The Kingdom of Light

My favourite comparison in the Bible is the picture of light against dark. When our world is full of Christmas tree lights and candles, we are reminded even more of how necessary light is in our lives. We can do nothing without it. But it’s not just in the festive season that this comparison is important to remember. It is something that we must bear in mind during the rest of the year as well.

The Bible uses the analogy of light and darkness to describe a few key concepts of our faith. 

OUR ULTIMATE LIGHT, JESUS

The Bible describes Jesus as our light, ‘For in Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.’ (John 1:4)  In a world of darkness and trouble, we need light. In fact, that’s what we celebrate now, at Christmas. We remember that, although we are people in a dark world, we have a hope and His name is Emmanuel, God with us. Just as Isaiah 9:2 says, ‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.’ How exciting is that? We get to have joy because a light is dawning for us. ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’. (John 1:5) 

CHILDREN OF LIGHT

Christmas is the celebration of the Light coming down to earth, but it doesn’t stop there. John 12: 36 tells us to ‘believe in the light… so that we may become children of the light.’ 

Jesus is the Light, but we get to share in that Light too because we belong to the Kingdom of Light.  ‘But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.’ (1 Peter 2:9) 

Children of Light purposefully follow the Lord, as Romans 13:12 says, ‘let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light.’ Putting on armour is not a simple thing- we have to intentionally don our armour. It’s something we have to do daily with our quiet time and prayers. 

Children of Light look for light even in the darkest of valleys. It’s a muscle that we have to exercise. This is where we find true joy. 

The best conclusion is a prayer of Paul’s from Colossians 1: 9-14: ‘For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.’

During this evening and throughout the day tomorrow, I pray that you will remember your real identity as a chosen one in the Kingdom of Light and that you will be encouraged to live like it. All this is only possible because Jesus, the true Light, came into our dark world and saved us. 

Have a blessed Christmas.