Light or Darkness

Jesus is the Light of the World, the expression of God, and the only source of truth, life, salvation, and deliverance from death. Since the dawn of human civilization, presidents, kings, dictators, and false religious messiahs have claimed to be humanity’s best and last hope for peace, prosperity, and Utopia, the self-proclaimed bulwarks of order that hold back darkness and chaos.

Charlatans and seducers plague mankind, both in our political systems and, unfortunately, from many of our church pulpits. Compromise and apostasy are the order of the day in the Church. False prophets, self-appointed apostles, and pastors with dubious loyalties point us to the antichrist world order for answers to our problems, rather than to the True Light.

Each of us must choose between the light and the darkness. Christ or Belial. Light and darkness are incompatible. They cannot coexist. And today, the decision to follow the Lamb of God or to pay tribute to the Beast from the Abyss is more crucial than ever. Following Jesus, whatever the cost, means everlasting life. Embracing the Beast will result in exclusion from the City of God on the Last Day:

• “What partnership does righteousness have with lawlessness, or what fellowship does light have with darkness?” – (2 Corinthians 6:14-15).

[Lantern - Photo by Chinh Le Duc (Vietnam) on Unsplash]

Contrary to the claims of deceivers, life is found in the “Word” or ‘Logos’ of God and nowhere else, and this life is the light of men. Even now, the light of God is shining in the darkness of this evil age. Try as it might, the darkness is powerless to extinguish the light, which will be victorious in the end. Even Death itself will be overthrown - (“The last enemy, death, will be abolished” - 1 Corinthians 15:26).

This same ‘Logos’ (λογος) became the Living Word of God in the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The glory and life of God radiate through him. He is the embodiment of the truth, indeed, of the very essence of God:

• “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. And we beheld his glory, glory as of an only born from the Father, full of grace and truth. <…> No man has seen God at any time. The only born son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he declared him” - (John 1:14, 18. Compare John 1:14:6-7).

• “Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world! He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but he will have the light of life” - (John 8:12).

• “Many parts and many ways of old, God, having spoken to the fathers in the prophets, upon the end of these days, has spoken to us in a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the ages, who being the eradiated brightness of his glory, and the precise impress of his essence…” - (Hebrews 1:1-3).

The competing claims of politicians and many religious leaders are counterfeits of the true light. Their deceptions and pretensions to power are exposed when the light of God shines brightly through His Son:

• “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for the sake of Jesus. Seeing it is God who said, Light will shine out of darkness, who shines in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” - (2 Corinthians  4:5-6).

Contrary to the ways and “wisdom” of this world, life, truth, and salvation are found only in Jesus, who died to redeem humanity from the enslavement to Sin, Satan, and Death.

Any claim that the Devil’s servants or ideologies could deliver humanity from the tyranny of death or Satan is ridiculous, and history demonstrates this with the repeated failures of human civilization and political systems to establish anything even remotely resembling “heaven on earth.” Conflict is the normal condition of every man, and death still comes to us all. Light and life are found only in Jesus Christ:

• “He is the stone that was set aside by you, the builders, which was made the head of the corner. And in no other is there salvation! For neither is there any other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” - (Acts 4:11-12. Note the verbal allusion to Psalm 118:22-23).

God validated the words and deeds of Jesus by raising him from the dead, making him the Messiah and Lord who reigns over all things. The man from Nazareth is the ‘Servant of Yahweh’ who poured out his life to redeem his people, and only he will bring peace and justice to the nations:

• “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights. I have put my Spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations”  - (Isaiah 42:1).

• “For I say that Christ has been made a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises to the fathers, and that the nations might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, Therefore will I give praise unto you among the nations, and sing to your name” – (Romans 15:8-9. Citation of Psalm 18:49).

VICTORY OVER DEATH

According to the Book of Revelation, Jesus is “the Faithful Witness.” Through his death, he testified to the true nature of God, and he became “the Firstborn of the Dead” when God raised him from the dead, the first of a great many others. Therefore, he is now the “Sovereign over the Kings of the Earth.” No location, person, or rival power is beyond his reach, not even the realm of the dead:

• “Fear not! I am the first and the last, and the Living one. And I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades” – (Revelation 1:18).

• “Since then, the children participate in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death he might nullify him who had the tyranny of death, namely, the Devil, and might deliver all those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” - (Hebrews 2:14-15).

The sacrificial death of Jesus has redeemed us from the curse and penalty of sin, and his resurrection has secured our own victory over death. Like him, we will be raised from the dead, and thereafter, we will live forevermore in the New Heavens and New Earth. Death, disease, and poverty will be no more, and peace and justice will reign throughout the Cosmos. Therefore, we will shout triumphantly with him:

• “Death is swallowed up in victory! O, Death, where is your sting?!” - (1 Corinthians 15:54-55. Citation from Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14).

• “But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” - (2 Peter 3:13).

No political leader can make such bold claims, and Christ’s bodily resurrection from the dead proves that his promises are not empty. Jesus died on our behalf, and God raised him from the dead; therefore, he will also resurrect us.

Moreover, we become Christ’s “lights in the world” when we let our “light shine before men so they may glorify our Father in heaven.” The full light of God is manifested in His Son, and that light is reflected in us as we bear witness to Jesus. We push back the present darkness when we proclaim Jesus and the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Darkness must recede before light.

Jesus is the Light of the World because he is the expression of the Living God. There is no true knowledge of the Divine without Christ and what he did, and only through him can we hope to see the Father – (John 1:18, 12:44-50, 14:6, Colossians 1:13).

The institutions of this present age are in the process of “passing away” as the light progresses across the Earth. This includes the political ideologies and false religious structures of the world. Only God’s Kingdom will remain, and only those men and women who belong to him will know everlasting life in the Holy City, New Jerusalem – (1 John 1:1-3, 2:8, 1 Corinthians 7:31, 15:24-28).

• “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right for the tree of life, and may enter the city by the gates” – (Revelation 22:14).

Jesus is the bright light that radiates God’s life, truth, salvation, and hope, and there is no other. He is the full and final expression of the Creator of all things and the source of everlasting life.

[NOTE: Text printed in small capital letters represents quotations and allusions to Old Testament passages]

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SEE ALSO:

• His Unique Kingdom - (Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God, which is ruled by the Servant of Yahweh, who gave his life “to ransom many”)

• Salvation For The Nations - (The Gospel of the Kingdom announced by Jesus of Nazareth offers salvation and life to men and women of every nation and people)

• Expediency or Holiness - (Why do church leaders excuse lying, adultery, extortion, and even worse acts when they are committed by their political allies?)

• Lumière ou Obscurité - (Jésus est la Lumière du Monde, l'expression de Dieu et la seule source de vérité, de vie, de salut et de délivrance de la mort)