People of Light
One God, One Light – Part I
Scripture Reading: John 12:44-50
Key Verse: John 12:46
“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”
Take note of how today’s Scripture Reading begins:
Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.” (John 12:44)
Never forget that we believe in one God. As Jesus said, when people hear Him speak, they hear the Father. When people look at Jesus, they look at the Father, as well. The Hebrew writer said it this way:
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being… ” (Hebrews 1:3a)
Most of us accept the doctrine of the Trinity of God but may struggle to understand it. We will not clear up this mystery in our lives; we will have to wait until we reach Heaven.
But while on earth, Jesus wants us to know this much: there is One God with three parts: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We could look at it this way: God has a father’s heart, God has a redemptive heart in His Son, and God has a comforting heart in the Holy Spirit.
Someone asked me a few years ago: should I pray to God or to Jesus? That question shows a misunderstanding of God’s nature. There is only one God that we pray to, and it does not matter whether we use “Father” or “Jesus” when praying.
When Jesus says that He came into the world as a light, He is telling us that God stepped into our world to bring His Light. God looked at His creation and hated the darkness that blinded them. He hated it so much, that He came into our world as a baby that grew up to be the Savior of the World.
The word “darkness” refers to a lack of ability to see what is good and what is bad. In fact, people who live in darkness often call what is bad good and what is good bad!
The people of Light do not have perfect understanding of all that God stands for but God has awakened them to the fact that He is right and worthy for them to follow.
The Bible refers to Christ-followers as “children of God”, never “adults of God”. Children are perfectly innocent in their approach to life yet still have much to learn and grow in maturity. In one sense, we become “adults” of God when we get to Heaven. The Apostle Paul put it this way:
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)
Let’s rejoice that we are children of God, the People of Light!
Father, I honor You as the one true God, giver of all good things! I will live by faith and know that someday I will understand everything clearly. In Jesus’s Name, amen.