This article was written by Gantv.com Contributor David Adams
Jesus Shines the Light in our Darkness
I remember as a young boy, my mom used to come into the bedroom and turn on the light. She would tell us it was time to get up. The light usually bothered my eyes, so I would close them tightly for a moment or two, trying to hold on to the darkness that I had felt so comfortable with while I slept. Eventually, I would slowly open my eyes and they would adjust to the light in the room.
The same thing happened to me, several years ago, except it was in a spiritual sense. It was as if God had turned on a light, and I closed my spiritual eyes tightly so as to stay in the darkness that I was comfortable with. I was beginning to come into the knowledge of God’s unconditional love for all people. At that point, I wasn’t even sure of God’s unconditional love for me, let alone everyone else. But the light of God’s goodness was shining deeply into my heart and it was that goodness that began to persuade my mind to shift in how I saw God and the gospel.
God is Love!
But see, I preferred to believe what I had been taught about God. I thought He was sort of a Santa Claus. I thought He kept a list of those who were good and those who were bad. I thought He was watching me and wasn’t happy unless I was doing everything right. I thought if I did good enough I would stay on His good side, but if I messed up God was going to get me.
This is the false gospel of transaction and behavior modification. It may be what you believe too, because it is a common way what is supposed to be good news is taught to the majority of the western world. God is really mad at you because of your sin and unless you make the move towards Him, He stays mad and you are not only not loved, but you are cut off from Him.
Yet, slowly but surely my eyes began to open and I learned that God wasn’t keeping a list. I learned nothing I did or didn’t do would cause God to love me any more or any less. He was only Love and He was only loving me. Then I began to find out that He felt this way about everyone and my whole world began to get wider, higher, longer and deeper; just like His Love.
The true Light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. John 1:9
Jesus Christ the Light of Agape Love
Jesus Christ is the light of this entire world. In the Incarnation, He was fully God and He was also fully man. He had to become human because Love doesn’t resist the very thing it created but it dives into our darkness with the sole motivation, by Love and Grace to restore all of mankind to its true Origin which is innocence. He came to reveal this truth and light up the world with the revelation of our beloved union. To show us God is not mad at us, instead He was in Christ reconciling the Cosmos through Jesus to Him, and He was not holding a single sin against because He loves us unconditionally.
Sin only matters in that it is the darkness that holds us captive and makes us sick. But God is Love. Scripture tells us in the original language His Love is Agape. Agape is a love that Paul describes as a love very different from what we often learn and experience from a world that hasn’t had the light turned on yet. The world loves in conditions and measurements. Hoops to jump and benchmarks to meet. But God loves differently. Love is His nature and essence and everything He does is rooted in this Love. This Love holds no record of offense, it is patient, kind, it protects, doesn’t boast, thinks not of itself and rejoices not in any evil. This is the exact Love that when the light of Christ began to awaken me to it, showed me a Father who is good and heals. This Light lit up my being and changed me completely.
His Love is a consuming fire. Once I found this out, all my other old beliefs about judgement and condemnation, about eternal conscious torment, and God’s wrath began to melt away in that fire and all doctrines of man I was taught in religion were replaced by what I saw in the light of God’s unconditional love. It began to change everything I believed about God and therefore everything I believed about humanity who is made in the image of God. Jesus is the Light that lights every man and woman and Holy Spirit gives us eyes to see.
While many are still asleep concerning these things, we can see much of this is influenced by westernized churchy teachings and cycles of religion. It veils the Light and many still have their eyes closed even though the light has been turned on so to speak. But Holy Spirit is jealous that we know the truth and because of this, many are seeing the Light of Jesus and now have their eyes open to see the truth of God’s unconditional love. Jesus is that Light, Holy Spirit is pointing to Him like He did with me. And as Jesus Christ proclaimed, we too would be the light of this world and as people awaken as I did, we partake in His light and shine it best to others when we are loving as He does.
I believe the Light can not be kept under a basket. That this Light is going to keep increasing exponentially, that Holy Spirit, the “hound of Heaven” will draw all until Jesus is seen and known, “as in a mirror”. Until we are found to be at rest in our rightful place, captivated by His Love in our original innocence.
PRAYER: OUR SHINING PAPA, thank you for shining your light into the darkness. Thank you that we will not all sleep but we will all be transformed by the brightness of your appearance. We are glad we no longer have to sleep and dream about what might be. You are awakening us to the reality of what already is.
Grace and Peace. Amen.
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