Without light, there is no color. The spectrum is reduced to hazy shades of gray descending into deep caverns of black. Our vision is limited, clarity compromised, and detail fades into the anonymity of shadow.
While nighttime is endowed with a unique beauty, it’s only found by lifting up your eyes from the obscurity around you to the radiance of the heavenly lights above. On a cloudy, moonless night, the world is plunged into deep darkness hoping the sun also rises. For when light is present, darkness flees.
“The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Matthew 4:16 NIV).
Just as God spoke light into a darkened world in creation, so He shines the Light of His Presence into the darkness of our souls in re-creation. This is the same Light that burst forth from the tomb as the stone was rolled away – The Light of Life – Resurrection Light. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9 NIV). “For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves” (Colossians 1:13 NIV).
Think about when you trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. As God opened the eyes of your heart to truly see the beauty of His Son, did not the Son rise on the darkness of your sin and bathe it in the glorious, cleansing light of forgiveness? Did not the world itself seemingly transform from shades of gray to brilliant color? Jesus, the Light of the World, offers us life in living color!
“I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of Life” (John 8:12 NASB).
As rays of the sun pierce the darkness of a passing storm and God paints a rainbow across the canvas of the sky, we see the covenant sign that He is a faithful God who keeps His promises. Not only does He “dwell in unapproachable light,” (1 Timothy 6:16 ESV), but those very same colors of the rainbow emanate from His throne:
“Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around Him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell face down…” (Ezekiel 1:28 NIV).
Seems like we would never willingly walk away from the beauty of His Light, but sadly, we do. We wander into the gray tones of cloudy vision and sink back into the blackness of sin. But because of our Risen Savior, the darkness cannot overcome the Light of Life (John 1:5), and His loving grace shines like a beacon ever calling us home.
“This is the message we have heard from Jesus and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7 NIV).
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© 2015 Tim McKenzie
On Every Word Ministries
www.OnEveryWord.com