Tuesday: Light and Darkness
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 24th of December 2024
Read John 1:4-10; John 3:19-21; John 5:35; John 8:12; John 9:5; John 11:9-10; and John 12:35. What great contrast is present here, and why is this contrast so foundational to understanding truth?
The world is in darkness; it shuns the light and cannot, on its own, find its way to the true God, the personal God of Creation, revelation, and Redemption.
Image © Phil McKay Goodsalt.com
“Never can humanity, of itself, attain to a knowledge of the divine. ‘It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?’ Job 11:8. Only the spirit of adoption can reveal to us the deep things of God, which ‘eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man.’ ‘God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.’ ”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 412.
Only Jesus Christ “has declared Him,” the Father (John 1:18, NKJV). The Greek verb is exēgeomai, which means “to interpret,” “explain,” or “exposit.” John presents Jesus as the heavenly Messenger, the One who explains what it means to know God. Only through Jesus can we truly know God.
Read John 8:42-44. How does Jesus describe the false foundation on which the religious leaders of Israel had based their faith?
Those who do not stand in the truth speak from their own resources. They “see” the meaning of a text only from a human perspective. By contrast, we must accept that Christ is the light of the world and follow Him in our interpretation of His Word. In contrast, the devil speaks from “his own resources” (John 8:44, NKJV). If we are not careful and are not surrendered in faith and obedience to God, we are in danger of doing the same thing: reading the text based only on our own desires, wants, and perspectives, which is much easier to do than we might realize.
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How do you respond to truths that “step on your toes,” as opposed to how you should respond to those truths? |
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The physics of light is challenging. We have had three big theories of light. We thought it was made up of little particles. That explained a lot of things and was easy to understand. Then we thought that light was really a wave motion. That was a bit harder to understand but it explained some of the phenomena of light that had puzzled us when using the particle model. Then someone thought up the bright idea of quantum physics and explained that light had some of the properties of particles and some of waves. It took a fair bit of maths to describe it and while it explained a lot, it left the non-mathematical people scratching their heads and wondering what really went on in the heads of the scientists.
Of course, none of this theory matters when you are in a dark place and you have just stubbed your toe against something and whacked your nose against the wall. You just need to find the light. And if you are hurting, you may need someone to help you find the light.
The world is in a spiritually dark place and many people have lost their way to the light switch. They do not need spiritual theories. They need light.
Yesterday we bid farewell to Paul Rankin. He was my friend and companion in many birding adventures. Ten days ago I was out birding with him and a week ago he died suddenly and unexpectedly leaving a hole in many people's lives. Paul trained as a nurse and had been a minister. He was one of the prime movers of the CHIP (Complete Health Improvement Program) in Australia and New Zealand. He had managed the ADRA Op Shop in our area. He would ask, "What is the kind thing to do?" and then he would follow it up by doing it. Paul was a light switchman. It wasn't just the big programs he was involved in, but individuals received the benefit of his shared love.
The world does not need theories about spiritual light. There is a painful need for light switch operators, to switch on the light - that is the kind thing to do.
And in that spirit, I am including a link to my most recent bird slideshow. I am dedicating it to Paul with whom I have spent many hours of happy bird photography over the last 10 years.2024-2 Bird Photography
(Just a little historical note: Paul came to Australia with his parents and siblings on the same boat as me - The Wanganella. We arrived in Australia on Feb 13, 1963.)
So sorry for your loss Maurice,Paul sounded like a great guy. Thanks for sharing your photography as well, it is stunning.
Thank you brother Maurice for sharing these photographs! The exquisite beauty of these birds is as a light that shineth in a dark place leading us to hope in our Creator.
I'm so sorry for the loss of your dear friend and birding partner. You have many years of great memories to ponder. Thank you for sharing your bird pictures. I love how you capture them inflight. I'm curious about the rainbow lorikeet and cockatoo being in the wild. I've only seen them as pets! What a beautiful hobby you enjoy! Praying that your cancer will never return so that you may thrive and prosper through the new year. Thank you for your wisdom and encouragement.
Thank you Wendy. Rainbow Lorikeets and Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are among our most common birds here in Australia. I see them almost every day. Seeing them flying in large flocks enjoying one another company makes me wonder about the ethics of keeping them in cages by themselves. Interesting fact: The Cockatoos were essentially inland birds, but during the 1970s we had a big drought and some of the birds migrated to the east coast, liked it, and have stayed here ever since.
Sorry for the loss of your friend Paul the light switch operator
Maurice,
My heartfelt condolences on the loss of your friend Paul. May you find comfort and strength in God during this time.🙏🏾❤🙏🏾
My deepest condolences on the loss of your Partner sir.May God be your comforter and our prayers go to his family as well.Thanks so much for sharing the beautiful bird photos. It is so amazing to see the immense diversity in bed species from region to region.I grew up in a rural area in Southern Zambia and our house and fields are next to a big forest where we see different types of birds. It just never came to our minds to capture them on photos to come up with a beautiful collection like you have.Will try that in future I guess though not really my hobby 😂
Sorry over your loss
Christ has risen. He is now turning darkness into light for 40 days with those who were risen with Him. He told Mary I am going to my Father your Father then I will be back for forty days and help you all minister to people and give you all encouragement. Well not in so many words. But this is what He did. He 1st Appeared to two disciples on the road to Emayous. Word got around that Christ had risen. Then He appeared to 10 of the disciples. The missing disciple is were we got the expression the doubting Thomas. Just for Thomas sake He appeared again to teach and encourage. Then Christ appeared again and again for 40 days. John 21.
We sang in Sabbath School last Sabbath. To God Be the Glory. I will see to it that we sing He lives, He lives my Jesus lives today, He walks with me, He talks with me along the narrow way....this coming Saturday in Sabbath School. I know someone will ask why not sing Because He live I can face tomorrow. I am saving the for the 1st Sabbath in 2025.
Merry Christmas to all. And have a Christ filled Christmas Eve and Christmas day, one and all.
Limited as I am, only Divine Knowledge can help me understand the Word. Self can blind my perception. That's why I need to be open when I study the Bible. The Truth may even be "hidden" behind some phrases, but the Light it contains can give meaning to my whole life!
My condolences to you Maurice. I can imagine losing a good friend and brother in Christ is hard. But, yes, we have hope in Jesus Christ. You will meet again and for sure you together will do bird watching in heaven. Looking forward to that day🤲🏽🤲🏽
what a blessings to have a friend as long as u did .u have quite a bit of memories.blessings to u .THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BIRD SHOW.SURE ENJOY IT.
John the Baptist baptized his followers with water, but Jesus Christ baptized us with the Holy Spirit – Acts 1:5;8. The Holy Spirit is the powerful source to reveal God's Truth to those believing Jesus to be His Son and love Him and our heavenly Father.
Answering the lesson’s question –
When I was a young Christian, I wanted everyone to know the Truth as I understood it. Though biblically supported and clear to me, when relating this spiritual Truth to others, it was often rejected because the person either did not believe in Jesus, or they already had their own interpretation of what they perceived to be truth.
I have learned not to ‘argue’ about truth with anyone as it puts up a barrier between us which causes animosity leading to separation or non-communication. Among fellow Christians, a conversation about the Love of God according to Jesus, or how to understand the Will of God, is easy. But to share His Light/Truth with those who cannot yet see it within themselves by using reason is nearly impossible; it requires the Holy Spirit to reveal understanding.
Saying ‘God bless you’ and meaning it, ‘lending a hand’, giving advise when asked, being attentive to people’s pain, has become my way to communicate without causing a 'confrontation'. Having learned not to debate the ‘theology’ of the Christian faith, I now focus my life on expressing that wehich I have learned to be the essence of God’s Truth – His Love.
Jesus shared with us that the greatest commandment is: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. And the second is like unto it - Thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself” - Matt.22:37-40. God's Love is the Light which, when 'switched on', will illuminate the world.
Light shines in the darkness,the reason we must trust in Him all times because the world is dark indeed.
Maurice thank you for the nice photography and sorry for loss of a brother.
Kindly shed some light on what some people will be celebrating tomorrow _christmass, are those who celebrate it walking in the light or darkness?
Thank you Elsie for your kind comments.
One of the Australian Christian churches provided over 2000 meals for those who were lonely, homeless, or for some other reason could not be with family and friends today. That is walking in the light! Remember, I said that we don't need theories about light; we need light switch operators. See the darkness; switch on the light!
In the study of the light of the world, Jesus Christ, I pondered about the question of revelation and operation of that
life according to the gospel of John, which we presently are studying.
Light is manifested in Jesus Christ himself as an abiding quality: eternal life, unborrowed and underived. (John 5:26) In the introduction of the gospel, I noticed the particle (aen) "was" occuring six times, indicating no beginning and no end, differentiated from the verb "egento" (became) indicating a beginning.
"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 was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines into darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:1-5) Creation had a beginning in this passage, but Christ, the Co-Creator had no beginning. Only one, who has eternal life within himself, is able to grant us eternal life.
Jesus identifies himself as the Light of the world. "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12) Everlasting life under the condition of deciding and following him. Christ has eternal life within himself. On that basis eternal life is granted us by grace and faith in Him.
His entering into our sinful world is universal, even as the sun is shining upon all mankind. (Psalm 19:6) "The true light, that enlightens all man was coming into the world." (John 1:9) Every man, due to his God-given freedom of decision, may allow the light of the world to shine upon him --- or refuse.
In the passage of John 3:19-21, the Light is coming into our world, inaugurating present judgement (krisis). This judgement separates believers and unbelievers, as also future judgement at the end of days does. Some are hating the light, because their evil actions would be exposed. They do not come to the light and live in darkness, missing eternal life. The other ones come to the light and live in harmony of scripture-revealed truth, exemplified in Christ, the truth in person.
I think, it matters to know who Jesus is--- the way, the truth and the life, eternal life which he offers to us freely.
Winfried Stolpmann