We are celebrating the Culture of Light this year at the Holiday Folk Fair! What a great theme! Does God say anything about light? Light is mentioned over 230 times in the Bible!
Before we note what God says in the Bible about light, think about this for a moment:
Close your eyes for a moment… What would happen if we turn off all the lights in here?
Without light, we will be in darkness! And what happens when we are in the dark? In the dark:
- we will be stumbling and be lost
- there will be no colors or anything else to see
If you still have your eyes closed, you can open them now
And we are celebrating the culture of light this year at the Holiday Folk Fair; and so, if we really think about it, without light, in the dark, we will lose culture, and culture is a way of life! How important is light? Without light, there will be no life! In the dark, there will be no life!
What does God say about light? Let us highlight just a few of them.
From the very beginning we read from Genesis 1:1-4…
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
Before God created plants, animals, and humans, God created a light on the very first day because there can be no life without light! By the way, did you notice the power of God? God just spoke and it happened!
Psalm 36:9 - For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
The source of life and light is God!
I think the most important Bible passage for us today about light is what Jesus said in John 8:12…. Jesus said… “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Let’s be honest, we don’t consider God every moment of our lives, do we? When we forget about God, the source of light and life, we allow ourselves into darkness. Sadly, some people in the world have allowed darkness in their lives that they would actually destroy other people’s lives. We humans have a problem; we allow darkness into our lives and if we are not careful, darkness can overtake us!
And so, God gave us Jesus Christ, who came from heaven and became human flesh to die for all our sins; all our darkness was taken on by Jesus Christ on that cross till He died and was buried! Jesus Christ took on the darkness for all of us but because God is the source of life and light, God brought Jesus back to life for us!
And so this is why Jesus can say, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Isn’t it great enjoying the Cultures of Light here at the Holiday Folk Fair! God is saying, “Enjoy today but enjoy everyday the eternal light from heaven by following Jesus Christ.”
I encourage you to believe and follow Jesus Christ because if you don’t you will not have the true light of life and you will easily fall into darkness.
Now many of us here already believe in Jesus Christ; why is it that there are times when it seems like were still in the dark? Let me end with one last Bible passage: 1 John 1:1-7 - That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
And so, we are not just called to follow the Light who is Jesus Christ, we are to also walk with Him. What does it mean to walk with Jesus Christ? What does walking with a friend look like? As you walk with Jesus Christ, you keep each other company and you talk to each other. Jesus Christ, the Light from heaven desires to have a close relationship with us always. This is why Jesus tells all Christians in Revelation 3:20 – Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Is the door of our heart and life always open to Jesus Christ?
Let me close with a simple illustration….. What do we get when there’s a power failure and it gets dark? We get a flashlight and turn it on! A Christian is like a flashlight…..
God calls us to be the "Light" to the world and in a way we are like flashlights (Jesus is the main light, batteries are power from the Holy Spirit, power is transferred through good connections - we have the forgiveness of sins and prayer, but like a flashlight it is no good until it is turned on). Like turning on a flashlight when it is dark, we Christians must turn on our calling to be light for Jesus Christ in our world that is getting darker and darker spiritually! The light will stand bright in the darkness only if that light is on!
