John 1:1-5 NIV
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Jesus Christ is the Word. He was with God in the beginning,
and he is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. And he is our creator God. He is the one who designed us for his
purposes. And we were made to worship God and to serve him with our lives.
Jesus is life eternal. He is the one who breathed the breath
of life into us when we were born into this world, and he is the giver of
eternal life to all who turn from their sins to follow Jesus with their lives,
by faith in Jesus, empowered of the Holy Spirit to live godly and holy lives
(Rom 6:1-23).
Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness. The light
represents Jesus, his gospel, truth, and righteousness. And the darkness represents
Satan, evil, wickedness, a false gospel, and lies of the enemy. So, the truth
shines (is evident, is abundantly clear, is brought to the light) in the
darkness.
The truth exposes the darkness for what it is, but it also
brings out the truth in the midst of the darkness, in the midst of all the
lies, deceptions, and manipulations of truth, too. And the truth shines into
people’s dark hearts to convict them of sin and to call them to repentance and
to faith in Jesus.
The darkness is opposed to the light, and it can lead people
astray, and lead them to reject the light in favor of the darkness. But the
darkness cannot overpower the light. For Jesus conquered that darkness in his
death and in his resurrection. He overcame Satan, hell, death, and sin via his sacrifice.
Matt 6:22-23 NIV
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
If our minds and hearts/spirits are spiritually healthy
(wholesome, pure, unadulterated) then our whole being is full of light (truth,
righteousness). But if our minds and hearts/spirits are wicked, immoral, and
vile, then our whole being is going to be full of darkness (wickedness, evil).
So, if the light within us is not light, but darkness
disguised as light, then what is the solution? Or first, how does that even
happen?
Well, there are many people who are believing a false gospel
of grace, and they are receiving it into their lives, but it is a lie. They
believe they are saved from their sins and bound for heaven when they are still
living in bondage to sin and thus they are still headed to hell.
So, the light within them is a false light (truth) and thus
it is darkness, not light. Thus, they are following a lie instead of the truth.
And the lie convinces them that faith in Jesus Christ requires no repentance,
no obedience, and no submission to the Lordship of Christ.
Or it convinces them that a prayer they prayed once in their
lives or a decision they made or a confession they verbalized once is enough to
secure them heaven for eternity, regardless of how they live their lives while
they are still on the earth.
But the truth shines in the darkness exposing these lies and
proclaiming the truth so that people have the opportunity to reject the lies
and to embrace the truth, and to turn from their sins, and to follow Jesus
Christ in obedience to his ways.
So, if your eye (mind, heart, spirit) is full of darkness,
you need to go to the “eye doctor” to have your “vision” corrected. So, you
need to go to the one who designed our eyes to begin with and who knows how to make
those necessary corrections. And you need to let him examine your eyes (hearts)
to show you what needs to be corrected.
He will do the correction, but you have to submit to him and
allow him to do it, and you have to follow his instructions on how to maintain
good vision so that your eyes don’t become full of darkness again.
So, basically we are talking about the gospel here, and we
are talking about Jesus as our eye doctor at the Eye Design place (heaven).
Jesus died on that cross for us that we might die with him to sin and live to
him and to his righteousness. When we submit to dying with him to sin, He then
removes that darkness from us and replaces it with his light.
But then we have to walk in that light, daily dying to sin
and self, and daily walking in his righteousness and holiness, in his power and
strength, according to his instructions to keep that darkness out and to keep
the light shining in our eyes (Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9; Lu
9:23-26).
Matt 6:24 NIV
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
This isn’t just about money here. The word is “mamonas,” and
it covers not just material wealth but also possessions, property or whatever
we treasure in our hearts that is of this world and is opposed to God. It has
to do with where we place our trust – in the things of this world or in
God/Christ.
Paul covered this subject when he stated this (Rom 6:16
NIV):
“Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?”
There is no middle ground. Now, I am not saying that
Christians will be perfect and never sin, but true followers of Jesus have been
set free from their slavery to sin, and they have now become slaves of God and
of his righteousness (Rom 6:22-23):
“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Basically, once we believe we are saved, if we continue
living in sin, willfully, habitually, and even premeditatedly, the Scriptures
say that our eternal destination is not heaven but hell. We will die in our
sins. We won’t have eternal life with God.
For, you can’t be a servant of the Lord and a slave to sin
at the same time. So, you have to decide if you want to go your own way, or if
you want to go the way of Jesus, which is the way of dying with him to sin
daily and daily living to him and to his righteousness.
For, if you choose your own way, it will end in death, not
life. For, we are all going to be judged by what we do in this life (Gal
5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; 1 Jn 2:3-6;
Lu 9:23-26).
Do
You Love Me?
An Original Work / July 24, 2013
Do you love Me now?
Will you seek My face?
I have given you
My love and My grace.
Will you walk with Me
Ev’rywhere I lead?
Will you find in Me
All of what you need?
Won’t you meet with Me
Down upon your knees?
Will you obey Me,
And do what I please?
Will you hear My voice
Speaking now to you?
I am couns’ling you
To abide in truth.
I have died for you;
Taken all your sins –
Crucified with Me,
You have been forgiv’n.
I have set you free
From your slavery,
So that you can now
Live in victory.
No comments:
Post a Comment