Bringing Light into Darkness

[00:00:03] Welcome to the Pursuing Faith podcast, where we explore questions of faith, doubt, and life.

[00:00:11] I am your host, Dominic Done.

[00:00:20] Welcome everyone to this episode of Pursuing Faith.

[00:00:24] So the other day, I was having this great conversation with a friend,

[00:00:28] and talking about the name Pursuing Faith and the backstory and why I chose that name.

[00:00:33] And it's actually really simple.

[00:00:35] I believe that to be a follower of Jesus means that our relationship with Him is moving forward.

[00:00:42] To pursue is to chase and run after.

[00:00:45] I think of Jesus' first words to His disciples. He said,

[00:00:48] Come and follow me.

[00:00:50] He didn't just say come and chill out. No, He said let's go.

[00:00:53] To follow implies movement, motion, and change.

[00:00:57] You see, God has called you to be a pilgrim, not a camper.

[00:01:02] A camper gets to a spot, they set up their tent, and they're good for a while.

[00:01:06] But a pilgrim keeps moving, keeps exploring, keeps breaking new ground.

[00:01:12] A.W. Tozer said,

[00:01:14] To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul's paradox of love.

[00:01:22] And that's our heart.

[00:01:23] That all of these talks and sermons and conversations,

[00:01:27] that they would give you fuel and encouragement to pursue faith

[00:01:32] and to grow in your relationship with the Lord.

[00:01:35] So if you're new here, if this is your first episode, welcome.

[00:01:39] And you can go back and check out our archive

[00:01:42] and some of the fascinating conversations we've had.

[00:01:45] Also wanted to mention that if you are living in Southern California,

[00:01:49] I'm going to be speaking there this weekend, Saturday and Sunday,

[00:01:53] May 25th and 26th at Maranatha Chapel.

[00:01:57] If you happen to be free, I sure would love to see you there

[00:02:01] as we will be unpacking God's Word together.

[00:02:04] And speaking of, in this episode, we're going to have a look at John 8.

[00:02:09] In John 8, Jesus, He gives this beautiful metaphor for God and Himself.

[00:02:14] He said, I am the light of the world.

[00:02:17] Or think of 1 John that says, God is light,

[00:02:20] and in Him there is no darkness at all.

[00:02:23] What I want to do is I'm going to look at this passage

[00:02:26] and I want to talk about light.

[00:02:28] What is light?

[00:02:29] What are we talking about when we talk about God as light?

[00:02:33] We'll lay a foundation of theology and history,

[00:02:36] but then the surprising twist is what we will see this means for our lives today.

[00:02:43] I hope that this message encourages you and inspires you as you pursue faith.

[00:02:50] When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, I am the light of the world.

[00:03:05] Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

[00:03:11] And the Pharisees challenged Him, here you are, appearing as your own witness.

[00:03:14] Your testimony is not valid.

[00:03:16] Jesus answered, even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid

[00:03:21] for I know where I came from and where I am going.

[00:03:24] But you have no idea where I came from or where I'm going.

[00:03:27] You judge by human standards.

[00:03:28] I pass judgment on no one.

[00:03:30] But if I do judge, my decisions are true because I'm not alone.

[00:03:34] I stand with the Father who sent me.

[00:03:37] In your own law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true.

[00:03:42] I am one who testifies for myself, my other witness is the Father who sent me.

[00:03:47] And then they asked Him, where is your Father?

[00:03:50] You do not know me or my Father, Jesus replied.

[00:03:53] If you knew me, you would know my Father also.

[00:03:56] He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place

[00:03:59] where the offerings were put.

[00:04:01] Yet no one seized Him because His hour had not yet come.

[00:04:04] Once more Jesus said to them, I'm going away and you will look for me

[00:04:08] and you'll die in your sin.

[00:04:09] Where I go, you cannot come.

[00:04:11] This made the mask fully kill himself.

[00:04:13] Is that why he says where I go, you cannot come?

[00:04:16] Completely different wavelengths here.

[00:04:18] No clue what he's trying to get at.

[00:04:20] Who are you, they asked.

[00:04:22] But He continued, oh I got ahead of myself.

[00:04:24] You are from below, I am from above.

[00:04:26] You are of this world, I am not of this world.

[00:04:28] I told you that you would die in your sins.

[00:04:30] If you do not believe that I am He, you will indeed die in your sins.

[00:04:33] Then they asked, who are you?

[00:04:35] Just what I've been telling you from the beginning, Jesus replied.

[00:04:38] I have much to say in judgment of you.

[00:04:41] But He who sent me is trustworthy.

[00:04:44] What I've heard from Him I tell the world.

[00:04:46] They didn't understand that He was telling them about His Father.

[00:04:49] So Jesus said, when you have lifted up the Son of Man,

[00:04:52] then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing on my own.

[00:04:55] But speak just what the Father has taught me.

[00:04:58] The one who sent me is with me, but He has not left me alone.

[00:05:02] For I always do what pleases Him.

[00:05:04] Even as He spoke, many believed in Him.

[00:05:09] Now, fasten your seat belts.

[00:05:11] We have a lot of ground to cover, a lot of things to look at.

[00:05:15] First thing that you need to know is that John 7 and John 8,

[00:05:19] the context of it is the Feast of Tabernacles.

[00:05:23] This was a feast that took place every year in Israel.

[00:05:26] What would happen is thousands of people would descend upon the city of Jerusalem

[00:05:30] and the feast lasted for an entire week.

[00:05:33] Celebrations, story, family, together, barbecues.

[00:05:38] It was loud, it was chaotic, it was noisy, and it was a ton of fun.

[00:05:43] One of the things they did during this time of tabernacles

[00:05:46] is they would build tabernacles.

[00:05:48] They'd build these little makeshift tents.

[00:05:50] They would sleep in the tents, kind of their version of urban camping,

[00:05:54] for an entire week.

[00:05:57] During this time of camping, in the city,

[00:06:00] they're sharing stories about how God provided for their ancestors.

[00:06:04] They're talking about God's faithfulness to Israel.

[00:06:08] They're rooting themselves in their own story.

[00:06:11] Then on the final day of the feast, they would all gather together

[00:06:15] in a building, a temple.

[00:06:18] There was singing, and there was laughter, and there was joy.

[00:06:22] They would read scriptures.

[00:06:24] You may remember I mentioned this a couple weeks ago,

[00:06:26] how the priest, he got up and he began to read verses

[00:06:29] that all had to do with spiritual thirst.

[00:06:32] When he was done, the people would sing another song.

[00:06:35] The priest then marched through the crowd to the Pool of Siloam.

[00:06:40] He took with him a golden pitcher.

[00:06:42] He scooped down, got some of the water from the Pool of Siloam.

[00:06:46] He came back to the altar.

[00:06:48] All eyes were on him as he suddenly,

[00:06:52] dramatically poured out water on the altar.

[00:06:56] Now, this was deeply, deeply significant in a Jewish worldview

[00:07:00] because that water, they believed, represented three things.

[00:07:03] Number one, God's faithfulness and provision.

[00:07:05] They were praying for rain and for their crops

[00:07:08] and that they'd make it through another year.

[00:07:10] It was a symbol, number two, of the coming Messiah,

[00:07:13] that when Messiah came, he would be like water on thirsty ground.

[00:07:17] And number three, it was a symbol of the coming Holy Spirit.

[00:07:22] So the priest would pour out the water,

[00:07:24] and then in this moment, as all eyes were on him,

[00:07:28] Jesus stands up and he said,

[00:07:31] John 7, 37,

[00:07:33] let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.

[00:07:36] Whoever believes in me, as scripture has said,

[00:07:39] rivers of living water will flow from within them.

[00:07:43] In other words, what is Jesus saying?

[00:07:45] He's saying, I'm the guy, the one you've been looking for.

[00:07:48] I am Messiah.

[00:07:49] I am God's provision.

[00:07:51] I am divine.

[00:07:52] And if you look to me and believe in me,

[00:07:55] then rivers of water will flow through you.

[00:07:58] Now check this out.

[00:07:59] And by the way, you're gonna need a pen and a piece of paper today.

[00:08:01] If you don't have one, steal one from your neighbor

[00:08:03] or your iPhone app on airplane mode.

[00:08:06] And you can jot some of these down.

[00:08:08] But in John 7, it's Jesus making a radical claim about his identity.

[00:08:15] In John chapter eight, the verses we just read,

[00:08:18] it's a claim about his authority.

[00:08:20] And Jesus is making the argument that the authority he has

[00:08:25] wasn't his own, but it actually came down from the father.

[00:08:29] Now again, next week, we're gonna unpack a theology of what is God as father.

[00:08:33] How do we get understand that culturally today?

[00:08:35] What does it mean for us?

[00:08:37] But what I wanna do today is zero in on verse 12,

[00:08:41] where Jesus makes this incredible claim.

[00:08:43] He says, I am the light of the world.

[00:08:47] And whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,

[00:08:50] but will have the light of life.

[00:08:51] Now again, keep in mind the context, it's Feast of Tabernacles.

[00:08:56] The priest, he pours out water on the altar.

[00:08:59] They're singing, they actually sang from Psalms,

[00:09:02] which says, Hosanna, Hosanna, which means save now, save now.

[00:09:07] And then what would happen?

[00:09:08] I didn't tell you this a couple of weeks ago

[00:09:10] because we're building up to John eight.

[00:09:12] But what would happen the moment after the priest poured out the water

[00:09:16] on the altar is that these menorahs, these candlesticks

[00:09:20] have been set up all throughout the temple.

[00:09:24] And when that water came down on the altar,

[00:09:27] and this was all set up by the priest and the leaders,

[00:09:29] the menorahs would be lit.

[00:09:31] And it was this most beautiful epic scene

[00:09:34] as light began to bathe the inside of that temple.

[00:09:38] Now here's a picture of a menorah if you've never seen one.

[00:09:42] A menorah has interesting history,

[00:09:44] actually goes back to ancient Israel

[00:09:47] when they're wandering around in the desert.

[00:09:49] And every time they lit it,

[00:09:50] it was a reminder to them of God's presence, God's faithfulness.

[00:09:54] But it was also used, you can look at Hanukkah.

[00:09:57] But notice in this menorah,

[00:09:59] the first menorahs had seven different branches.

[00:10:02] Why seven?

[00:10:04] To them, it was a symbol of creation.

[00:10:08] As God created the world in seven days,

[00:10:11] so too he is creating something in the world

[00:10:15] and in their own lives personally.

[00:10:17] I want you to imagine dozens of these

[00:10:20] now lit up all throughout the temple.

[00:10:22] If you've ever been to our Christmas Eve gatherings,

[00:10:24] it's like my favorite one all year, it's so beautiful.

[00:10:26] And we usually end it with everyone holding these candles.

[00:10:30] And it's at that moment when the place is bathed in light,

[00:10:35] menorahs set up all throughout the building

[00:10:38] that Jesus says, I am the light of the world.

[00:10:43] Now this is where we're gonna dive into the deep end.

[00:10:45] What did that mean for Jesus' first century audience?

[00:10:49] I think the best way to understand the Bible

[00:10:51] and apply it to 2019 is to first understand

[00:10:55] what did it mean for them back then?

[00:10:57] How did they hear it?

[00:10:58] How did they interpret it?

[00:11:00] What did Jesus mean about it?

[00:11:02] And then we can begin to connect the dots

[00:11:04] for our own lives, marriages or singleness or jobs

[00:11:07] or whatever you're facing right now.

[00:11:09] So a theology of how the Hebrews understood light

[00:11:12] and we have a lot of ground to cover.

[00:11:14] So here's the first thing.

[00:11:15] This goes all the way back to Genesis,

[00:11:18] Genesis chapter one, it says,

[00:11:20] in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth

[00:11:23] and the earth was formless and empty.

[00:11:26] Darkness was over the surface of the deep

[00:11:30] and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters

[00:11:33] and God said, let there be light.

[00:11:36] And there was light.

[00:11:38] And God saw that the light was good

[00:11:41] and he separated the light from the darkness.

[00:11:45] Now notice, before God created all things,

[00:11:48] it says that the world, the universe was formless and empty.

[00:11:52] It's a really interesting Hebrew word.

[00:11:54] In Hebrew, formless and empty is tohu vabohu.

[00:11:59] It's defined as, I love saying that,

[00:12:01] defined as wild, waste or chaos.

[00:12:06] Think of your garage right now, right?

[00:12:08] Or a bachelor pad.

[00:12:10] It's tohu vabohu.

[00:12:13] Chaotic, darkness was over the surface of the deep.

[00:12:18] And then God said, let there be light and there was light.

[00:12:24] Now for thousands of years,

[00:12:25] Jewish rabbis have wrestled with these verses

[00:12:27] and they've pointed out a couple anomalies.

[00:12:30] The first thing they point out

[00:12:32] is that every other time God creates something

[00:12:34] in Genesis chapter one,

[00:12:36] it's always followed up with these words

[00:12:38] and it was, who knows?

[00:12:40] And it was good, but it also says, and it was so.

[00:12:45] Let there be land and it was so.

[00:12:47] Let there be rivers and it was so.

[00:12:50] Let there be llamas and it was so.

[00:12:52] Let there be Portland and it was weird, right?

[00:12:54] Generally what you see is it was so, it was so, it was so.

[00:12:58] Now here's the first anomaly

[00:13:00] is that when God says let there be light,

[00:13:02] it doesn't say and it was so,

[00:13:03] it just says and there was light.

[00:13:05] That's the first thing they've wrestled with.

[00:13:07] But the second, and I find this fascinating,

[00:13:09] is maybe you've really wrestled too on this.

[00:13:12] Where did the light come from?

[00:13:14] The sun, the source of light,

[00:13:17] was not created until day, who knows?

[00:13:21] Anyone?

[00:13:23] No, four, yeah, someone said it, day four.

[00:13:26] If the sun, the source of light,

[00:13:29] was not created until day four,

[00:13:32] but here on day one, God says,

[00:13:34] let there be light and there was light,

[00:13:36] where did this light come from?

[00:13:39] How could you have light

[00:13:41] if the source of light did not yet exist?

[00:13:45] And again, this is where Jewish rabbis and thinkers,

[00:13:47] they've grappled with this

[00:13:49] and they came to the conclusion,

[00:13:50] this is so cool and this is leading somewhere by the way,

[00:13:52] is that the light in Genesis 1

[00:13:54] was the presence of God himself.

[00:13:58] That God is the source of light.

[00:14:02] That God, by definition, is light.

[00:14:05] And the reason it doesn't say it was so

[00:14:07] was because light already existed in him.

[00:14:10] So what happens at creation

[00:14:11] is you have the darkness, the void, the chaos,

[00:14:13] the tohu vabohu, the darkness,

[00:14:16] and God on this first day

[00:14:18] is bringing his presence into the light,

[00:14:21] into the darkness.

[00:14:22] He's bringing his life into the chaos.

[00:14:25] He's bringing creation into non-creation.

[00:14:30] In the Midrash, which is an ancient Jewish commentary,

[00:14:33] they said this,

[00:14:34] from what was light created,

[00:14:36] God cloaked himself

[00:14:39] and the light of its splendor

[00:14:41] shone from one end of the world to the other.

[00:14:44] So to make this simple,

[00:14:45] number one, to the Jewish mind,

[00:14:47] when they see this phrase light

[00:14:49] or when Jesus stands up on the eighth day of tabernacles

[00:14:52] and says, I am the light of the world,

[00:14:56] the way they would have understood this,

[00:14:57] number one, is that light was a metaphor

[00:15:00] for the life and the presence of God.

[00:15:04] Light is a metaphor for the life and presence of God.

[00:15:07] It starts in Genesis,

[00:15:09] but this idea is also fleshed out

[00:15:11] when you begin to go through the Bible.

[00:15:12] So again, grab a pen.

[00:15:13] You may wanna write some of these verses down.

[00:15:15] Hopefully you can write fast.

[00:15:16] Psalm 27, verse one, it says,

[00:15:18] the Lord is my light and my salvation.

[00:15:22] Who shall I fear?

[00:15:24] Or James one, verse 17,

[00:15:26] every good and perfect gift is from above.

[00:15:28] It comes down from the father of light.

[00:15:31] So revelation, oh, this is cool.

[00:15:32] Revelation 21, verse 23,

[00:15:34] the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it

[00:15:38] for the glory of God gives it light

[00:15:41] and the lamb is its lamp.

[00:15:44] Now the Bible begins

[00:15:46] with God illuminating creation

[00:15:49] without the sun and the moon.

[00:15:51] The Bible ends, how?

[00:15:53] With God illuminating creation

[00:15:56] without the sun or the moon.

[00:15:58] So in the Jewish mind for the first century audience,

[00:16:01] they hear Jesus say, I am the light of the world.

[00:16:03] They think, ah, it's the life and the presence of God.

[00:16:06] It's in essence, a statement of deity.

[00:16:08] Number two, light is a symbol of the guidance of God

[00:16:12] or the direction of God.

[00:16:13] I think of Psalm 43, which says,

[00:16:15] send me your light, God,

[00:16:17] and your faithful care and let them lead me.

[00:16:21] Psalm 119, verse 105,

[00:16:23] your word is a lamp to my feet

[00:16:25] and it's a light to my path.

[00:16:28] Here's another, I love this, Exodus 13, 21.

[00:16:31] It says, by day, the Lord went ahead of them

[00:16:33] in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way

[00:16:36] and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light.

[00:16:40] How did God lead the ancient Israelites

[00:16:42] when they were in the desert?

[00:16:43] It wasn't Google Maps.

[00:16:45] It wasn't GPS.

[00:16:47] It was a cloud by day

[00:16:49] and it was a pillar of fire by night.

[00:16:51] And I've often thought,

[00:16:53] that would be kind of a cool way to discern God's will.

[00:16:56] Maybe you're right now trying to figure out where to go,

[00:16:58] what to do, what job to take.

[00:17:00] Should I marry her?

[00:17:01] I think it'd be a whole lot easier

[00:17:02] if it was just kind of this style.

[00:17:04] Oh, you're the one I should marry.

[00:17:05] How do you know?

[00:17:06] Because there's a fire on your head, right?

[00:17:08] So I kind of envy how God led them in the ancient world.

[00:17:12] When they hear light,

[00:17:14] they think, ah, creation, presence,

[00:17:18] the life of God, guidance, direction in the wilderness.

[00:17:23] But there's more.

[00:17:24] Number three, light was a metaphor for the mission of God.

[00:17:28] Now here's kind of a cool architectural fact

[00:17:31] about ancient Israel.

[00:17:32] When the first temple was built,

[00:17:35] and you can read about this in the Old Testament,

[00:17:38] they built the temple with it facing east.

[00:17:41] And this is very strategic,

[00:17:43] because in the morning, the sun would rise

[00:17:45] and the rays of the sun,

[00:17:47] the light would flood into the temple

[00:17:49] going all the way back to the holy place.

[00:17:52] So it's illuminating the place of worship.

[00:17:55] And then when the sun would set,

[00:17:57] the priests would light these menorahs,

[00:17:59] the candlesticks all throughout the temple.

[00:18:01] But they had these specially designed windows

[00:18:04] where the light from the menorah

[00:18:06] would then spill out from the temple into the community.

[00:18:10] So the temple always had light in it

[00:18:13] and light flowing from it into the city that it was in.

[00:18:18] Now this was done very strategically

[00:18:19] because it was a reminder of their call

[00:18:23] as the people of God to be on mission.

[00:18:26] In Isaiah 49, verse six,

[00:18:28] which is kind of the Old Testament version

[00:18:30] of the Great Commission.

[00:18:31] God says, I will make you a light for the Gentiles.

[00:18:35] By the way, a Gentile is anyone who's not Jewish.

[00:18:38] So if you're Jewish, great.

[00:18:39] If you're not, everyone else, you're a Gentile.

[00:18:41] That my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

[00:18:45] Now this should ring a bell

[00:18:46] because didn't Jesus pick up on the same idea

[00:18:51] in the Sermon on the Mount?

[00:18:53] When he wrote, he said, you are the light of the world.

[00:18:57] A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

[00:19:00] Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.

[00:19:03] Instead, they put it on its stand

[00:19:05] and it gives light to everyone in the house.

[00:19:07] In the same way, let your light shine before others

[00:19:10] that they may see your good deeds

[00:19:12] and glorify your Father in heaven.

[00:19:15] Light by definition is visible.

[00:19:20] It shouldn't be hidden.

[00:19:23] Plato, the ancient Greeks,

[00:19:25] they had some interesting ideas about light.

[00:19:28] And Plato actually argued that the reason

[00:19:31] that we can see with our eyes

[00:19:34] is because we have beams of light,

[00:19:37] rays of light that come from our eyes out into the world.

[00:19:41] Think Captain Marvel or Superman, right?

[00:19:44] These beams of light.

[00:19:46] And Plato said, because this happens,

[00:19:48] these invisible beams of light,

[00:19:50] we're now able to gather information and process it.

[00:19:54] Now kind of a weird idea, but actually not that far off.

[00:19:58] I was reading, I think it was Scientific American

[00:20:00] this last week and they were talking about

[00:20:03] how humans are technically bioluminescent.

[00:20:07] Really fascinating.

[00:20:08] So we actually glow.

[00:20:10] Now it's hard to see because it's so minuscule,

[00:20:14] but technically we glow.

[00:20:16] And it was saying we glow the most when it's the afternoon.

[00:20:20] So early afternoon, right around your lips especially

[00:20:23] and your face, your cheekbones starts to glow,

[00:20:27] which explains why our noon gathering is always so happy.

[00:20:30] They're amazing.

[00:20:31] Now light then has been for thousands of years

[00:20:35] and certainly in the Jewish worldview

[00:20:37] is this picture of vision or mission.

[00:20:41] And when Jesus says to us, you are the light of the world,

[00:20:45] it means that our calling as a church,

[00:20:47] our calling at Westside,

[00:20:48] isn't to hide the light inside a building.

[00:20:51] It isn't to reduce the light to a Sunday morning gathering

[00:20:55] or contain our Christianity to what we're doing right now.

[00:20:58] Our call is to bring the light of Jesus

[00:21:01] to the broken, lost, hurting people of our city.

[00:21:05] Emil Brunner, he's a theologian.

[00:21:07] He said, the church exists by mission

[00:21:09] just as a fire exists by burning.

[00:21:12] Where there is no mission, there is no church.

[00:21:17] Light, it's the presence of God,

[00:21:20] the creation of God, the guidance of God,

[00:21:24] the direction of God, the mission of God.

[00:21:27] But there's one more thought.

[00:21:29] Light for thousands of years

[00:21:31] has been a symbol of human flourishing.

[00:21:35] Human flourishing.

[00:21:36] Now track with me here

[00:21:37] because this is where I wanna spend the rest of our time.

[00:21:39] Over and over in the Bible,

[00:21:40] you see these dual metaphors of light versus darkness, right?

[00:21:44] Genesis, God created the world.

[00:21:47] He said, let there be light.

[00:21:48] And there was light.

[00:21:49] What's the first thing he does?

[00:21:50] He separates the light from the darkness.

[00:21:52] Darkness in the Bible, I'd argue even today,

[00:21:55] is a symbol of sin or evil or death.

[00:21:58] Whereas light has been this metaphor

[00:22:00] as a symbol of flourishing or wholeness.

[00:22:03] What's the first thing God said about light?

[00:22:05] He said it was good.

[00:22:07] So in their mind,

[00:22:08] there's a connection between virtue and the light.

[00:22:12] Wholeness and the light, flourishing and the light.

[00:22:15] Or think Psalm 90 verse eight, which says,

[00:22:18] our secret sin is exposed in the light of your presence.

[00:22:23] You can hide it from everyone else.

[00:22:26] Your wife may have no clue.

[00:22:28] Your kids don't even know.

[00:22:30] Your best friend or your roommate,

[00:22:32] they may not realize what's going on.

[00:22:35] But God says my light will expose that secret sin.

[00:22:40] Nothing is hidden from the Lord.

[00:22:44] Ephesians chapter four, Paul writes,

[00:22:46] for you were once darkness,

[00:22:48] but now you are light in the Lord.

[00:22:50] Interesting, it's an identity.

[00:22:52] Live as children of the light

[00:22:54] and find out what pleases the Lord.

[00:22:57] Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness,

[00:23:01] but rather expose them.

[00:23:03] I want to keep that verse up for just a moment.

[00:23:05] Notice it's the language of creation.

[00:23:08] So Paul says, this is who you used to be.

[00:23:11] You used to be darkness.

[00:23:13] Tohu vabohu, chaos, wildness, waste,

[00:23:18] confusion, loneliness before you knew Jesus.

[00:23:22] But then the light of God broke into the darkness

[00:23:25] and you were rescued and redeemed and saved.

[00:23:29] His light brought wholeness and joy.

[00:23:32] In the Bible, light and flourishing go hand in hand,

[00:23:35] whereas darkness is associated with chaos and sin.

[00:23:38] Now I think this is actually true culturally.

[00:23:41] Think of our culturally universal metaphors

[00:23:44] and how we use these terms light and dark.

[00:23:47] So for example, you might say,

[00:23:49] ah, that was a dark movie.

[00:23:51] And you're not talking about screen resolution, right?

[00:23:54] Or you might say of someone,

[00:23:55] man, they have a dark personality,

[00:23:58] which means they're either evil or a Warriors fan,

[00:24:01] either way.

[00:24:02] Or we'll say things like,

[00:24:04] he shed light on the situation, right?

[00:24:07] He's illuminating our understanding of that

[00:24:10] or she has a radiant smile

[00:24:13] or the future is so bright that I need what?

[00:24:17] Yeah, shades.

[00:24:18] So speaking of which, you guys can't see it, but I can.

[00:24:21] It's a beautiful day today.

[00:24:23] Oh my gosh.

[00:24:24] I don't know if any of you can relate to this,

[00:24:26] but man, I absolutely love it when the sun comes out.

[00:24:31] Many of us, we go through winters

[00:24:33] and it's like so emo vibes.

[00:24:35] And it's hard.

[00:24:37] At least, I don't know if it's the eight years

[00:24:39] I spent in Hawaii that ruined me for life.

[00:24:41] So when the sun comes out,

[00:24:42] like it's going to a ton this week,

[00:24:45] man, I come alive.

[00:24:46] And for me, it's just like associated with joy.

[00:24:49] Have you noticed too, the sun comes out in Portland

[00:24:52] and everyone's happy.

[00:24:53] It's the best thing ever.

[00:24:56] I was telling my wife the other day,

[00:24:58] I was joking with her.

[00:24:59] I'm like, man, if you visited Portland this time of year

[00:25:03] and you'd never been to the city,

[00:25:05] you would be so deceived.

[00:25:07] If you came here from, I don't know,

[00:25:10] Arizona or Alaska or whatever,

[00:25:12] and you show up this,

[00:25:13] you'd be like, man, this place is incredible.

[00:25:15] There's no rain.

[00:25:17] It's always sunny.

[00:25:18] And then you'd go back to Alaska

[00:25:20] and you pack up all your bags

[00:25:22] and you'd move here

[00:25:23] only to find out that our summer sits on a throne of lies.

[00:25:28] There's this interesting association with,

[00:25:31] okay, light comes out, people are happy.

[00:25:33] Scientifically, that's actually really true.

[00:25:35] And there's an association with darkness

[00:25:37] and how that can begin to mess with us.

[00:25:40] So for thousands of years, darkness and light,

[00:25:43] these culturally universal metaphors

[00:25:45] of chaos versus wholeness.

[00:25:47] Now let's connect the dots

[00:25:49] and thank you guys for being patient.

[00:25:50] I think this really matters.

[00:25:52] In John 8, Jesus says,

[00:25:54] I am the light of the world.

[00:25:58] How would they have heard that?

[00:26:00] How would they have understood that?

[00:26:03] Why were they so, as we read,

[00:26:05] angry at him for saying these words?

[00:26:08] Because in this identity statement,

[00:26:11] I am the light of the world.

[00:26:12] What comes to their mind

[00:26:14] is what happened at the very beginning of creation.

[00:26:17] Are you saying Jesus that you're God?

[00:26:18] Yes.

[00:26:19] Even that phrase, I am,

[00:26:20] it's ego ami in the Greek language.

[00:26:22] I am that I am.

[00:26:23] Exodus chapter three,

[00:26:24] who shall I say sent me?

[00:26:26] Moses was told,

[00:26:27] I am that I am has sent you.

[00:26:29] Jesus said, I am.

[00:26:30] And that was enough.

[00:26:31] But then he said, I am light.

[00:26:32] Because light is what brought beauty and wonder

[00:26:36] and order into the Tohu Vabohu of creation.

[00:26:40] So he's talking about his own identity.

[00:26:42] He's saying, I am the presence of God.

[00:26:45] I am the life of God.

[00:26:46] But it's more than that.

[00:26:47] If you follow me,

[00:26:48] you'll have guidance and direction

[00:26:50] and vision and mission.

[00:26:52] And I am the key.

[00:26:54] Jesus is saying to human flourishing

[00:26:57] and wholeness and peace.

[00:26:59] And if that wasn't enough,

[00:27:01] Jesus follows it up by saying,

[00:27:03] whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,

[00:27:07] but we'll have the light of life.

[00:27:10] Now this is where this passage actually can begin

[00:27:13] to intersect with your life

[00:27:14] and kind of wreck it in a really good way.

[00:27:16] This last week is I've been thinking about this passage

[00:27:19] and researching this passage.

[00:27:20] Oh my gosh.

[00:27:21] It's been like convicting me and encouraging me.

[00:27:24] And I hope it does for you guys too.

[00:27:26] Jesus says, this is who I am.

[00:27:29] Light, wholeness, flourishing.

[00:27:31] But then he says, the more that you follow me,

[00:27:34] that is going to become your identity too.

[00:27:38] In other words, the closer you get to the light,

[00:27:42] the more that light begins to live in you.

[00:27:46] The closer you get to the darkness,

[00:27:49] the more that that darkness begins to live in you.

[00:27:53] And every single one of us today,

[00:27:56] we all have our areas of darkness

[00:27:59] that we're wrestling with.

[00:28:01] Now it's true, like Paul said,

[00:28:03] when you came to faith,

[00:28:04] you now are light in the Lord.

[00:28:06] That is your identity.

[00:28:07] That's how Jesus sees you.

[00:28:09] And yet there is the daily slow step-by-step process

[00:28:15] of wrestling with the darkness that we all go through.

[00:28:18] This is why Jesus used the word walk.

[00:28:20] If you walk with me, if you walk in the light,

[00:28:23] if you walk in the light, you won't have this darkness.

[00:28:26] And that darkness could be anger, bitterness,

[00:28:28] or addictions, or selfishness, or laziness, or lying.

[00:28:33] But the promise that Jesus said is,

[00:28:35] the more you follow me and the more time you spend with me,

[00:28:39] those areas of darkness are gradually being overcome

[00:28:43] and swallowed up by the light.

[00:28:46] And the flip side is true too.

[00:28:49] That the more you walk from Jesus,

[00:28:52] the more that darkness begins to swallow us up.

[00:28:55] And here's the question that's been wrecking me all week.

[00:28:57] And I wanna mess with you guys too on this,

[00:29:00] but it's one of those questions that kind of lingers

[00:29:03] and begins to shape how you do life.

[00:29:06] When you look at your spiritual trajectory,

[00:29:10] are you becoming more filled with the light of God

[00:29:14] or the darkness of the world?

[00:29:17] Where are you at right now?

[00:29:20] Right now, compared to a year ago or five years ago,

[00:29:24] would you honestly say, man, there is more light in my life?

[00:29:29] Or would you say, actually,

[00:29:30] there's areas of darkness that have grown.

[00:29:34] Every one of us, we're on a trajectory

[00:29:36] either towards greater light or greater darkness.

[00:29:40] There's this great book on spiritual formation

[00:29:42] by Robert Mulholland, and he said this,

[00:29:44] every one of us is in a process of spiritual formation

[00:29:48] where being shaped into either the wholeness

[00:29:50] of the image of Christ

[00:29:52] or a horribly destructive caricature of that image.

[00:29:57] Destructive, notice, not only to ourself,

[00:30:00] but also to others for we inflict our brokenness upon them.

[00:30:05] Let's pause there and keep that up for a second.

[00:30:07] Do you realize that when you're walking in the light,

[00:30:10] husbands, your light is going to affect those around you?

[00:30:18] Those who are closest to you.

[00:30:20] Your wife is going to be impacted

[00:30:23] by the degree of light that flows through you.

[00:30:26] Conversely, if you're walking in the darkness,

[00:30:29] if there's secret stuff that's going on

[00:30:31] that you're not being honest about,

[00:30:33] you might think, oh, that darkness is just contained

[00:30:36] to my own mind or my own soul.

[00:30:38] And you don't realize that the darkness that's in you

[00:30:41] is actually affecting those around you.

[00:30:44] Your wife is going to be shaped

[00:30:47] by your light or your darkness.

[00:30:49] Your kids will be shaped by your light or your darkness.

[00:30:52] Wives, your husband will be shaped

[00:30:55] by your light or your darkness.

[00:30:58] And as we're on this trajectory,

[00:31:01] it's not just for our sake,

[00:31:03] it's for the sake of those that we do life with.

[00:31:07] The direction of our spiritual growth

[00:31:10] infuses all that we do

[00:31:12] with intimations of either life or death.

[00:31:16] Question, how many of you have read the book

[00:31:19] The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis?

[00:31:21] Show of hands.

[00:31:22] Okay, a few of you have.

[00:31:23] If you haven't, you gotta check it out.

[00:31:25] It's not about a marriage gone wrong.

[00:31:27] It's actually this beautiful, thought-provoking metaphor

[00:31:32] that Lewis unpacks between heaven and hell.

[00:31:35] It's short, it's witty, and it's brilliant.

[00:31:39] And he makes this argument.

[00:31:41] He says that heaven is what happens

[00:31:44] the closer you get to God,

[00:31:47] whereas hell is what happens

[00:31:49] the further you get from God.

[00:31:53] So let's think this through.

[00:31:55] If God is light, then hell by definition is what?

[00:32:01] Darkness.

[00:32:02] If God is love, then hell by definition is what?

[00:32:07] Hate.

[00:32:08] If God is life, then hell is death.

[00:32:12] If God is flourishing and wholeness,

[00:32:15] then what is hell?

[00:32:16] It's living a fractured life.

[00:32:20] And then Lewis says there are only two kinds of people.

[00:32:24] Those who say to God, thy will be done.

[00:32:28] And those to whom God says in the end, thy will be done.

[00:32:32] All that are in hell, choose it.

[00:32:37] Without that self-choice, there could be no hell.

[00:32:40] No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy

[00:32:44] will ever miss it.

[00:32:46] Those who seek, find.

[00:32:48] To those who knock, it is open.

[00:32:50] In other words, your soul, the health of your soul

[00:32:54] is a sum of the decisions that you make.

[00:32:59] And this is what's been messing with me this last week.

[00:33:02] At any given moment,

[00:33:05] you are either on a trajectory towards a soul

[00:33:08] that's flourishing and coming alive,

[00:33:11] more lights, more hope, more joy,

[00:33:14] more intimacy with God,

[00:33:17] or you're on a trajectory towards hell.

[00:33:22] Disorientation, tohu vabohu, chaos, loneliness,

[00:33:28] or darkness.

[00:33:31] So your life right now, you have the decision,

[00:33:36] I have the decision in the choices that we make

[00:33:39] as we go out those doors and do life Monday morning

[00:33:43] to either walk in the light

[00:33:45] and experience greater degrees of the presence of God

[00:33:49] or to be walking in the darkness

[00:33:51] and have that darkness bring chaos and loneliness.

[00:33:54] So let's make this uber, uber practical.

[00:33:57] You're sitting at home this evening.

[00:33:59] You turn on Netflix.

[00:34:01] You have a decision.

[00:34:02] I can either bring more light into my home

[00:34:05] and into my life and into my mind,

[00:34:07] or I can bring in more darkness.

[00:34:10] It's setting me on a trajectory.

[00:34:12] Or let's say you're working out,

[00:34:13] you're going for a run or you're at the gym

[00:34:15] and you turn on Spotify.

[00:34:17] We have a decision at that moment.

[00:34:19] Okay, in the things I listen to,

[00:34:21] will it be more light or more darkness?

[00:34:24] What am I letting into my mind?

[00:34:25] Now, you know how Spotify, you can have a family account

[00:34:28] and you know how sometimes people who are in your family

[00:34:31] can listen to what you're listening to.

[00:34:34] That's how it's set up for us.

[00:34:35] And do you ever on Spotify go to the greatest songs

[00:34:39] or the most popular songs in America, like the Top 50?

[00:34:42] I was doing this the other day

[00:34:44] and I was doing this little workout

[00:34:46] and I'm listening to the Top 50 songs,

[00:34:48] which is a risky thing in America.

[00:34:51] And then the song changed

[00:34:53] and I didn't know who the song was by

[00:34:55] and I'm in the middle of the set

[00:34:57] and it was a horrible song, like F-bombs are flying

[00:35:00] and I don't know who wrote this song.

[00:35:02] But I couldn't really stop

[00:35:03] because I'm in the middle of working out.

[00:35:05] And finally I get done.

[00:35:07] I sat down on the way, so I check my phone to switch the song

[00:35:11] and it's my wife.

[00:35:12] She's like, what are you listening to?

[00:35:15] I text back, oh, it's just been a rough week, you know.

[00:35:18] No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

[00:35:20] But you have a choice.

[00:35:21] I have a choice.

[00:35:23] Am I going to let in the light

[00:35:25] or is it going to be greater degrees of darkness?

[00:35:28] Going through the channels, more light, more darkness.

[00:35:31] You're online, where you go?

[00:35:33] Are you inviting light into your home, into your life?

[00:35:37] Or are you bringing in the darkness?

[00:35:40] You're in an intense conversation with your roommate

[00:35:42] or your spouse and things are heating up.

[00:35:44] You have a choice.

[00:35:45] Will it be greater light or greater darkness?

[00:35:48] You have the choice to walk in the light.

[00:35:51] Jesus said walk because walking, it implies decision.

[00:35:55] It's gradual, it's day by day, it's step by step.

[00:35:59] You see your identity as light.

[00:36:01] Yes, you are saved, you are rescued,

[00:36:04] you gave your life to Jesus, you have a new identity.

[00:36:07] But now we're told the sons and daughters of God

[00:36:10] to walk in that light in the decisions that we make.

[00:36:14] Are you walking in the light?

[00:36:17] Are the decisions you're making today and tomorrow,

[00:36:21] is it bringing you closer to Jesus, closer to light,

[00:36:25] closer to love, closer to healing, closer to flourishing?

[00:36:30] Or is it bringing you closer to darkness and hell?

[00:36:35] 1 John 1, verse 5.

[00:36:38] And I'll just let these words just speak for themself.

[00:36:42] John who wrote the gospel of John, he said,

[00:36:45] God is light.

[00:36:49] In him there is no darkness at all.

[00:36:54] If we claim to have fellowship with him

[00:36:56] and yet walk in the darkness, we lie

[00:37:00] and do not live out the truth.

[00:37:02] But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,

[00:37:05] we have fellowship with one another.

[00:37:08] And the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin.

[00:37:20] We hope you enjoyed this episode of the Pursuing Faith podcast.

[00:37:25] If this ministry has encouraged you in some way,

[00:37:27] would you consider leaving a review on iTunes

[00:37:30] or your favorite podcasting platform?

[00:37:33] That would help a ton in getting the word out.

[00:37:36] Also, if you want to partner with us or see what we're up to,

[00:37:40] check out our website, pursuingfaith.org.