Sight and Light

For those who are in Christ Jesus and have confessed Him as Lord and Savior, we are justified. So what if giving an account of every empty word spoken is meant to shine light in the darkness and heal? What if the shameful things we've said in this life need to be examined in the light of God so that we bear no shame in eternity?

It takes courage to step into the light, but mercy awaits.

Below is an interactive, fill-in-the-blank outline to help you engage with the material. Corresponding items are highlighted in yellow.

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Subjective Spiritual Experience

Matthew 12:36-37 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. ³⁷ For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

How does that make you feel? How does that make you feel about God? Do you see

1.     His goodness?

2.     Or does it seem to far fetched and hiding?

These verses can seem threatening, but for those who are in Christ Jesus and have confessed Him as Lord and Savior, we are acquitted. We will still have to give an account of every empty word spoken, but what if this meeting at judgment is meant to shine light in the darkness and heal? What if the shameful things we've said in this life need to be examined in the light of God so that we bear no shame in eternity?

Parable of the Minas Luke 19:11-27 (verses 20-23) ²⁰ “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. ²¹ I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’²² “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? ²³ Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’

Different perspectives of the same person created different responses toward the same person.

Matthew 6:22 ²² “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Lamp= portable lamp or illuminator, candle, light

Body= the whole body -spirit, soul, body)

Eye=literal or figurative meaning in Gk, implies vision (like the way we view the world)

Healthy=single, clear, sincere, sound

Light=bright, full of light, shining

Unhealthy/tx “evil”= evil, wicked, bad, malicious

Skoteinos/ Darkness= opaque, dark. The root work is skotos, meaning shadiness or obscurity, sin’s results

How does your perspective of God impact your worship of Him and your consequent obedience of His Word?

God Has A Plan

1 John 3:1-3  Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ² Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. ³ And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

1 God seeks our Renewal

Ever since we were saved and became children of God, our sanctification/transformation has been unfolding. While we do not know exactly what we will look like when He has completed the work in us, we know that we will be like Him, fully know Him, and be able to gaze at His beauty. We will see the fullness of His beauty, which He desires to reveal to us.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew (our renewal) in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Masterpiece/workmanship: poiema GK where we get our word “poem.” The NT uses it not for literary art, but to highlight divine craftsmanship, whether in the material universe or in the redeemed community.

He desires to restore us to His image and our original beauty 

(from the garden, as individuals and as a loving community) and that means our sanctification/transformation must be an ongoing beautification. We have a role in that work, participating and cooperating with the Holy Spirit.  v3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

2 God seeks to impart Revelation

1 John 1:5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

God is light. We understand light as being transparent, able to assist others to see, imparting the ability to grow (like a plant). It even brings healing: babies born jaundiced receive light therapy as part of treatment. The Greek word for light, “phos” means to shine or make manifest, especially by rays, and to illuminate with fire and light.

So in a relational sense, like “I know God and He knows me” is to say that God shines on very specific things, revealing them to us.

As we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, God will point out something that may make us squirm, making us feel like out toes got stepped on -which is conviction and is the Holy Spirit’s job (don’t ignore it!)- or maybe He will surface something you previously dismissed, and you’ll sense He wants to explore it with you. We can trust Him in this process because He is good; in Him there is no darkness.

Darkness as we understand it can mean the blocking of light, as in a shadow, or the complete absence of light, like a darkened room. Light helps us see and a little goes a long way! It shows us what could trip us up or cause us harm. The presence of light reveals that we were in darkness too.

Have you ever considered what the blind "see?" Is it black, like when you close your eyes, or is it something even more absent, like how your mouth cannot "see" how dark it is inside? The mouth doesn't have an eyeball, visual neural pathways, or a connection to the brain to process in that manner. It unequivocally cannot see.

Our spiritual condition parallels this. We aren't even aware of the darkness before Christ. However once you see light, you can’t unsee it, you only see darkness. You have an awareness of darkness you didn’t have before.

Light is a blessing to us. Spiritually, we understand darkness as evil, or the circumstances for evil to operate.

While God is light and has no darkness, we need to understand from the onset that

1)we are not God

2) we are still being transformed, and

3) we have elements of darkness in us-whether it is active sin or places in our lives for sin to operate.

Knowing this, we can receive each other in our failures, faults, and fears. 

We can give mercy, compassion, understanding because we aren’t trying to put up a front. We know we aren’t God, we are a work in progress, and we are all striving toward the same goal.

In the face of that, Jesus calls us to be light in the world.

Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Light is established to benefit others and is an attribute of God Himself.

Letting your light shine includes the good works God has done in you, which brings Him glory. None of us have arrived yet into perfection but have had the Holy Spirit working in us to transform !!us!!: God’s good work, His masterpiece. Singular and plural

Light has the attribute of being unable to cast a shadow. God is light. Shadows are created by opaque objects (remember Matthew 6 earlier) that in themselves they do not generate light but hide it. It is in these shadows that sin thrives; it's hidden, secret, and away from the space that exposes it, gazes upon it, and heals it. Jesus wants to reveal those dark places so that by gazing upon them, heal them:

Revelation 1:14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire;

Revelation 19:12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.

He sees you with light! Genesis 1 Talks about God creating light and separating it from darkness. He made a distinction. It wasn’t a problem until the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve fell from their union with God at the end of the day, when literal darkness approached.

Since then, mankind has remained in spiritual darkness that has pervaded all our lives. Before Christ, we didn’t even know we were in darkness. However, Jesus came to change that.

He brings light that exposes, doesn't condemn (Romans 8:1) and heals.

See Isaiah 60:1-3, Colossians 1:12-14

Jesus brings light. Let's apply that to a community setting:

1 John 1:6-9 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Frequently, and unfortunately, we are the last ones to see our shortcomings. Those people around us and close to us can see them. Just ask!

Our ongoing transformation into His likeness-from those verses- includes fellowship with other believers. 

Why is that important? Our understanding of ourselves can impact our understanding of Him. 

Part of the lie of sin is that because we don't see it, we assume it's not there. But we have been raised in a fallen, sinful world and exposed to its effects all our lives. It is our normal. We need to relearn, to renew our minds. Romans 12:2 Two ways we do that is through interacting with other believers and by reading God’s Word. The benefit of fellowship is that by listening to others, we can learn about ourselves and discover both our light and our darkness in real time, with feedback. The benefit of God’s Word is that it doesn’t change, is perfect, and gives us an aim, a point of reference by which we can measure our lives. The atheists are missing that unfortunately and have to turn to creating their own standard which can move, can be legislated, overruled, become culturally irrelevant, etc. We need God’s Word!

3 God’s goal is Restoration

Our default assumption is that we are “okay.” Especially if you never got in trouble, committed an egregious sin, or came from a godly family tradition. It can feel like you are doing alright. And there is some truth to this. We aren’t what we used to be. But we aren’t completely restored yet.

In Christ we are delivered from the power of sin and the effects of sin. 

Delivered immediately at our salvation from the power of sin because of the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside of us, and delivered from the effects of sin through our sanctification/transformation as we follow Jesus. Since the process isn’t yet complete, we are casting shadows for sin to thrive in because we all have trouble being honest with ourselves, which hinders us from receiving light.

We’ve been taken out of darkness, but has all the darkness been taken out of us?

Colossians 1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,  some translations use the word “kingdom of darkness”

To be honest with ourselves about sin means

·       we ask God to bring light so we can see it

·       bring it out into the open with Him

·       let Him heal it. 

That's the vertical element. Horizontally, we can receive each other in our fears, faults, and failures. 

This edifies our relationships because our relationships become healthier, authentic, and glorify God. (1 John 1:7) But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Peter's Restoration

Look at Peter's experience of sin and light. John 21:15-17

Jesus didn’t ask "did you love me" He asked "do you love me". Jesus asked in the company of friends in the light. Peter’s sin and the effects probably brought deep levels of guilt and shame that needed to be dealt with. It was probably crippling. I can't imagine he would have continued into ministry bearing that weight: deny Jesus one minute, declare Him the next minute? He was probably like: “Count me out, I’m clearly not good enough.”

But No.

Jesus brings it all out in the light in love, gazing upon him not to condemn him, but to restore him in the presence of his friends. Friends who were gazing upon him and his guilt and shame. They witnessed the healing light of Jesus in that moment. Peter’s burden of guilt and shame found no place on him anymore and he went on to powerful ministry for Jesus. 

Those who are in Christ Jesus and have confessed Him as Lord and Savior are acquitted. We give an account of every empty word spoken so He can shine light in our personal darkness and heal. The shameful things we've said in this life need to be examined in the light of God so that we bear no shame in eternity.

Purpose of Jesus’ Refining Gaze: Building Material

The light of Jesus, the fire in His eyes, healed Peter. Do you remember that the name “Peter” means “rock?” It seems that when Jesus renamed him, Jesus was setting Peter up for a deeper spiritual understanding beyond the beginning of the Church. Peter went from being a very “rough around the edges” kind of rock to being a cut and shaped stone which is fit for becoming part of a structure greater than he could have ever dreamed.

The “rock” Peter became is a part of a house that God will move into:

1 Peter 2:4-10 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” 7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

As we pursue Jesus, we are all being cut and chiseled away from sin and the effects of sin and being transformed into usable, living stones, which God is using to build His house. Because of this, we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 27:4 One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.

Revelation 3:12 All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write on them the name of my God, and they will be citizens in the city of my God…

Prayer: Lord, we look forward to the day we step into heaven, when Your perfect work in us will be complete, and we can enjoy Your presence eternally. Your Word says in Revelation 22:5 And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.

God, deliver us from our personal darkness and give us courage, honesty, and light to go deeper with you. Help us face our own darkness, turning it over to Your fiery gaze that we might be healed. Do not let us go the way of Esau and Jacob, who did not have their darkness healed, who through greed, gluttony, manipulation, and lies experienced lives that were forever marred by their character failures. Lord, help us to step into all you have for us, giving us light and sight so we don’t miss it. Give us community where our brothers and sisters seek Your light too, that we may enjoy sweet, safe fellowship in Your grace and mercy. In Jesus’ Name.