Christ Our Light by Chance Faulkner
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
God is light (1 John 1:5). I am not sure what that image conjures up for you. Perhaps you think of an Eternal Creator, an Unmoved Mover sitting on a white throne in an unbearably bright room, wearing white clothes (beard and all). A “holy” and “set apart” kind of light. A divine being all alone. Unapproachable. Bored … even boring.
To be sure, the God of the Bible is a pure light—holy—and none are like him. Darkness flees at his voice. He is a light that dispels darkness. But when Scripture speaks of God as light, is it speaking of a prudish, nit-picky, prickly, elbows off-the-table kind of light? A harsh light? By no means.
When Scripture reveals that God is light, it speaks of an overwhelmingly beautiful light that shines forth in radiant goodness. A light that brings life and warmth and joy and abundance to all the places it touches. All flourish and abound under its rays.
There is no hint of sin and darkness in God. There is no ugliness in him.
How often, though, do we suspect there is? “God is love,” we say, “but remember also, ‘God is light’ (holy),” as if these were two parts of God that needed to keep each other in check. No, God’s love and his light go hand in hand—they are inseparable. There is no warrant to be suspicious of his goodness.
Christ is the light of the world. He is the very revelation of the Father shining forth to us. This means that when we see Christ, we see God, for Christ is the exact imprint of God’s nature (Heb. 1:3). So if we want to know what the Father is like, we look to Christ. The Son shows us the Father (John 14:9). He is the very glory of God. So connected are light and glory that Scripture says it this way:
For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 4:6)
Though we are spiritually stillborn with hearts of stone, Christ, the light of the world—the very glory of God—shines and gives us new life. He give us his life. In doing so, he reveals the glory and goodness of the triune God, while showing us our natural state—our ugliness, our sin, our decay—and giving us eyes to see and hearts to love the Father through his Son by the power of the Spirit. This is the God who opens the eyes of the blind.
God is our light. The more we behold him, the more he dispels our darkness. The more we gaze at him, the more we are transformed into his likeness by the Spirit of holiness. Beautified. Loving what he loves. Overflowing with life, and warmth, and joy.
We don’t need to wonder about his heart for us—Christ has died.
We don’t need to wonder about our assurance before him—Christ has risen and sealed us with his Spirit.
We don’t need to wonder if he will be with us—Christ is returning to take us home. Where he is, we will be also. And he is with us even now.
One day—one glorious day—every sin, struggle, weakness, and trial will melt away in Christ’s presence as we behold him face to face. As we live eternity in his light—the one who is life. The one who is bursting forth with colour, and splendour, and mirth, and laughter, and celebration. Every earthly beauty now is but a taste of Christ our light.
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