The Light of Truth

The Light of Truth

¹⁴ “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not condemned but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. ²² But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

John, in his gospel, in chapter one shows us the contrast between light and darkness. The world being dark because of sin, and Christ who has come to shed light upon that darkness. To every person, there is ample light that is presented to them that they should have enough evidence to make an informed decision concerning God and Christ. To accept salvation or reject it.

But as so often happens, light is given and the heart rejects it because the heart loves darkness or the things of this world more than they love Christ. The power of sin on the heart is hard to break. In and of ourselves, we are powerless to resist sin, and it is only through the power of God through the Holy Spirit that sin can be resisted.

Only one who hates the light of truth will be blinded by the evil one. He avoids the light for the same reason that a thief avoids a policeman. Yet to him who believes and earnestly longs for the principles of truth to become more fully operative in his life, truth and life are given.

Paul acknowledged that in him dwelleth no good thing (Romans 7:18) and that the credit for a victorious life did not come from within himself, but was a gift that belonged to God, who has made it possible through Jesus Christ to become a part of him (see Romans 8:1-4; I Corinthians 15:57; Galatians 2:20 and see Matthew 5:48).

Christ was telling Nicodemus from the moment that they started talking that relying upon self, the sacrificial service and all the traditions and regulations that they thought they had to keep in order to attain everlasting life, was of no purpose. The only way was to submit himself to Christ, and become as a new born baby, teachable with a humble spirit.

It is in this way that the Holy Spirit can have a powerful influence upon the lives of all that seek Christ. It is when we put away self, accept Christ as our saviour and invite the Holy Spirit into our life, that the gift of salvation is imparted to us through the righteousness of Christ.

It is nothing that we do of ourselves except to have an active faith, a faith that has grabbed ahold of Christ as our saviour and that we will never let go of.

When Christ is lifted up, Christ who was made in the likeness of sinful man is lifted up before us, then the light of his atoning sacrifice is brought fully before mankind. When fully seen and comprehended as the selfless gift of Christ that He gave of Himself freely that we through Him might be saved and receive everlasting life, that our heart should see the rays of light pouring from the cross to illuminate our path on the way to heaven.

It is by the power of the Holy Spirit, working in our lives, that we can achieve the goal of someday walking on streets made of gold, and visiting with our God and Father, Who loved us so much that He gave his only Son that we might by believing in his atoning sacrifice gain life with God that was lost when Eve and Adam, and through them that all mankind sinned.

To no other besides the woman at the well, did Christ so fully show His true identity and what was necessary to achieve salvation and life with Him.

So now, the decision is yours and yours alone, will you accept Christ and grab ahold of him and by faith accept the atoning sacrifice of His spilt blood for the remission of your sins and mine.

Christ and His heavenly Father long to have a relationship with you. But, ultimately the decision is yours and yours alone.

The hour was late, Nicodemus departed for his home. He had many things to ponder. Would he accept Christ as the Messiah? Perhaps an even better question is, will you?