Come let us walk in the light of the Lord wearing the required dress
Text: Is. 2:1-5: Psalm 104:1-9
Light, for most people, refers to light from the sun or from electricity. In Ghana talking about light inevitably refers to electricity. This is because you never know when electricity will be disrupted plunging you into darkness. Although we are accustomed to power failures it does not mean that we can do without light. We need light and without it nothing would grow. We depend on it for life, health and well-being. The Bible, however, talks about another light – a far more important light. When God gave the divine command “Let there be light!” the reference was not to sunlight because the sun had not yet been created. This Light comes from the presence of the Creator, the source of life. For Adam and Eve, the most natural thing in the world was to walk in this light – to know God, to talk to Him, and to share their lives with Him. After all their life came from Him and they were clothed with His light. When they disobeyed God they lost the covering of God’s presence. The immediate result was they hid from Him. This was not God’s desire for man and He did all that was possible for man to be properly clothed and to come and once more walk in the light of the Lord.
The apostle John in Jn 1:9 describes Jesus as ‘the real light - the light that comes into the world and shines on everyone’. The world, unfortunately, loves and prefers the darkness to the light. When the light of the Lord confronted the world, the world very clearly said that they would rather walk in darkness. They hated to walk in the light and wanted nothing to do with the light. The world rejected the idea of walking in the light because as the light dispels the darkness it reveals evil and shows the right way to deal with it. In the dark evil can appear to be something else but in the light it can be clearly discerned. The world therefore preferred to live without the light because they didn’t want the light to expose their nakedness and the evil things they were doing. They wanted to continue doing what they wanted to do. In the words of Isaiah ‘they have rejected the Lord and have turned their backs on Him yet still regularly keep the outward form of their religion. They prayed and went to the Temple, yet persisted in lives that in no way matched their professions of allegiance to the Lord.’
God’s desire is for us to have access to His presence and fellowship with Him. When you desire to come into the presence of a king or a President, you need to be properly clothed by wearing the required dress. If you are not wearing the right attire you will not be allowed anywhere near his presence. The right attire is much more important when coming before the King of Kings. Adam and Eve before their sin could come before God because they were clothed properly. They were clothed with God’s glory and according to Psalm 104:2 God is clothed with light as with a garment. When sin entered into the world the covering light of God’s glory departed and left them naked. When their royal clothing was removed they felt ashamed to be in God’s presence because they knew from experience that they could only approach God clothed. They therefore made aprons out of fig leaves to cover themselves and this was man’s first attempt to make himself acceptable to God, to save himself from the consequences of sin through his own works and self-effort. The fig leaves just could not compare with the previous glory of God’s presence. As in Genesis 3, there must now, because of human sin, be a new basis for coming before God. That basis is clearly revealed and fulfilled in the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When man lost the covering of God’s glory, God brought them clothes to wear made of animal skins. These animals shed their blood to provide a covering for Adam and Eve and foreshadowed God’s ultimate sacrifice, the sacrifice of Christ. Christ shed His blood to provide a covering for our sin. He clothes us with His righteousness so that we can live in His presence. Every human being is meant to be living in the knowledge, presence and love of God and this is why the grace of God is freely available for all who will receive it. The light of Christ always reveals the truth and glorifies God. It reveals our nakedness and that we cannot count on our good works to save us and that only Christ can save us.
The light of the Lord reveals the truth about us and makes it possible for us to understand the truth about God. Only the light of Christ can reveal how sinful we are, how dirty our clothing is and the fact that we have rejected Christ. Unfortunately many people do not even realise their situation because they are walking in darkness. How can they when they have rejected the light of the Lord? In the light of the Lord we are able to understand that we are sinners. We are able to see ourselves in the light of God, able to see how sinful we are and how urgently we need to be saved. The light of Christ does not only reveal our sin and need for salvation but also God’s provision. And as we avail ourselves of God’s provision and experience His forgiveness, He gives us the longing to also let others know of God’s forgiveness and love.
God’s kingdom is the kingdom of light. His servants know whom they are serving and what they are doing. On the other hand, since Satan’s kingdom is a kingdom of darkness, most of those in his kingdom do not know the true identity of the one whom they are serving, or the true nature of what they are doing. And to make sure it stays that way the kingdom of darkness operates in such a way that those who can bring in light are kept out. It does this by doing things in secret. If what they were doing was really helpful then it should not be hidden or only made available to a select few but to everyone. The kingdom of darkness also tries to hide the nature of its activities by portraying a light that is clearly not the light of Christ. Many Christians have unknowingly joined the kingdom of darkness believing that the light being referred to was the light of Christ. A Christian who believes that he or she has come into the light of Christ by joining any group can only mean that he or she has been walking in darkness. If this is true then God is a liar because His word declares that He has delivered us from the kingdom of darkness. But if this is not true then what that group is practicing is a lie and we know who the father of lies is. Another lie of the kingdom of darkness is to make its members believe they are helping the cause of Christ when in reality this is not the case. We can only help the cause of Christ when we belong to Him and good works without Christ does not amount to anything. Our witness for Christ is like turning on the light in a dark room. Christ by his death and resurrection has disarmed and overcome the powers of darkness and brought the darkness to an end. He is the light this dark world needs and this light should shine in our hearts at all times. We keep this light shining by staying near the source of light – by spending time in prayer, studying the Bible, and taking part in Church programmes. We walk in the light of the Lord by living the life of Christ and the evidence of that is seen as the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the needs of the homeless met and the street children taken care of.
The light of the Lord enables us to walk in the truth and live a life that is different from that of the world - a life that is blameless and pure. It is living in such a way that our behaviour is above criticism. It is a life that an evil world cannot fail to notice as "People may doubt what you say, but they will always believe what you do.” As Christians we are not only to walk in the light of Lord but also to reflect the light of the Lord. This is something every Sunday school child knows. I’m sure many of us still remember that Sunday school song with the words: This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine; Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” Or we may prefer another song with the words ‘Brighten the corner where you live.’
We as Christians are to walk in the light of the Lord and reflect that light. Nature illustrates many spiritual truths. The moon rock, brought to earth after the moon landing, is dull and unattractive in itself. It has no brilliance or radiance of its own. Yet it is the most highly reflective material that man has yet discovered. The reason is simply that the Creator designed it for one supreme purpose, to reflect the radiance of the sun. But if some other body, for example the earth, comes between the moon and the sun, the result is manifested in the moon. It loses its light. Just as the sun is the source of light and the moon reflects light from the sun to the earth so Jesus is our source of light and we are to reflect that light to others. When we allow something else to come between Christ and us we lose His light. Every time we sin or deny Christ we allow something else to come between Him and us. Submitting to any initiation rite after Christian Baptism is to doubt the supremacy of Christ and in effect deny Christ. Christian Baptism initiates one into the Body of Christ. As a Sacrament we believe that through this rite God’s work of transformation is operative in the individual making one into a child of God. Submitting to other initiation rites to usher the initiate into a new realm of spirituality is to deny Christ and to reject the truth of the gospel. It is only when we feel at home walking in the light of the Lord that we can face the many challenges that come to us in the daily experiences of life. It is only then that we will experience the Lord personally and trust Him with our lives.
There are two types of people in the world today - those who walk in the light of the Lord and those who walk in darkness. Walking in darkness prevents us from seeing things clearly and hides the reality from us. It also hides the dangers that threaten our well-being and even our life. In the dark no one sees it whether you are naked or not even though God has never condoned nakedness. But in the light it can easily be seen when you are naked. Before Jesus delivered the Gadarene demonic in Luke’s’ gospel he wore no clothes and was naked. But after his deliverance, when he was brought into the light of Christ’s presence, he realised his nakedness and was quick to dress himself. Walking in the light enables us to see clearly whom we are, where we are going, what we are doing and have a fuller awareness of all that surrounds us. As Christians we are to walk in the light of the Lord, wearing the required dress, and being Christ’s witnesses. Christ by His sacrifice makes it possible for us to wear the required dress to come into His presence. Let us walk closely in the light of the Lord as the closer we get, the more fully we reflect His light. The further we are from the light, the dimmer will be our reflection. Amen!
