jesus can’t possibly live in light since he is the very source of light:

(2 Corinthians 4:4-6) The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 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 the glory of God in the face of Christ.

(John 3:19-21) This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

When you come to know him personally, and invited him into your life, and began to get acquainted with his teachings and principles, the darkness receded further and further away and the light of his truth becomes clearer and clearer.

The more the light shines in your heart and mind the more perceptive you will become about what is absolute truth and what is simply darkness disguised as light. You see an interview on TV and red flags pop up in your mind. Society tells you that if you don’t embrace those people viewpoint you are being intolerant and un-American. The Bible tells you that your mind is moving out darkness into true light.

(1 Peter 2:9) But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (NIV)

You say, Pastor, there are a lot of people in this world who have not accepted Jesus as their personal Savior, yet they share, more or less, the same morals values that I do…

This really came home to me this last week. Several of you were at a seminar on Wednesday at the Civic Center and Zig Ziglar reminded us that while our Supreme Court ruled that the it was unconstitutional to post the 10 Commandments in a public place and many people openly reject their relevance to live we all continue to live our lives based on their principles. Imagine if one of the Justices themselves were coming to work and lying on the bench or stealing pens from his fellow justices or if one just looked down the bench one day, pulled out a gun and killed the other. See, they have decided that the Commandments are not relevant in public places, that they can not be declared absolute truth, but if those same public places did not abide by those commandments we would soon be living in another Iraq.

Here’s the point: our nation is what our nation is because the Light came into this world.

This nation was founded on the truth of the light Jesus spread around, our whole system is still based on the absolute truths of Christ himself. Because of our forefathers focus on the Bible as truth, the Light literally radiated throughout our whole country and its value system and many people today who are atheists still benefit from light that filled our country 200 years ago. Obviously, if we as a nation continue to push the light further and further away, the light will eventually be replaced by darkness and it could become so dark that even the bright lights of God’s children could fail to penetrate the whole. England was once the cradle of revival…. That’s where much of the light that lit our country came from. Today on Sunday morning, only 3% of the population are in church.

Jesus said: “Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light…." (John 12:35b-36)

The obvious logic here is that the greater and more focused the light shines in a country or to a given group of people the higher the light level for the whole community and the dimmer the light shines the darker a community will become….

This suggest two things have to happen:

A) Jesus light must shine in us

B) Jesus light must shine through us

A) Let Jesus light shine through you!

(Ephesians 5:8) For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (NIV)

If this has happened in you, you are now responsible to live in the outer truth of what is shining on the inside. Obviously one of the huge issues in spreading light today comes if those who are the “children of light” live outwardly as if they were walking in darkness inwardly. That is what I John 1:5-7, the scripture I read at the beginning of this sermon is all about:

Having the light is not enough…we must walk in the light! If we constantly walk in darkness on the outside, it cast grave doubt on whether there is anything shining on the inside. If you don’t like that statement don’t get mad at me… take it up with God!

B) Let Jesus light shine through us

Jesus came to this world as the light of the world. T or F: when he ascended back to heaven, the light went with him? False….he brought the light of truth and left it here!

Where did he leave it? Smithsonian?

Jesus; the creator of all light, the bearer of light to this world had a plan. He would leave this world but the light he brought would continue to spread until it filled every corner of the globe; Until every human being had been touched by the light of his truth.

(1 John 2:8) Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

He is just as clear about who he is leaving as the light refractors as he was about himself being the light to start with. Remember the “shekinah glory” of God shining in the Old Testament. Jesus came as the manifest “glory” of God in the New Testament. Every time the New Testament talks about you “glorifying God” with your life, the word literally means “reflection”. The light of His glory is supposed to reflect through you- outward to the whole world.

(Matthew 5:14-16) "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (NIV)

V. Conclusion:

(Romans 13:11-12) And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. (NIV)

BACK

BIBLE STUDY INDEX

HOME