John 3:19 says, “this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
I remember hearing about a woman who asked her daughter to polish the glass on the nest of tables in their living room. The girl came back a while later declaring the job was done. The mum went in to inspect her daughter’s work, and it looked fine until she opened the blinds. When she opened the blinds, the sunlight exposed the dust and the fingerprints that had been missed. The light shining in didn’t create the mess, it just revealed it. Closing the blinds doesn’t remove the mess, it just hides it.
So it is with the coming of Christ into the world. By His life and teachings He exposed the mess in our hearts. That’s why so many, especially the religious, hated Him. They thought they were pretty good – and they did look fine, until the light shone in.
In Isaiah chapter 5 we read of Isaiah condemning the people of his nation – he’s pointing the finger at them and calling them out for their sin. Then, in chapter 6, Isaiah comes into the light – he gets an appreciation of the holiness of God, and he doesn’t then condemn others, but he sees that he is condemned. God’s standard is much higher than ours – the life of Christ shows that. He embodied God’s standard of goodness and showed how far short we all fall.
The response of many people then was to try to extinguish the light – they plotted to have Him killed.
Perhaps you have a similar response – when you read the Bible it convicts and condemns you, and so you close the blinds again and retreat into the darkness.
There is a better course of action. The Bible says, “if we walk in the light . . . the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
If we don’t retreat from the light – if we come to it and allow it to expose our sin, God has the answer for it – the blood of Jesus Christ. Our sins can be forgiven, and all the stains washed away, but only if we are prepared to come to the light.
John chapter 4 tells us about a woman the Lord Jesus met, and she had a murky past and was living in a sinful relationship. The Lord told that woman about the salvation that He could give her, and then He shone a light into her heart and showed her He knew all about the life she had lived and was living. The woman ran into the city with this news, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (v.29).
Now, just imagine there was someone who was able to tell you everything you had ever done. Would that be someone you would want to “Come” and “see”? That would be someone I would never want to see. Why did this woman think this was going to draw people? Why was this an attractive offer? The answer is this – He had offered salvation to her, and He did it knowing all about her.
Maybe you live your life behind a mask. You fear exposure. There are things in your past that you are deeply ashamed of (who doesn’t have a few skeletons in the closet?). The Lord Jesus knows all about you, and yet still He loves you and offers salvation to you. Don’t hide in the dark. Come to the light and let His blood wash away all your sins.
We have seen that He shines a light into the mind and the will. Next time we will look at how He shines a light into our emotions.
