In the beginning... (Shine, Part 1)

I was thinking and praying about just where abouts I could start this series as there is so much in the bible on light and then I thought, where better to start than in the beginning?? - In more than one sense of the word.

In my first blog to this address (22nd June, 2010) I did what many people do and explain why they have decided to start up a blog. And with this also why they have named it as it is. The latter I explained only briefly but did not go into a lot. An excerpt from that blog 'Beginning'...

It comes from a passage in the Bible, something I have been challenged about recently and which I will probably elaborate on in a later post, but for now.. Matthew 5: 14-16

'You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.'

We are each but a single flame yet so much light can come from us. I guess my hope for this blog is that it can be a testimony to my light. Whether I talk of myself or other things happening, that God may be using me and shining through me so that my ray of light is one that stands out amongst others, one worth following.

Is it not a wonderful passage?!?

Now for looking more at just how that imagery of Light is used in the Bible that we might be able to understand it more... lets start in the beginning!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. -John 1:1-5

Now this passage may take a little bit to explain, just giving you a heads up. I mean at the surface some of what it is saying just doesn't make sense - let's take the first sentence, the Word was with God, and was God. Isn't it one or the other? And what is the Word - how can a word be those things? And in the last sentence - how can darkness comprehend anything? But once there is a light it is no longer dark - of what is this speaking? It's all a bit of a riddle really, isn't it?

Well, let's try to make a little sense of this passage then. It starts In the beginning... so let's go back and see what's in the beginning.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was wtihout form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face fo the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.   -Genesis 1:1-3

In other parts of the Bible, or through many different parts of the Bible we find that there is three in one with God. There is only one God but within Him there is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. Sound complicated? It is. And it's something which you can never convince someone of - it always takes a measure of faith. It sounds too unbelievable to be able to convince anyone of it. Here, in this very first passage of the Bible, we see that the three persons of God are here - when we read it with John 1. God the Father is there - God the Spirit is there - And God the Son is there as the Word.

If we can understand this, then suddenly the first three sentences of John make sense. Those statements are no longer contradictory but supportive of one another. The first thing which is created which gives life to the world is light. Light is the leader and divider which gives life. It is to this imagery that the rest is set also.

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

We know now how this is speaking of Jesus, the Son of God, who was there from the beginning, even though he came here only just over 2000 years ago. Trippy, or what? We can see how this passage is linked with Genesis to help explain things but what is it really saying about Jesus? It is saying that He is life. He is our light. And we did not comprehend who He was (we are the darkness, or rather the world is the darkness). So if we want to get away from the darkness of the world, the death that it offers, the only way to find such light, and life, is in and through Jesus - for only He can shine bright enough to overcome.

Kind of random, kind of not - what is your favourite source of light in this world??

Coming up: Shine, Part 2

God Bless

'In Christ'

At the conference I went to in December the theme was 'In Christ' - looking at just how we are in Christ. There was one illustration which was used throughout the talks which I found quite helpful and that is what I'm going to share with you.

So, picture an aeroplane, at the airport, ready for boarding, waiting to depart. The aeroplane is going to... lets say Hawaii. To spell this out the aeroplane is Christ and Hawaii is where we're waiting to go - the New Heaven and New Earth, I suppose.

First use of illustration. Final Destination. If we are in the plane then we are perpetually already in Hawaii - it is a certainty that we will get there. However, we need to be in the plane. We cannot be sitting in the waiting room looking on watching everybody else get on. We can't be standing at the railing thinking about how that might be a good idea to get on. We can't be in another plane. The only way to get to Hawaii is if we are in that plane.

Second use of illustration. Measure of Faith. If there is somebody who has been an avid flyer and travelled many places by plane they might sit down and relax straight away. On the other side of the aisle is an elderly gentleman who has never been in a plane. He is sitting quite upright - shaking a little - double checking his belt is on right - reading through all of the safety procedures and listening avidly as the flight attendant also runs through these things - asking numerous questions about how the plane works to make sure that he's safe. It does not matter what measure of faith one has, it took the same amount to get on the plane in the first place. Likewise, one who gets on at first boarding call and the one who gets on at final boarding call. Both are in the plane, and so both are in Hawaii.

Third use of illustration. Serving in Christ. When you are in a plane, all you do is sit down while others serve you... this is where the illustration does not work. In Christ, we should be serving one another - so lets remove the pilot, this flight doesn't need one as Christ is the only one who knows the way. And now lets remove the flight attendants, as we serve one another in Christ we do not need flight attendants whose job is specifically to serve each of us as that is each of ours job description, to lovingly serve one another in Christ.

I hope you also find this illustration helpful.

Can you think of anything else which this might illustrate - without taking the metaphor too far?

God Bless

Light

I apologise for being away for so long. A lot has been happening which I am lookinng forward to sharing some of with you. The following blog post I 'posted' in December however apparently it never actually posted so now, here it is.

Well last time was the last of a six part series in Jude. I hope you all found it as helpful going through it as I did writing it. Quite encouraging and confronting at the same time.

Apologies that I haven't posted anything for a little while. It seems that as much as we try to not let it, sometimes life does just get on top of us. At the moment I am on a Christian Conference in Canberra, our nations capital. The theme for the week has been In Christ and has been very challenging, encouraging, instructional, and everything else you can probably think of along those lines too.

I hope to post again soon, both to tell you more about all the things I have been learning here and to continue with the series I was planning on beginning next - Shine. Originally I was just going to do one blog on this until I realised that there is no way I am going to fit everything there is to say about light into one blog - without it becoming an essay of sorts.

What have you been learning about recently?

God Bless