Growing up in the Texas Panhandle, I had ample opportunity to notice the sky. I can remember lying in the grass at night and looking up at what seemed like billions of individual stars. Sometimes I would look for the constellations, but not too often. In my naiveté, I just assumed that everyone had the opportunity to look at the same sky I saw over my yard. It wasn’t until I moved to the city that I realized what a blessing it was to be able to see what was really above me. Most likely you will only see the brightest of the stars and miss the sheer enormity of God’s nighttime light show.
Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
1 John 2:7-9
The words of the first verse of this letter are a beautiful testament to the experience of walking with Jesus. “1The one who existed from the beginning is the one we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is Jesus Christ, the Word of life.” It is worth noticing that John felt it worth recording the intimate nature of his relationship with Jesus. It sets the tone for one of the most intimate of the books of the Bible. Its tone is that of family relationships and the nurture of children through their formative years.
John starts off this passage with a disclaimer. He tells the reader that this is not going to be the revelation of some new information. From the beginning, God has taught those whom He has chosen to love each other. After all, six of the Ten Commandments deal with our relationship with each other. It that is the case, why is he bothering to bring it up at all? Aside from the fact that he is operating under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, there is a new twist to the old story. The words that have been passed down from generation to generation have taken on an entirely new form. These words have been made flesh in the form of our Lord Jesus Christ. All of the things that mankind has been waiting for as they stumbled around in the darkness of sin have now been made manifest in one Man.
How does this fundamental truth impact Christians and churches today? John tells us that this commandment – to love one another – is now not only true in Christ, but is also true in us. We have become carriers of the true light that causes darkness to disappear. Notice that I said carriers. Just as a person can carry the germ that causes a disease without any outward sign of the disease itself, we can carry the light of the Word of God without anyone knowing it. Unfortunately, that is the case with many Christians today.
In much the same way as the beauty of the stars is hidden behind the pollution of the artificial light of this world, the light of Christ in us can be totally covered up by the pollution of sin in our lives. If we don’t take care to keep the mirrors clean, the reflected glow of God’s presence cannot be seen by those around us. John is telling us in this passage that the key to being the light God intends is our relationship with each other. If we carry a grudge or harbor resentment for a brother or sister, our testimony is lost in the sin we carry.
The world we live in is filled with pollution – both physical and spiritual. Just as we can only see the brightest of stars, the world can only see those who reflect the True Light of Jesus the brightest. Polish up those mirrors by staying in step with God. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
We serve an awesome God!!!!
Haughtiness goes before destruction; humility precedes honor.
Proverbs 18:13
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