Light And Truth

Light and Truth

Read: John 12:44-46

“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”

John 12:46

“I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

—C. S. Lewis

IN WORD We live in a dark kingdom (Colossians 1:13). The Bible is very clear and consistent about that. Our understanding was darkened (Ephesians 4:18); we are surrounded by powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:12); we ourselves have done deeds of darkness (Romans 13:12); our motives are dark (1 Corinthians 4:5); and even when we see God, we see Him very dimly (1 Corinthians 13:12). In fact, Paul goes so far as to say that we were darkness (Ephesians 5:8).

This is insulting to the human ego, to say the least. We think we’re fairly well educated and wise. We even have an intellectual era we refer to as the Enlightenment. So when Jesus implies that He has come into the darkness, we might wonder where all this alleged darkness is. Aren’t we pretty bright folks?

No, Jesus really is the only light this world has ever seen. We can’t find illumination anywhere else. He’s the One through whom God once said “Let there be light,” and there was light. We’re the ones who shrouded this planet in a sinful haze of spiritual blindness. He came back into it with all the radiance of a million suns.

IN DEED Plato told an allegory of people in a cave who saw each other as shadows. They thought they could see clearly enough, because shadows were all they knew. Like Plato’s cave dwellers, we think we’re well-informed; and when we encounter light, we feel the pain of brightness in our maladapted eyes. We turn back to the darkness we’re so comfortable with.

Do not dabble in the wisdom of the world. This world no longer has anything to offer you. Its interpretations of life are but shadows; its knowledge is untouched by the light of truth. Reject it. Do you really want understanding? Open your mind exclusively to Jesus and let Him shine.