Mystery Of Light Part 1 Series

The Mystery of Light - part 1

Illustration- God is light show by Scott Kinney (www.interviewwithGod).

Thesis: Scientists are baffled by the mystery of light they can study it but still don’t understand what light is. God is light according to the Bible and he’s as mysterious as light in the natural sense but like scientist we can study God and understand what light does in our life.

Texts:

I John 1:5 5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

Psalm 74:20 Have regard for your covenant, because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.

John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 1:1-12 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. 6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Matthew 5:13-16 13“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. 14“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Introduction:

A few weeks back I was sitting in the doctor’s office and picked up the Oct. 2001 edition of the National Geographic. It had an amazing article on the “Power of Light”. The articles introduction caught my attention:

Light reveals the world to us. Body and soul crave it. Light sets our biological clocks. It triggers in our brains the sensations of color. Light feeds us, supplying the energy of plants to grow. It inspires us with special effects like rainbows and sunsets. Light gives us life- changing tools, from incandescent bulbs to lasers and fiber optics. Scientists don’t fully understand what light is or what it can do. They just know that it will illuminate our future (3).

After just reading this introduction in the article I said, this article has spiritual insight for us as Christians. So I read on and the verses on light in the Bible just raced through my mind. Wow I thought! The Bible tells us that God is light.

T.S.- Lets explore some spiritual application points from the scientific study of light.

I. Scientist’s tell us that light reveals the world to us. I thought this is true God himself reveals the real world to us!

a. We never see the real world until God illuminates it to us through the lens of his word and his presence.

i. Psalm 119:130 “The unfolding of your words gives light;

it gives understanding to the simple.

ii. 2 Samuel 22:29 David sang, “You are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord turns my darkness into light.”

b. Recently I picked up one of Charles Swindoll’s book called, Simple Faith and there it was beaming off the page to me, the importance of light. He made this comment about light,” What is the purpose of light? The answer is not complicated. Light dispels darkness “(60).

i. Light helps us to see with the eyes of God and see things that before we could never see when we were in darkness.

1. Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

ii. Here are just a few things I saw after God’s bright light shined into my life.