"for with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light." (Psalm 36:9)
The first light, to separate the darkness, the formless deep, was formed / created by God. It is in light, through light, that we as created beings are enabled to see and also understand.
Light -- the light comes from the sun, the moon, the stars, ...
"Then God said, Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day." (Genesis 1:3-5)
"Then God said, Let there be light in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth; and it was so." (Genesis 1:14-15)
"Then God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day." (Genesis 1:16-19)
... and from Jesus. The Light IS Jesus.
"...Let us walk in the light of the Lord." (Isaiah 2:5)
"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." (Ephesians 5:8)
God and Spirit.
Two-thirds of the Trinity were an awareness to those who lived during Old Testament days.
The foretelling of Jesus was present, but when He came to earth as a human baby, when He grew to manhood and proceeded to do the works of His Father, the awareness of what was to be stopped. Unbelief, refusal to believe was the standard.
"Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will rise over you; And His glory will be seen upon you." (Isaiah 60:1-2)
Jesus came. He is the light that overcomes the darkness/the evilness that penetrates our very being. He came to his own, but they received him not. The peoples of Israel / Jerusalem were to be instrumental - they were a city on a hill.
"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)
Yes, the peoples of Israel were to be instrumental in leading others to God the Father through Jesus Christ, His Son. But their light was hidden, their light did not shine to glorify God, but was tarnished.
"The Gentiles shall come to your light," (Isaiah 60:3)
The light / the revelation of Jesus, the message of the gospel was given to the Gentiles - you and me. And as Christ'as followers, we become, individually and collectively, the light of the world - we show others the way to Christ.
"... the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness ... He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes." (1 John 2:8b-11)
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." (John 1:1-5)
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
Before Jesus began his earthly ministry, John the Baptizer was chosen / sent by God to be a witness for Jesus Christ, the true light, "that all through him might believe." (John 1:7)
John preached repentance - a turning away from the sins of the flesh ("adultery, fornication, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like" - Galatians 5:19-21) to a changed life ("love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" - Galatians 5:22-23).
Jesus, the true light, was baptized by John, the foreteller of He who is and was and is to come. Baptizing by water became a symbol, a witness of this changed life. Prophecy was fulfilled with Jesus' baptism by water.
"And John bore witness, saying I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him." (John 1:32)
"Then Jesus, when He had been baptized, came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice from heaven, saying (audibly, for all to hear), This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:16-17)
"For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." (John 3:34-36)
"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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:16-17)
The first light, to separate the darkness, the formless deep, was formed / created by God. It is in light, through light, that we as created beings are enabled to see and also understand.
Light -- the light comes from the sun, the moon, the stars, ...
"Then God said, Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day." (Genesis 1:3-5)
"Then God said, Let there be light in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth; and it was so." (Genesis 1:14-15)
"Then God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day." (Genesis 1:16-19)
... and from Jesus. The Light IS Jesus.
"...Let us walk in the light of the Lord." (Isaiah 2:5)
"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." (Ephesians 5:8)
God and Spirit.
Two-thirds of the Trinity were an awareness to those who lived during Old Testament days.
The foretelling of Jesus was present, but when He came to earth as a human baby, when He grew to manhood and proceeded to do the works of His Father, the awareness of what was to be stopped. Unbelief, refusal to believe was the standard.
"Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will rise over you; And His glory will be seen upon you." (Isaiah 60:1-2)
Jesus came. He is the light that overcomes the darkness/the evilness that penetrates our very being. He came to his own, but they received him not. The peoples of Israel / Jerusalem were to be instrumental - they were a city on a hill.
"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)
Yes, the peoples of Israel were to be instrumental in leading others to God the Father through Jesus Christ, His Son. But their light was hidden, their light did not shine to glorify God, but was tarnished.
"The Gentiles shall come to your light," (Isaiah 60:3)
The light / the revelation of Jesus, the message of the gospel was given to the Gentiles - you and me. And as Christ'as followers, we become, individually and collectively, the light of the world - we show others the way to Christ.
"... the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness ... He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes." (1 John 2:8b-11)
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." (John 1:1-5)
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
Before Jesus began his earthly ministry, John the Baptizer was chosen / sent by God to be a witness for Jesus Christ, the true light, "that all through him might believe." (John 1:7)
John preached repentance - a turning away from the sins of the flesh ("adultery, fornication, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like" - Galatians 5:19-21) to a changed life ("love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" - Galatians 5:22-23).
Jesus, the true light, was baptized by John, the foreteller of He who is and was and is to come. Baptizing by water became a symbol, a witness of this changed life. Prophecy was fulfilled with Jesus' baptism by water.
"And John bore witness, saying I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him." (John 1:32)
"Then Jesus, when He had been baptized, came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice from heaven, saying (audibly, for all to hear), This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:16-17)
"For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." (John 3:34-36)
"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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:16-17)
"... the light has come into the world..." (John 3:19a)
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Added Jan. 28.
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Light creates form. In total darkness there is no form.
Like us, God's created beings, until we "know" God on an intimate level, we are in darkness. The light (that separates the darkness) is Jesus. He came. He suffered. He died. He was resurrected.
"He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him." (John 1:10-11)
We, the world, did not recognize / do not recognize Jesus as The Christ, "The Light," thus they were and we are in darkness. When we believe, accept Jesus as the light that saves us from the darkness of hell and damnation, we are re-born and truly alive.
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God ... who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13)
Are you a child of The King?
Have you accepted His gift of salvation?
Do you follow in His steps?
("More About Jesus," by John Starnes, with subtitles in Portuguese)
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Added Jan. 30.
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"In Your light we see light." (Psalm 36:9b)
It's interesting how what we read one day says something to us and then just a few days later, there is more said on the same subject. God speaks and if we are in tune with Him, we hear, we see, our blindness is stripped away and we are in awe of what we have found.
"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." (1 Peter 2:9-10)
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined." (Isaiah 9:2a)
"I will bring the blind (those who do not acknowledge, understand, follow the True God) by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known, I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them. And not forsake them. They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, who trust in carved images, who say to the molded images, 'You are our gods.' " (Isaiah 42:16-17)
"I will deliver you ... to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me." (Acts 26:17-18)
"For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (II Corinthians 4:6)
("Turn your eyes upon Jesus" by the Newsboys)
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