The Light of the World

In the spring of each year, God’s children know that they must be careful to avoid pagan sunrise celebrations. However, as Passover approaches, we must recognize Jesus Christ as the brilliant Sun of righteousness who, at the time prophesied of by Malachi, will arise with healing in His wings to those who have a proper fear for God’s name:

In this Bible study, I would like to discuss in more detail the New Testament’s focus on the importance of spiritual light to every child of God.  In order to partake of God's Passover in a worthy manner (I Corinthians 11:27-29), we must examine ourselves aided by the brilliant illumination of the Sun of Righteousness.

Behold the Lamb of God!

First let us put the focus where it belongs – on Jesus Christ – the Light of the world.  My first motivation for this Bible study was Mark Schindler's inspiring 1999 pre-Passover sermonette, "Behold the Lamb of God."  To repeat the main point from Mark’s sermonette: When examining oneself before Passover – and at any other time – we must have the priority of looking at and to the Lamb of God.  We are to be looking at Jesus Christ!  We are to be comparing ourselves with Him. We are to be examining ourselves by His light. Why?

Jesus Christ was and is the true Light.  He is the Sun of Righteousness, the Light of the world, the Giver of light.  He has enough light in Him to lighten every man – every human being who ever lived.

Peter, James and John literally beheld the Lamb of God and witnessed His brilliance first-hand.  In the vision commonly known as the Transfiguration, these three disciples were privileged to be given a peek into the future – a glimpse at what Jesus Christ looks like right now.  His face shone like the sun.  Have you ever tried looking at the sun?  Even at sunset or during a solar eclipse, the experts warn against looking directly at the sun.  Yet we are commanded to "behold the Lamb of God."  Even Jesus’ clothes appeared as white as the light.  The word "light" here is translated from the Greek word phos, which can mean light, lamp, fire or – very appropriately – star:

Some stars are actually much hotter and brighter than our sun.  Referring again to Matthew 17:2, the word phos was derived from another Greek word phao, which means to shine or to make manifest:

What does the word "manifest" mean?  Although it is not frequently used in modern, everyday language, it is often used in New Testament scriptures.  There are fifty occurrences in the King James Version.  The word is translated from the Greek word phaneroo, and it means apparent, clear, distinct, evident, obvious, plain, unmistakable and visible.

Jesus said these words – recorded here in chapter 9 of John’s gospel account – as He was healing a man who had been blind since birth.  God had evidently caused this man to be blind since birth so that his experience and healing could be used to teach God’s people a lesson regarding the great difference between spiritual darkness and light.  The blind man had suffered in physical darkness all his life, and now Jesus was bringing physical light to him.  Notice that the works of God are again linked to the light of God.  What is the work of God if not to bring His spiritual light into this spiritually dark world?

Jesus said that He must do His Father’s work during the period of spiritual daytime – the short time He had been allotted to sojourn in the world as a human being.  He warned that spiritual night – relative spiritual darkness – would return to the world after His departure.  His work in this window of opportunity, however, was to give spiritual eyesight and spiritual light to those who had been spiritually blind and in spiritual darkness, but who were willing to follow Him, believe on Him, and accept His offer of spiritual eyesight and light:

He who sees Jesus Christ also sees God the Father.  Once again:

Do we have spiritual eyesight?  Do we see Jesus Christ?  Do we see God the Father?  Do we see God?

Jesus came as the Light so that, through Him, we are able to see God.  If we believe on the Light of the world, we do not have to live in spiritual darkness.  Let us now go back to chapter 3:

What is the condemnation that Jesus is talking about here?  It is translated from the Greek word krisis, which can also be translated as judgment (its most common translation), accusation, or damnation.  Jesus is clearly telling us here that spiritual light came into the world through Him; but because their deeds were evil, men (the majority of mankind is implied) were deceived by Satan into a preference for spiritual darkness.  Evildoers hate spiritual light.  They will not go to the Light of the world to have their works examined and judged in His brilliance.  But we – His brothers and sisters – must do so.

Although the law of God had been made available to the people of Israel, their continual rejection of His way of life caused them, before this time, to remain in spiritual darkness, under the shadow of death.  The Light of God dawned at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  As Matthew had mentioned in verse 14, Jesus quoted this scripture from the book of Isaiah 9:2:

Returning to the New Testament:

This was part of the prophecy of Zacharias, with which he was inspired shortly after the birth of his son, John the Baptist.  The English word "Dayspring" is translated from the Greek word anatole, which means a rising – as of a rising of the sun or the stars.  The word is derived from another Greek word, anatello, which is translated in Matthew 4:16 as "dawned" (NKJV) or "is sprung up" (KJV). The Dayspring was, of course, Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness.  He had visited Elizabeth and John (and possibly Zacharias, as well) while both John and the human Jesus were still in the wombs of their mothers.  Zacharias also included the prophecy of Isaiah 9:2 (quoted above) in his own prophecy.  He was inspired to foresee that the Dayspring would give light to the world that was sitting in darkness and under the shadow of death, and that, with the illumination of Jesus’ inherent light, He would guide those who believed on and obeyed Him into the way of peace.

As Zacharias had prophesied shortly after the birth of his son, John the Baptist, so the righteous, devout and Spirit-filled Simeon prophesied shortly after the birth of Jesus Christ.  He foresaw that, not only would Jesus be a Light to bring glory to Israel, but He would also bring spiritual light and revelation to the Gentiles.

The apostle John puts much emphasis here on Jesus being the Light of the world.  Jesus’ inherent light came from His inherent eternal life.  As mentioned in scriptures that we have already examined, His light shone through the darkness that reigned on the earth up until His first coming.

Although it is true that the world and its spiritual darkness did not (and still do not) understand the Light of God, the English word "comprehend" is probably not the best translation of the Greek word katalambano in this case.  It might be better given one of its alternate translations, "overcame," "taken," "apprehended," or "overtook."  Satan and his darkness were powerless to overcome the Light brought to the earth by Jesus Christ.

God sent John the Baptist, shortly before the beginning of Jesus’ ministry – not to be the Light, but to be a witness of the Light.  He was not an after-the-fact witness sent to report on Jesus’ ministry of light after it took place.  God called Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to do that job.  John the Baptist was sent and inspired to prophesy of Jesus’ ministry before it took place.  He was sent as a present-day (for that time) prophet to remind those who remained in the physical territory of Israel of the long-existing prophecies concerning the Light of the world – prophecies that had been spoken and written for hundreds of years previously by the great Old Testament prophets.  John was sent so that, when these prophecies were fulfilled, his inspired words would still be ringing in the ears and minds of his listeners.  It is highly likely that some of John’s listeners were among the pioneer members of the early church of God.

Jesus again proclaims that it is He who is the Light of the world.  In John 1:4, we read that Jesus said that His inherent eternal life was the light of men.  Now He adds to this and tells us that those who follow Him will not be consigned to darkness but that, like Him, they too can have the light of eternal life.  What an offer!  What a promise!

Jesus’ disciples were surprised when He told them that He would return to Judaea so soon after the Jews had attempted to stone Him.  Jesus’ reply to His disciples indicates that there must have been some inference in their question that they were surprised that He would return to Judaea in broad daylight.  He turned their question into another lesson, emphasizing to them that He is the Light of the world, that men would not stumble if they walked in the spiritual daytime, illuminated by the Light of the world.  He also told them that, conversely, men who walk in spiritual night-time, not illuminated by the Light of the world, are likely to stumble because the light is not in them.  Jesus implies here that men who are illuminated by the Light of the world will become imbued with that very same light.

This is the final "light" scripture in the gospel accounts. The next time we read of the Light of the world, He is confronting Saul:

Saul was, of course, greatly shocked by this great Light from heaven. He previously thought that, as a Pharisee, he had possessed a great measure of spiritual light; but, in order to teach him a strong, never-to-be-forgotten lesson that he had actually been living in spiritual darkness, Jesus gave Saul a glimpse of His heavenly light and took away his physical eyesight for three days:

The Light of this world gave Saul back his physical eyesight at the instant that He gave him the spiritual light of His Holy Spirit.  For the remainder of Saul’s life, this astounding encounter with the Light of the world never strayed far from the forefront of his mind:

Saul – now the apostle Paul and under arrest for the Christian doctrines he was preaching – recounts to his captors the startling events of His conversion and adds some more details about how it had affected him.  He certainly had not forgotten the great impression that the great Light had upon him.  Like the effect of shining a brilliant light into the eyes of a man in a previously dark room, the glory of the Light of God had blinded Saul for three days.

Paul, again under arrest, repeats the account of his conversion to King Agrippa.  Again, he adds a little more detail about his meeting with Jesus Christ.  He told Agrippa that the Light of God was even brighter than the sun.  It is evident that, to Paul, the brilliant Light of God was one of the most unforgettable things about the events of that remarkable day.  He continued by telling Agrippa about the work Jesus Christ, the Light of God, gave him to do:

Jesus had, on that memorable day, commanded Saul to take His light to the Gentiles, to turn them from their spiritual darkness, and to open their eyes, which had been blinded for millennia by the power of Satan. Continuing:

Paul concluded his defence by telling Agrippa that he had not preached anything other than what was foretold by Moses and the prophets.  For example, here are three prophecies on the bringing of spiritual light to the Gentiles:

Returning to the New Testament and now to Paul’s epistles:

Paul’s thoughts and teachings were so very much affected by the great lesson Jesus Christ had given him by revealing His glory and His light to him and by inflicting him with three days of blindness.  All of God’s true children, Paul writes here, have renounced hidden things and commend themselves in God’s sight by the manifestation (the revealing and clarification) of the truth.  The light of the true and glorious gospel of Christ is hidden from those whose minds are blinded by Satan.  God is the one who commanded His Light to shine in the spiritually dark world.  The Light of God had shone into Paul’s heart and mind, and into the hearts and minds of his brethren. God had given them the light of the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ – a face that Paul had seen in person.

Who is the only One who has immortality?  The previous verses (13-15) of this chapter tell us that it is Jesus Christ – the King of kings and Lord of lords.  He dwells in a magnitude of light that no human being is able even to go near.  Paul knew first-hand that this was true.  No man can look upon the unfiltered light of God and survive the experience.  Like Moses, Paul had experienced a limited glimpse of that light and, even though its intensity had probably been dimmed in order to preserve Paul’s life, he had described it as being more brilliant the sun.  That light contains and represents God’s eternal power and honour.

Yet more making manifest!  What is made manifest by Jesus’ appearance?  Paul is writing about the testimony and gospel of God (see verse 8).  He was telling Timothy (verse 9) not to attempt to hide these things, nor to be ashamed of them.  If he did try to hide these things, Paul warns, he would be working against the illumination, revelation and clarification of them that was brought about by the coming of Jesus Christ, who came to this earth to abolish the darkness of death and to bring the light of eternal life.  We too must be shining lights and examples of God's way of life.

The English term "express image" is translated from the single Greek word charakter.  In this instance it means the exact expression of any person or thing, the precise reproduction in every respect.  Jesus Christ is the express image – the clear image or manifestation – of His Father.  Jesus teaches this fact to His disciples in John 14:7-11. He is the brightness of His Father’s glory.

Notice that, just like His holy Son, God the Father is total Light.  Neither of them has any shadows or dark spots whatsoever.  The apostle John has the same view as James on this point:

Think about this!  John had seen eternal life.  And John had seen the light of God.  Because of the different timing of their calling, John had somewhat different experiences with the Light of God than those Paul had, as we have already seen.  But John too had been given a glimpse of the brilliance of the Light of the world.  Together with Peter and James, John was present at Jesus’ transfiguration.  Also, he had seen Jesus immediately after His resurrection, and he had seen Him ascend to heaven in a cloud.  John had been blessed to see, with his own eyes, these wondrous manifestations of eternal life.  He had seen the Son of God who had dwelt – and now dwells again – in the inexpressibly glorious presence of God the Father.  John makes some plain statements here.  He tells us that God is pure light and that He has no trace of darkness in Him whatsoever.  John was later blessed with a whole series of visions of the blindingly brilliant, glorified Christ:

Here is John’s description of the glorified Christ.  So much of his portrayal focuses on brightness and light.  We have already seen that Jesus’ face and garments shine brighter than the sun.  John gives us more details.  Jesus wears a golden girdle or sash.  Pure gold reflects light like no other metal.  His head and hair are as white as wool or snow.  Have you ever tried to look at snow on a sunny winter’s day without sunglasses?  It is blindingly bright.  The snow reflects the brilliance of the sun and even reflects some of the ultra-violet light, giving it a slight blue tinge.  Jesus’ eyes are like a flame of fire.  They are probably like a very hot – perhaps white hot – fire with very bright flames.  His feet are like fine brass, so brilliant that they look as though they are burning in a very hot furnace.  He has seven stars in His right hand.  Many stars are much brighter than our sun and so, of course, are the angels that these stars symbolize.  Finally, John reminds us that Jesus’ face shines like the noonday sun in full strength.  Everything about Him is brilliance and light.

The brilliance and glory of God the Father and Jesus Christ – the Light of the world – will make the comparatively dim light of the sun and moon obsolete in the Holy City.  The nations of the saved will be blessed to be able to live in the brilliant light of God and His Holy City.  The future submission, obedience and obeisance of the world’s kings to the Great God will add even more brightness and glory to the New Jerusalem.  The city will be permanently accessible and the ever-present Light of God will ensure that there will never be night or darkness there.

Here is something else that is as clear as crystal and also reflects the Light of God.  This river of life that John is describing here will flow out of God’s throne-room.  As I was eating breakfast on the lovely sunny morning of the day that I was writing this Bible study, I was looking out of our dining room window at the creek meandering through the trees at the back of our property.  There are very few sights more beautiful than the morning sunlight twinkling from the pure water of a crystal-clear stream.

At the time John is referring to here, God’s servants will be able to look upon His face without dying.  How?  Because we too will then be born sons and daughters of God the Father and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.  Like them, we then will possess eternal life and we will have their light living in us and radiating from us – totally!  We will discuss this area in more detail later in the study.

John repeats that there will be no night in the Holy City and tells us that candles, lamps, and even sunshine will be obsolete, because the Light of God will provide more than enough illumination.

Called out of Darkness into His Light

Now that we have laid the foundation of our study based on the fact that God the Father is the Originator of all light and that Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, let us look at some scriptures in which God commands His children to come out of the spiritual darkness of Satan’s world and into His spiritual light.

Why are God's people looked upon as a chosen generation?  Why are we a royal priesthood?  Why are we a holy nation?  Why are we a peculiar people?  Here is the answer.  Here is the reason.  So that we may show forth – or make manifest – praise to the Great God.

God has called us out of spiritual darkness and into His marvellous, wonderful, admirable, excellent light. The Greek word for "marvellous" is thaumastos and can also mean that the Light of God is humanly incomprehensible, extraordinary, striking, and surprising.

Peter advises God’s children that we will do well to take heed of the sure word of prophecy (KJV) which has been solidly confirmed.  He compares this word of prophecy to a light that shines in a dark place.  Peter was not writing this letter to unconverted people who were still awaiting the light that conversion brings.  Verse 1 of this epistle states that he was writing "to those who have obtained (past tense) like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ."

The dark place, of course, is Satan’s world.  The light is the light that God’s children should use to illuminate our paths until the darkness of this age of man is over – when the Day of the Lord dawns.  At the beginning of that day, the Morning Star (KJV: Daystar) will arise in our hearts and we will be filled with the Light of God.

Here, Jesus promises that He will share the brightness of the Morning Star with His brothers and sisters who overcome and keep His works until the end of this age of darkness.

John gives a solemn warning to God’s people here.  He warns us that, if we claim to have fellowship with God but continue to walk in our pre-conversion darkness, God will look upon us as liars.  If, on the other hand, we will constantly strive to walk in the same light that God is in  – and that is in God – then we will have fellowship (through Him) with our fellow Christians, and He will cleanse us from all sin through the blood of Jesus Christ.  In chapter 2 of this, his first epistle, John continues to discuss the Light of God and delivers a second stern warning from God:

John’s words here hold a very similar message to that which we read in chapter 1.  For those who are called, the deep spiritual darkness that preceded the coming of the true Light of the world is now consigned to the past.  Also, for each individual Christian, the spiritual darkness that covered every one of us before our conversion was consigned to the past when the Light of God came into our lives.  But beware!  Through John, God warns us – twice for emphasis – that if we claim to have the Light of God illuminating our lives, but are harbouring hatred for even one of our brethren, then we do not have God’s light in us.  Rather, we are spiritually blind, we are still in spiritual darkness, not knowing where we are going, and we are therefore very likely to stumble.  But if we truly love all of our brethren, we are living in the illumination of the Light of God, which protects us from any possibility of stumbling.

God’s people must retransmit His light

In fibre-optic telephone cables, voice, internet and other signals are converted into high-speed pulses of light using high-intensity lasers.  But every hundred miles or so the light becomes dim and the signals must be reproduced, regenerated, and made brilliant again.  Even though we are human and imperfect, we are the begotten children of God the Father and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.  As such, we are to absorb, reflect and reproduce the light that they have put within us.  Here are some scriptures in which we are commanded to retransmit the Light of God:

As we have already read in John 8:12 and 9:5, Jesus tells us that He is the Light of the world.  But in Matthew’s gospel account, Jesus tells His disciples that they too are the light of the world.  And by extension, because we are His brothers and sisters and His end-time disciples, He is also telling us that we too are the light of the world.

Jesus then continues by telling us how to utilize the spiritual light that He is giving to us.  We are not to hide His light in us like someone putting a candle under a bowl, a bed or a basket.  Did you ever notice, by the way, that a potential fire hazard is implied in these latter two examples?  We are to intentionally make His light manifest.  We are to put it on display like someone putting their candles where they belong – on a candlestick.

More interesting questions arise from these verses: Who is Jesus referring to as "all who are in the house," "they which enter in," "those who come in," and the "men" to whom we are to let God’s light in us shine unto?  Yes, God's people – those who are already in His house or household.  But is Jesus referring only to those who are in God’s church at this time?  Or does this grouping include all of our non-church friends, neighbours and associates as well as our brethren?  I would think probably the latter.  The setting of the light on a candlestick or lampstand seems to refer most specifically to those who are already in God's household.  But what about the city that is set on a hill?  What is the symbolism here?  We can imagine a city on a hill consisting of many Christian homes – each with its lamps burning brightly on their lampstands.  If all of these Christian homes keep their curtains and blinds open, how will that city appear to passing or approaching night-time travellers?  What a welcoming sight it will be!

Although it is right, of course, for us to take care about discussing God’s precious truth with non-members (Matthew 7:6), it would be hypocrisy for us to behave very differently with non-members than we do with church members.  We can shine God’s light most effectively by treating everyone with the utmost friendliness, courtesy and respect.

We are to let His light in us shine before men.  This implies allowing it to shine in a natural, proper and humble way – not in a forced, artificial and vain manner.  We are to let His light in us shine before men so that they may see our good works.  Notice that Jesus does not say that we are to let it shine before men so that they may hear our good words.  It has been said many times in reference to these verses that a good light does not make any noise!  A light that makes noise – as some fluorescent lights do – can be very irritating and annoying.  If God is calling a person and that person is attracted by the shining light and good example of God’s children, that person will seek the inspired words of those He has called as His human spokesmen. Continuing:

Jesus tells us here that one’s whole body will be full of light if his eye is good or, as the King James Version has it: "single."  Obviously, Jesus is not saying that one’s physical vision will be better if he only has one eye.  If that were true He would have designed and created every human being like the mythical Cyclops!  This archaic usage of the English word "single" is translated here from the Greek word haplous, which can also be translated as "simple," "whole," "sound," or "good fulfilling its office."  So one’s whole body will be full of light if his eyes are healthy, whole, undamaged, sound, fulfilling their office, and doing their job.

But, Jesus continues by saying that, if one’s eyes are bad (KJV: evil), his body will be full of darkness.  How can a person’s eyes be bad or evil?  The word is translated from the Greek word poneros, which can also be translated into the English "diseased" or "blind."

Jesus concludes this section by emphasizing the point that, if one’s vision is no better than darkness, then how great that darkness is.  Only a blind person can, in the physical sense, completely understand what Jesus is saying here.

Physical light and visual information enters our brains and minds through our physical eyes and their peripheral equipment, which includes the optic nerves and the pineal gland.  The pineal gland is a remarkable little organ.  In humans it is shaped like a pinecone, hence its name.  But in some animals, it is shaped like an eye, and in a very few animals (some lizards including the tuatara) it actually is a third eye!  The human pineal gland is situated at the place where the two optic nerves cross and it is designed to be very sensitive to light and darkness – or rather to the signals of light and darkness passed to it from the optic nerves.  When it senses darkness, the pineal gland produces melatonin, which causes its owner’s mind and body to shut down and to go to sleep.  When it senses light, the pineal gland stops its melatonin production and induces us to wake up.  Now that you know why it was hard for you to keep your eyes open when the auditorium lights were switched off during Mr. Armstrong’s Feast telecasts, you no longer need to feel guilty!

René Descartes, a 17th Century French mathematician, scientist, and philosopher held some very interesting views on the importance of the pineal gland, which are somewhat relevant to our study.  From Encyclopædia Britannica:

We will return to Descartes’ point that the pineal gland is "the uniting point between the mind and the body because it is the only non-double organ in the brain."  Although not totally accurate, Descartes' conclusions were brilliant for his time and are somewhat similar to the conditioning that CGG minister Martin Collins discussed in his February 17, 2001 sermon on Response Conditioning. With the results of all the recent studies, it is impossible to deny that information that enters our brains through our eyes – whether from movies, television, the Internet, books, magazines, newspapers or real life – has a direct influence on what we do.  Jesus warns us that if we fill our eyes with evil things our minds and bodies will be filled with spiritual darkness.

But Jesus was not just telling His followers to keep their physical eyes healthy and free from evil sights.  He was making a very important spiritual point, which is related to all His other teachings on the subject of spiritual light and darkness.  Returning again to the Greek word haplous, this Greek word can quite rightly be used in the spiritual and ethical sense as well as the numerical sense.  Although used infrequently today, the terms "single," "singular," "singularity," "double" and "duplicity" – referring not to numbers, but to human character – were very common in pre-twentieth century English.  In this sense, the word "single" means sincere, unswerving in purpose or intention, and the word "singular" means unique, extraordinary, remarkable, uncommon, peculiar (See Titus 2:14 and I Peter 2:9), unusual or not customary.  On the other hand, "double" means two-faced or hypocritical and "duplicity" means double-dealing, treachery, trickiness or deceitfulness.  Moving on:

Jesus tells us that, during this age of darkness, the people of the world are more worldly-wise than are God’s people – those who are imbued with the light of God.  This implies that the light of God is not designed to give worldly wisdom, but rather to give the more transcendent wisdom and knowledge of spiritual things.  Knowledge and wisdom of spiritual matters is, even in this age, of much more value than worldly wisdom, and it certainly will be more valuable in the World Tomorrow (Matthew 6:19-34).

If we want to be doers of God’s Truth, Law and Word (Romans 2:13, James 1:22-25), we must take our deeds to the true Light and ask Him to illuminate them, to examine them, to make clear their origin, and to correct us as necessary.  The true Light will show us that our deeds of truth are really not our own, but rather that they are works of God done through the light of His Holy Spirit shining in us.  Our deeds will be "wrought in God" if we willingly bend them and shape them – like wrought iron – according to His guidance and correction.  We must take our deeds to God for examination during the time of self-examination prior to Passover, and on an ongoing, year-round basis.

Jesus pointed the Jews who were then persecuting Him to John the Baptist as a superb example of a brilliant spiritual lamp, burning and shining with the light of God.  Jesus reminded these Jews that, for a short time, at least some among them had been willing to rejoice in the spiritual light that God was shining through John.  Considering that John was very like the prophets Jeremiah, Elijah and even the Messiah Himself (Matthew 16:13-14; Mark 6:14-20; James 5:16-17), we too should look at John’s example and endeavour to emulate it.

This was Paul and Barnabas speaking to the envious Jews of Antioch who were contradicting the truth that the two apostles were preaching.  God had begun to use the two as lamps to shine His light of salvation to the Gentiles around the world.  Paul and Barnabas were quoting here from Isaiah 49:6:

So we have seen that God calls, chooses and uses human beings to retransmit His spiritual light.

Children and inheritors of light

God also teaches us that, like Jesus, we too should be children of light; and if children, then inheritors (Romans 8:17) – of light:

Jesus told His unbelieving listeners that they would only have the benefit of His spiritual light in person for a short time.  He advised them to avoid spiritual darkness by beginning to walk (i.e. to act upon His words) while He was with them in person – while His light was present to illuminate their path.  He told them that those who walk in spiritual darkness are like blind men who don’t know where they are going and are stumbling around.  Again, He strongly advised them to believe in Him as the Light while they had the benefit of His illuminating presence.  He promised them that, if they did believe in Him as the Light, they would become brothers and fellow-heirs (Romans 8:17) with Him – children of the Light.  This promise is extended to all of those who will truly believe in His light.

But is mere belief the only requirement for us to become children of light?  No.  Jesus says that we are to walk while we have the Light.  Walking requires action and effort.  The apostle Paul agrees with his Lord on this:

Paul wrote these things to the members of the Ephesus congregation in the First Century AD, but his words are just as applicable to the modern congregations of God’s church around the world.  Paul told the Ephesians that, before their conversion they were darkness personified, just like all the other people in the world; but since their conversion, they had become light through Jesus Christ.  This being the case, he told them, they were to walk as children of light.  And so must we.

Paul then equates spiritual light with goodness, righteousness and truth – some of the fruits of God’s Holy Spirit.  He warns us to stay away from and to expose the works of spiritual darkness, which he equates with unfruitful works.  Also, as Paul had also warned the Corinth congregation (II Corinthians 4:2-6), he warns us that we must renounce and stay far away from evil things that are hidden and done in secret.  He tells us that all of those hidden works of darkness, which their doers believe are being done in secret, will eventually be made manifest:

They will be illuminated and exposed by the light of God.  He tells us that the light of God exposes, illuminates and clarifies all things and that, conversely, whatever exposes, illuminates and clarifies is light.  Of course, Paul is writing about clarification and exposure for God’s purpose, according to His will, and in a godly, proper and appropriate manner – not for the purposes of unrighteous judging or gossip-mongering.

Paul then (in Ephesians 5:14) quotes God as saying, "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light" and he writes that the foregoing is why God said these words.  Commentators differ as to which scripture this is cited from.  The three main suggestions put forward, all in the book of Isaiah, are these:

Paul’s quote reads like a combination of all three of these scriptures.  But it is possible that is not a direct quotation from Old Testament scripture at all.  Paul does not state that "It is written..."  Rather he states that "He says…"  It may have been something that Jesus had said directly to Paul during their in-person time together.  However, even though we do not know the origin of the statement for certain, it appears to have a dual meaning.  The first meaning is for living human beings – the Christians of this age – that if we will rouse ourselves from our pre-conversion sleep, which was as spiritually dark as the deepest sleep of death, then Jesus Christ will share His spiritual light with us.  Secondly, when God raises us from the sleep of death, He will give us a measure of spiritual light that – as we read earlier in I Timothy 6:16 – we could not have withstood in this physical life.  Paul wrote similar words – on this sub-topic of the inheritance of light – to the church in Colossae as he had written to the Ephesians:

We are to be continually thankful to God the Father.  It is He who puts us in a condition to be called "saints," to be inheritors of His spiritual light, to be delivered from spiritual darkness, and to be transferred from this world into His Kingdom.  Likewise, to the congregation in Thessalonica, Paul wrote:

To the people of the world, who remain in a condition of spiritual darkness, the return of Jesus Christ and the Day of the Lord will come without warning – like a thief in the night.  But those who are the children of light and of the day will not be taken by surprise.  How can we recognize those who are children of darkness?  Isaiah gives the answer:

Those who uphold God’s law and His testimony are not in a condition of spiritual night or darkness.  They are blessed to be the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.  Like their Elder Brother, they are heirs of God, children of light and children of the day.

They are also blessed to be the Bride of Jesus Christ.  They will not be surprised or dismayed at the coming of the Day of the Lord because, like the Bridegroom, they are looking forward to His return in the same excited and expectant way that a bride counts down the hours to her wedding day.  John was given some awe-inspiring visions of the light-clad Bride of Christ:

From his vision, John describes the church of God as a woman surrounded by brilliant light.  She is clothed with the dazzling sun.  She has the radiant moon under her feet and a crown of twelve sparkling stars on her head.

What is John describing here?  A bride or a city?  In verse 2, John compares the holy city – New Jerusalem – to a bride adorned for her husband.  In verse 9 an angel tells John that he is going to take him to show him the Bride – the affianced wife of the Lamb.  He then takes John to a great, high mountain and shows him the stunningly beautiful holy city – the New Jerusalem – coming down from heaven.  The Bride of Christ and the holy city are evidently one and the same.  This should not surprise us.  Cities and city-states are often given female attributes in biblical prophecy (See Psalm 9:14; 137:8; Isaiah 1:8; Jeremiah 6:2; Micah 4:8-11).  A city does not consist only of buildings, land and vegetation.  To a very great extent, a city and its character are made up of its inhabitants.  For a vivid, though negative, example of this concept, please review the account of Sodom and Gomorrah in chapters 18 and 19 of the book of Genesis.  The gleaming holy city that John sees in his vision will be illuminated by the Bridegroom and it will be populated with God’s children who constitute the Bride of Christ, and who radiate His light.

As God’s church is the affianced Bride of Christ, there is a message here for us.  Look at the light-enhancing qualities that God builds into His holy city.  Overall, it is like very precious, highest quality jasper stone, which is as clear as crystal – transparent so that the light of God is able to shine through it.  The wall of the city is also like transparent jasper and its foundations are adorned (like the breastplate of judgement described in chapters 28 and 39 of the book of Exodus) with a variety of beautiful, light-reflecting, precious stones.  Each foundation may even be constructed of one huge, solid, precious stone!  The twelve gates of the city are enormous pearls.  The city and its streets are constructed of gold so pure that it is transparent.  We will return to the significance of all this transparency later.

Beware of cheap imitations!

Do you think that the prince of darkness is going to take all this light-bringing lying down?  Do you think that he is going to allow his realm of darkness to be illuminated without a battle?

Let us make no mistake.  Satan is a master of disguise and deception.  He has foisted his counterfeit "holy" cities – Babylon and Rome – on this world and God compares them to women too: depraved and immoral women (Psalms 87:4; 137:8; Isaiah 13:19; 21:9; 47:1; Revelation 14:8; 17:1-9 & 16-18; 18:2-7).

To deceptively win over more followers, Satan will make an evil counterfeit of anything good that God has created.  Yes, he has even made a counterfeit of the light of God!  Why should this surprise us?  Satan has had a lot of experience with light:

Satan’s former name – from the time when he was a high-ranking angel – is recorded here as Lucifer, which is a Middle English rendition of the Latin luc-ferous, meaning more light.  The Hebrew name, though, is Heylel, which means Light-Bearer, Shining One, and Morning Star.  We have already seen that Jesus Christ is the true Morning Star.  Did God honour Lucifer with this name when he was still a faithful servant?  Or did he take it to himself when he began his attempt to take over God’s throne… when he rebelliously proclaimed, "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be (like) the most High." (Isaiah 14:14)?  Let us examine Ezekiel’s parallel account:

How perfect was this Heylel!  Notice that he was clothed with similar precious stones as the walls of the holy city and the breastplate of judgement.  How much his pure and perfect appearance matched the light-transmitting splendour of God and His heavenly temple!

The name Heylel comes from another Hebrew word halal, which can mean praise, glory, shine, flash forth light, glory, commended, celebrate, give, and renowned.  All of these meanings are appropriate to the era during which Lucifer was an obedient archangel of God.  But halal can also have these negative meanings: boast, boastful, mad, and act like a madman, which are all appropriate to his spiritual condition after his rebellion.  Heylel has passed on his deceptive appearance to his followers:

We must be very careful not to be deceived into believing that Satan’s ministers of darkness are ministers of light.  How can we know the difference?  Again, we receive the same answer from Isaiah:

And again, the apostle John adds to Isaiah’s words:

If a person claims to be in the light of God – claims to be a member or minister of God’s true church – but harbours hatred even for one fellow-member, he remains in spiritual darkness.

God's true light illuminates and clarifies truths that have been darkened or "fogged" by Satan's counterfeits:

Satan has even made perverted counterfeits of the good news of eternal life and immortality.  But we can have the darkness and fog cleared away if we will examine God’s Word by His light that is made available to God’s called and chosen ones through the appearance of Jesus Christ and, thus, through His Holy Spirit.  Repeating Ephesians 5:13:

The word "exposed" is translated from the Greek word elegcho, which can also be translated reproved, refuted, confuted, found fault with, or corrected.  A deceived belief in any of Satan’s counterfeits can be corrected by examining those beliefs with illumination from the light of God.

Which Light is Right?

Another of Satan’s counterfeits is to deceive God’s people into using the wrong light by which to examine themselves.

In the early years of the church, some Jewish members of God's church developed an excessive and inappropriate confidence that, because of their physical nationality, they were able to shine God’s light to the spiritually blind.  Paul found it necessary to reprove them:

David, even though he knew himself to be a member of God's chosen people, even though he was so close to God and was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), knew very well from bitter experience that he was as capable of sin as were all other men.  He knew that he too had to examine himself.  And when he was examining himself, he did not use other human beings as his standard of righteousness.  Neither did he judge others in an unrighteous manner.  David asked God to be his Partner as he examined himself.  He asked God to judge him, to examine him and to prove him:

God and His attributes were before David's eyes.  David saw God!  He saw God as he examined himself.  He saw God’s lovingkindness and he trusted in it.  He saw the light of God before his eyes.  It illuminated his path and enabled him to act, to do, to walk in the truth of God.

We too are to examine ourselves while discerning the Lord’s body – while beholding the Lamb of God – comparing ourselves with Him, not with other human beings, nor with any other inferior standard.  As we examine ourselves prior to Passover – and during the rest of the year – we must avoid the temptation to compare ourselves with other church members.  We must not examine ourselves by the comparatively dim light of other, fallible church members.  Such erroneous spiritual comparisons can be damaging both to the comparer and to the compared.

Now this is not to suggest that we should not emulate good examples that we see in our fellow-members.  They do have the light of God in them and radiating from them, but they are still human and subject to error.  Their spiritual light is dim in comparison with that of Jesus Christ.  We must examine ourselves by His standard.  By His light.

We might think that it should go without saying that we should not compare ourselves with the people in the world.  Yet God still finds it necessary to warn us about this through His Word:

It does not make any sense at all for the children of the light to examine ourselves in the darkness of Satan’s world with which – like our Elder Brother (John 14:30) – we have nothing in common.  Repeating John 3:19-20:

Many of the people of this world much prefer spiritual darkness to light.  For evidence of this, one need only look at today’s popular entertainment.  The world’s increasingly depraved preferences are made manifest by their evil deeds.  So many of them hate spiritual light.  They ridicule it and scorn it.  They stay away from it because they have some knowledge that, by approaching it, their dark and evil deeds will be shown for what they are. 

In one memorable scene of his semi-autobiographical story, "Resurrection," Tolstoy alludes to John’s inspired words as he introduces his readers to an aging, deceiving, lying, immoral Russian princess, who "was all the while casting uneasy glances at the window, through which a slanting sunbeam was moving toward her, a betrayer which might shed too bright a light on her wrinkled face." 

Do we really want to use the world’s darkness as our standard?

Most unknowingly, but some evidently willingly, the people of the world remain in a night of spiritual darkness, which seems to be getting proportionally deeper and darker, the closer we get to the end of this age.  As they are devoid of spiritual light, many stumble from one false philosophy to another.  For the time being, God has allowed Satan to blind them to His light:

God deems it better that the majority of the people of Satan’s world not have access to His light now.  But God is fair and loving.  He has not denied it to them forever.  He will offer it to them at a later time.

But God’s true light has been given to us at this time, and we must use it – the real thing – for our spiritual illumination.

Examine yourself!

As we have already read in I Corinthians 11:27-29, every year, as we prepare for the Passover, we are reminded to examine ourselves.  We are commanded to do this to ensure that we do not partake of Jesus’ body and blood in an unworthy manner.  Notice that each church member is to examine himself.  Not others!  Paul adds emphasis to this point in II Corinthians 13:5:

Paul repeats the word "yourselves" (Greek: heautou) three times for emphasis.  After his deep repentance of his pre-conversion background of condemnation, Paul became able to teach the Corinthian brethren that it is wrong to examine others in a judging manner.  Although he knew and taught Jesus' teaching about righteous judgment (Matthew 7:16, 20; Luke 12:27; John 7:24; I Corinthians 5:3, 12-13; 6:2-4), he also knew that it was wrong for him to judge others in a wrong way and, as implied in I Corinthians 2:15; 4:3-4 and 9:3, it was wrong for others to judge him.

Where did Paul receive his doctrine on this topic of the wrong type of judging?  He received it from Jesus Christ:

While teaching this to His disciples in His so-called "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus returns to His symbol of vision, a subject very closely related to that of light.  He questions the logic of one of His disciples who had theoretically been trying to meticulously examine a spiritual speck in the eye of a fellow disciple, thus shutting out a comparatively small amount of spiritual light, while at the same time neglecting a huge spiritual log in his own eye, which was totally blocking his own spiritual vision.  Jesus warns His brothers and sisters against hypocrisy.  He commands us to give priority to clearing our own spiritual vision.

A few days before Passover one year, I suffered a minor eye injury.  My eye doctor had quite a lot of trouble inserting a temporary, protective contact lens into my injured eye because, he told me, I don’t normally wear contact lenses and I have unusually strong eyelid muscles, which tend to reject any foreign article from my eyes.  I learnt a lesson from this unpleasant experience.  We are to clear out the spiritual specks and logs from our own spiritual eyes and, once they are out we must, with all of our strength, keep them out.  Television, radio, motion pictures, books, magazines and the Internet are tools that Satan has used to cause so much confusing, counterfeit, pseudo-spiritual junk to be made available to today’s Christians.  We must work very hard to recognize it, reject it, and keep it out.

Every day of our lives we all make use of "physical self-examination implements."  Mirrors!  So, while we are on the subject of self-examination, let us expend a few paragraphs to discuss the subject of glass and mirrors!  In the King James Version of the Bible, mirrors are called "glasses" or "looking-glasses."  But although glass was known and used from very early times, mirrors – until comparatively recently – were usually made of polished brass.  Here’s what Easton’s Bible Dictionary says:

Yes. Glass and bronze mirrors were known back in the time of Job, who (as many Bible historians believe) probably lived either during Moses' lifetime, or even some time before:

Glass is here given a high value, even comparative with gold.

Here Elihu asks Job, saracstically, if he had a part in the creation of the sky, which has light-reflecting and light-diffusing properties like a vast mirror.  In the New Testament:

Like many Bible students, I used to think that the symbolism in this verse was referring to a person looking at a brilliant light through a piece of darkly tinted glass.  But, as is shown in more modern translations, the word "glass" is better translated, "mirror":

Paul is telling the members of the Corinth congregation that, even though we – God’s people – have the light of God dwelling in us during our human lives, the reflection of it is dim because we are still human, in comparison with what it will be when we see the Light of the world face-to-face.  Paul equates the light of God with spiritual knowledge.  Our spiritual knowledge is limited now but, when we see the Light of the world face to face, He will increase our knowledge to be all but equal with His own:

Encyclopædia Britannica’s article "Mirror" tells us that "when light falls on a body some of the light may be reflected, some absorbed, and some transmitted through the body."  This is an important concept to keep in mind as we continue our study of spiritual light.  Each time Moses spoke face-to-face with God, his face shone so brightly with the light he had absorbed that, for the comfort of His fellow-Israelites, he had to wear a veil until the radiance wore off:

Every one of God’s children should be able to see the spiritual light of God – the glory of God – when we look at ourselves in His spiritual mirror.  Through the power of His Holy Spirit, God’s light will – if we are making proper and frequent use of God's mirror – be gradually increased in us every day of our Christian lives.  But what is God’s spiritual mirror?  James gives the answer:

James tells us clearly that God’s spiritual mirror is His perfect law of liberty.  We need to use the mirror of God's law to examine ourselves properly.  God commands us to look into the spiritual mirror of the perfect law of liberty, to see if there are any spiritual dirty marks on our spiritual faces.  Because we are human and physical, we need this spiritual mirror to tell us what is and what is not a spiritual dirty mark!

But let us not take this symbolism too far.  These spiritual dirty marks are not like the innocent results of a small boy’s play.  They are symbols of sin – the transgression of God’s holy law – that made necessary the torture and death of our perfectly faultless Lord!

One of my daughters has a very interesting physical self-examination implement.  It has a regular, flat mirror on one side and a convex mirror on the other side, which magnifies the image.  But its notable feature is that it also has built-in, battery-powered lights that illuminate the user's face.  God’s spiritual mirror also has a built-in light:

We need this built-in light in order to effectively examine ourselves.  As we saw in the previous section, we must not examine ourselves by the darkness of Satan’s world – nor even in the relatively dim light of our fellow church members.  We must "behold the Lamb of God."  We must examine ourselves by the brilliant light of Jesus Christ and His commandments.

Our self-examination must not stop with merely recognizing that we have some spiritual dirty marks.  We must wash them off our faces by confessing them and being truly sorry for having done them, and we must strive – through true and sincere repentance – not to continue getting our spiritual faces dirty.

Shadows

Let us repeat our earlier quote from Encyclopædia Britannica’s article "Mirror":

Considering this concept a little further, we can see that, if the body – the object or thing – on which the light falls is one hundred percent transparent, none of the light will be reflected and none will be absorbed.  All of it will be transmitted through the body.  From the same Britannica article:

If the object on which the light falls is less than one hundred percent transparent – and no physical substance is perfectly, one hundred percent transparent – some of the light will be absorbed, some of it will be reflected, and a shadow will be produced on the far side of the object away from the light source.  So let us now turn our attention to the related subjects of physical and spiritual transparency, opacity, reflection, absorption and the production of shadows.

First of all, let us establish that a shadow is not necessarily a negative phenomenon, even though it is dependent upon the light source that produces it.  For example, a shadow can give cool shade from oppressively hot sunlight (which might be an appropriate symbol of Satan's counterfeit light).  Here are some biblical examples of "good" shadows:

In modern terminology, however, the symbolic usage of the words "shade," "shadow," "opaque" and "opacity" always give a negative connotation, while the word "transparent" gives a very positive implication.  Nineteenth century novelist Wilkie Collins has one of his heroes esteeming another by saying, "To say you are as transparent as a child, sir, is to pay the children a compliment."   Before continuing, it might be helpful to quickly review the dictionary definitions of some of the words that we will be using in this section of our study:

Some of these words and their meanings, when applied to human character, are very relevant to our study.  With these definitions in mind, let us look once again at James 1:17:

As we saw in our first examination of this verse, both God the Father and Jesus Christ are total spiritual Light.  They have no shadows or dark spots whatsoever!  Because they are so absolutely perfect, we can think of them as not casting any shadows.  They are so pure that they are one hundred percent transparent and therefore invisible:

What about us?  If we answer God's call to stand and walk in the brilliant spiritual light of Jesus Christ, will we cast spiritual shadows?  Yes, we will, because we are not yet pure.  Although it is true that we have committed ourselves to leave the darkness of Satan’s world behind us, we are not yet perfect.  We are not yet spiritually transparent.  Rather, we are spiritually opaque to some degree.  We are still human, physical, imperfect and impure.  As we have already read in II Corinthians 3:18, we are to be going from glory to glory every day of our lives – decreasing in spiritual opacity and increasing in spiritual clarity, purity and transparency – becoming more like God.  As Jesus commanded, we are to be becoming perfect as He and His Father are perfect.  See Matthew 5:48; John 17:23; I Corinthians 13:10; II Corinthians 13:11; Ephesians 4:13; Colossians 1:28; and so many more relevant scriptures.

Are there any scriptural examples of what a spiritual shadow was in the early New Testament era, and still is today?  Yes, there are.  We know that the shadows mentioned in the books of Colossians, Hebrews and James are spiritual because the Light that produces them is spiritual:

While the temple, its priesthood and its furnishings still existed, they were physical copies, examples, and patterns – shadows – of God's throne room and its furnishings in heaven.  Some of the activities of the priests were physical copies – shadows – of the duties of God's angels.  The high priest was a physical shadow of the great, eternal High Priest – Jesus Christ.  Although God designed these shadows, they were subject to imperfection because they were physical.  Moving forward to chapter 10:

The sacrificial law had "a shadow of good things to come."  This was just one shadow.  We saw in the previous paragraph that there were others.  The author of the book of Hebrews stresses that the sacrificial law was a shadow of the good things to come; not the perfect image of them.  The idea here may be compared the relatively inferior detail contained in an 18th century silhouette with that in a modern, high-resolution photograph.

The sacrificial system could not make those who gave the offerings perfect.  Nor was it meant to!  However, as it was God who designed and instituted the sacrificial system, we should beware of criticizing it as a failed project or experiment.  Ezekiel 40:41-42, 44:11, 46:24, and Zechariah 14:21 all strongly indicate that God will reinstitute His sacrificial system at some time after the return of Jesus Christ.  Although this letter to the Hebrews is thought to have been written in approximately 68 AD, not all of the spiritual shadows perished with the temple just two years later:

The Greek word for "shadow," as used here by Paul, is skia (which has some similarity to the Old English words sceaduw and sceadu, which were forerunners of the modern English word).  The Greek word can mean shade caused by the interception of light, an image cast by an object and representing the form of that object, a sketch, or an outline.  A physical light produces a physical shadow.  A spiritual light produces a spiritual shadow.

But does this mean – as some claim – that God's laws regarding meat and drink, Holy Days, New Moons and Sabbaths are done away because they are merely parts of the shadow and not the light that produces the shadow?  No, it does not.  Such thinking is illogical.

In addition, does Paul say that these things "were a shadow of things to come"?  Does he suggest that, at that time, during his lifetime, the shadows no longer existed or were no longer necessary?  No, he does not.  Does he suggest that they were only maintained because the temple and the priesthood were still in operation at the time at which he wrote this?  No, he gives no such implication.  Notice the word, "are."  It is translated from the Greek verb esti – the third person singular present indicative of eimi ("to be" or "to exist").  The shadow still existed in Paul's time.  God was still shining His spiritual light from heaven upon His children on earth.  The results were spiritual shadows – or silhouettes – from each child.

What did these silhouettes show God's New Testament children doing?  It showed that they were eating clean foods, keeping God's Sabbaths and Holy Days, and noting and using the lunar cycles as reference points for the counting of His months and His Holy Days.

What are the shadows right now at the beginning of the twenty-first century?  Why would they be any different than they were in the time of the apostle Paul?  Administratively, the main difference between our time and that of Paul is that the temple and the Aaronic priesthood "shadows" are no longer in operation.  But is the destruction of the temple "shadow" a logical or scripturally valid reason to do away with God's other shadows – His laws concerning clean and unclean foods, His Sabbaths, His Holy Days, and His lunar method of counting them?  Let us ask some more relevant questions on this subject:

First, had the Source of spiritual light returned to earth in Paul's time?  No, He had not yet returned.  To repeat, God was still at that time shining His light from heaven upon His children on earth, so the same set of spiritual shadows were still being produced.

Second, has the Source of spiritual light returned yet?  No, He has not.  This means that God is still shining the same light from heaven upon His children on earth.  Thus, the same set of spiritual shadows is still being produced today.

The Night is Almost Over

As we draw this Bible study to a conclusion with a glimpse into the Word Tomorrow, it is necessary for us to take a second look at some of the scriptures we have already examined.  The dark six-thousand-year night of this age is almost over.  The Day of the Lord and the Kingdom of God will soon dawn:

As the night is almost over and the day is almost here, we must shake off the works of spiritual darkness and clothe ourselves with the protective armour of God’s spiritual light:

Please note that the woman's clothing is not armour of steel, chained mail or Kevlar.  It is raiment composed of the same spiritual light as that Jesus Christ wears:

It is very exciting to look forward to that day when all of God’s people will be clothed with the same brilliant light as our Elder Brother wears right now:

But we cannot sit back and relax.  It is the wise will shine like the stars and the brightness of the firmament.  It is the overcomers who will receive the brilliantly white garments.  It is very dangerous for us to think that Jesus Christ has already done it all for us, or that He and His Father will do it all for us.  Yes, true wisdom must come from God; but overcoming takes personal effort, and there are other extremely important things that we must be doing:

Here again we read of pure, refined gold and white raiment.  We must be putting effort into obtaining this pure, refined, spiritual gold and white raiment.  To "buy" these things means that we must be willing to give up certain physical luxuries in order to acquire them.  If we act upon His counsel, Jesus Christ promises that He will cover our remaining imperfections and He will heal our remaining blindness.

What must we be doing to be effectually heeding God’s confirmed prophetic word?  The English word "heed" is translated from the Greek word prosecho which means to beware, to turn the mind to, to be attentive, to care for, to apply and attach one’s self to, to cleave to, to devote thought and effort to.  If we zealously apply these things, we will be shining His light in this spiritually dark world.  The word prosecho can also mean to bring near, as in the bringing of a ship into its safe  harbour.  Although these metaphors may be somewhat mixed, our rough voyage through the dark and stormy spiritual night of this age is almost – but not quite – over.

Often, when a severe storm suddenly springs up in the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the Canadian mainland, the car ferries that ply the strait get caught in it.  Although these ships are quite large and equipped to ride out a certain severity of tempest, their captains’ biggest problem is in bringing the ships safely into the docks.  Occasionally the seas are so rough that the captains will make their vessels ride the storm all night rather than risk the safety of their passengers and crew in an overly-dangerous docking procedure.  One of the most hazardous parts of our turbulent spiritual journey is the bringing of our "ship" into the safe harbour of the day – the Day of the Lord.  When that great day arrives, any matter or doctrine that was fogged, darkened or confused because of the evil of Satan’s world will then be made crystal clear because of the full presence of Jesus' light:

And repeating Ephesians 5:13 one last time:

As we read in Revelation 3:18, our remaining flaws will be covered by the white raiment that He gives us.  Once those flaws have been blotted out (Acts 3:19) and wiped away at the return of Jesus Christ, we will perfectly transmit the brilliant light of God:

Yes, we will perfectly transmit the brilliant light of God because the Bride will then be just like the Bridegroom.  Like Him, we will be faultless, flawless, pure, clean, and clear.  Like Him, we will be perfectly, one hundred percent transparent!

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This page last updated: January 06, 2012