"Light is Come Into the World"

John 3:16-21

16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17) For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

18) He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

19) And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

20) For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

21) But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

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n order to understand what our scripture is conveying to us, we must first understand "light." In both a physical and spiritual sense, light is the revealer of truth. Think about it: what appears "blurred" in the dark becomes crystal clear at the flip of a switch. By the same token, that which is "blurred" to the natural mind becomes crystal clear upon the "revelation" of the Holy Spirit. That "revelation" (or, "light" if you will) becomes ours only through the infilling of the Holy Ghost and baptism in Jesus' name.

What we need to understand from our scripture text, today, is that the Spirit was sent to us by God (in the form of Jesus Christ) that we might have knowledge of and access to, all that we need to know in order to be successful in our spiritual walk.

The knowledge that the Lord is to be our Light and Revelation is essential for the saints of God to understand. You see, in that the world attempts to understand through teaching, it is imperative that its adherents see that this is not how one gains essential knowledge of life. They must see that there is a people who is "educated," led and guided by Jesus, Himself.

For too long, the people of God have been regarded as little more than desperate "losers" awaiting a "pie-in-the-sky" reward while the rest of the world "clawed" their way (successfully) to the "top." Amongst us are the best and the brightest, but what others must see is that though we may have the best of educations, we remain able to submit and subject our own intellect to the mind of Christ. This, alone, will prove to the logically rational "elite" mind that there is a "being" Who defies all logic and artificially procured "intelligence."

The above is part of the reason that there are so many "truths" present in the world, today. You see, by the time Man analyzes God in light of his intellect, experiences, personal opinions and preferences, there arises a church to "suit" any number of different views. The problem is, the Lord has never been into "suiting" anybody ! Rather, His methodology involves "discomforting" man that he might see his need to turn to Him!

Does this analysis of today's spiritual institutions mean that there is only one group with the truth? Not necessarily, but one thing is certain: no one comes to understand truth apart from the revelation of the Holy Spirit. With all of one's knowledge, if he believes that he can acquire and understand truth on his own, he has not come to the Light.

Now, with all of the qualities that light has to commend it with none to condemn it, why would not all wish to come under its influence? The answer to this is painfully obvious: His deeds are evil. After all, light exposes all, leaving nothing to the imagination.

You see, just because we cannot see God with the natural eye, we sometimes convince ourselves that He cannot see us. What we fail to realize is that even if physical light did not exist, we would still be "...naked before Him" because He is Light, Himself, and therefore, even in darkness, all is illuminated by Him.

The lack of appreciation of light sometimes fools man into believing that his omission of strict adherence to the command of the Lord will be overlooked. Not so! When reckoning day comes, many will be horrified to stand before God and be reminded of what He really requires. This will happen only to those who have lived by their (or someone else's) "made-up" rules.

We know from scripture that two blind people traveling together will both end up in the same place. What we sometimes fail to accept about ourselves and others is that many are "satisfied" with each other. We are rarely "blind" for not having been taught. Unfortunately, we are overwhelmingly guilty of "ig-norance." That is, ignoring what we know , that we might do as we want .

One cannot hear truth and then attempt to "process" it through the flesh. It can neither be accepted nor understood this way. This is why we see so many being "unprofitable" in the kingdom, today. We go without blessings and privileges in the Lord because we try to get "God's things" some other way than His way. Just as acceptance of Jesus (that is, being transformed from the natural to the spiritual) is crucial to the appropriation of eternal life, so must it be for all of the "fringe benefits" of servitude.

"Light is come into the world" that all men, everywhere, might have a "fighting chance" at a more abundant, positive, everlasting life. You see, man's spirit will never die, so whether his life be lived in light or darkness, he "reaps" what he "sows." The only question is, will the life we live be fit to grow sunflowers—or mushrooms? n