“The Bible tells you who God is. I believe that one of the best created entities that the Bible uses to showcase who He is, is LIGHT.” This sermon titled “Perfect Light” was preached by Pastor Pamela on Sunday 17th December 2023, and is an extended version of the small message delivered during the Christmas Concert on Sunday 10th.
Sermon Transcript
We’re starting off the sermon time with a chance for someone to win a gift by being the first person to answer the following question correctly. Mobile phones down please.
Could we have the first picture please and then put each picture up as I call the name of the creature?
What do platypus, dragonfish and scorpions have in common? Does anyone know?
They’re all creatures that can glow in the dark! Yes, they are!
Glowing, luminescent creatures are truly bizarre and beautiful all at the same time.
Now humans have harnessed the use of glow-in-the-dark substances since the 1600s.
For example, luminescent watch dials make it much easier to tell the time at night, and Ps Bree and Cain regularly bring glow sticks to our caroling on the streets in Dec which always adds to the fun of the event.
But God has been putting on a far more spectacular light show under the cover of darkness for well over 6000 years utilizing the creatures of His creation.
Interestingly, living things that produce light usually do so via one of two ways—bioluminescence or biofluorescence.
Bioluminescence is the process of generating light from a chemical reaction involving two molecules inside the bodies of some animals and plants.
This occurs without the influence of external light sources, like sunlight, and doesn’t generate heat.
Biofluorescence on the other hand, happens when creatures absorb sunlight and transform it—emitting the light as a different frequency or colour like green, orange or red.
But whether it be biofluorescence or bioluminescence both are a delight to witness.
Let us pray,
Heavenly Father, I thank you for Your marvelous and wondrous creation. You have given us a beautiful world to live in. Your creation sings Your praises to us. Today, let this word bring You the honour and glory You deserve. May we feel closer to You Jesus as we hear it once again. Amen
Last week, for our Special Christmas Concert, I felt prompted to deliver a short message concerning the spiritual significance of light at Christmas time.
What originally got me thinking about light was Daniel’s new Christmas song called Star of Wonder which we’ve been blessed to hear again today.
Well, I’m going to deliver the extended version of the small talk I presented last Sunday. Consequently, I will be repeating many points, but I make no apology for this because I feel it is truly worth reflecting on such an enlightening subject. Puns intended.
At the risk of oversimplification, I want to begin by saying that one of the main objectives of the Bible is to reveal God to mankind. Put simply again, the Bible lets you know who God is.
And for this reason, there are times throughout the Bible where God is likened to His marvelous creation in an attempt to somehow describe some of His wonderful, marvelous attributes.
For example, God is likened to a lion, a lamb, an eagle, a hen, a warrior, a shepherd, a king, bread, a vine… etc…
But I believe that one of THE best created entities that God uses Himself in an attempt to show case who He is, is light.
##Light is said to be the fastest entity in the universe. It is a ‘universal speed limit’ travelling at 300,000 kilometers per second in a vacuum. Nothing beats it!
Nothing is as fast as the speed of light, **Nothing that is unless you’re God. I would say that the Spirit of God can move much faster than light itself. God is the limit and He is limitless!
##Concerning light’s movement, when in a vacuum, like outer space, light travels straightforward. However, light behaves in different ways when it comes in contact with water, air, and other matters – it can be “absorbed”, “transmitted through”, “reflected”, and “scattered”.
**Funny enough, God’s love (which is God Himself) can be “absorbed”, “transmitted through”, “reflected”, and “scattered” after all, the bible says that in Him we live and move and have our being. We can be filed by the Holy Spirit, we can be surrounded by the Holy Spirit, we can be overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit.
##Light is not tangible (we can’t hold it or touch it), yet it transforms the appearance of everything it touches.
**Much like God, the bible says that God is Spirit, so you can’t see Him, or hold Him, but His presence can transform you. He can, in fact, transform the filthiest, dirtiest, darkest human being on earth.
##Light is its own unique phenomenon because it behaves like both waves and particles. Nothing else does that. Nothing. **God is His own unique phenomenon we can’t even begin to fathom how He behaves for His ways are higher than our ways. There is nothing that comes close to Him.
##Light is so unique that no one really knows what light is or what it is made of, but it exists. You’d be a fool not to acknowledge its existence.
**The Bible says, the fool has said in His heart that there is no God. God exists people, the evidence of His presence is everywhere, you’d be a fool to deny His existence.
##And light is intimately involved with our daily lives; we could not live without it. Every living thing in this world needs light.
Sunlight brings emotional and physical healing. It protects from vitamin deficiency, it reduces depression, it sets the circadian rhythm of our life… And yet for the most part of our lives, sunlight, or light in general, is something we take for granted until there’s a power outage. Until we experience some sort of inconvenient darkness.
**God wants to be intimately involved with our daily lives; we were never meant to live without Him. This is why there is so much sickness and depravity in the world.
People are trying to live without something that is essential to our existence.
Many people only think about God when something goes horribly wrong, when there’s a love outage, when there’s darkness. But we desperately need Him. all the time.
Light is mentioned in the first chapter of the bible and in the last (so is God).
Light is the first thing God created for the earth.
And, by the way, the light He produced came before the sun and moon were created.
Genesis 1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
In the beginning, God Himself was the light not the sun and the moon, they came later, they came on the fourth day. The light was the first entity.
The last thing God promises in the Bible is that in heaven we will be surrounded by His eternal light which is Him again. We won’t need Google to turn on our light switches anymore.
The dense glorious presence of God Himself will be our light!
Light has symbolic significance all the way through the Bible. It is a symbol of holiness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom, grace, hope, and God’s revelation.
This symbolic significance is certainly highlighted in the Christmas account.
For example, there was that great light emanating from those joyful angels which terrified the lowly shepherds who had been sitting in the dark.
And of course, the wisemen with those precious gifts followed the strange light moving through the sky towards Jesus.
So, when we Christians in Cityview Church celebrate Christmas we use a lot of LIGHT!
We’ve been doing it like this for a number of years now and we love it. We love the display of light – don’t we Alyce?.
In addition to this, the lighting show during our songs always brings me great joy! Because during our practices the children of the musicians behave like little kittens chasing the circular lights reflecting on the floor around the church hall. Children of all ages are trying to catch the light. It’s hilarious to watch. It really is. They are following the light to catch the light. But the lights keep on moving. This crazy event has now become an entertaining part of my Christmas. When the lights are happening, so are the children like moths around a candle!
It’s beautiful to hear them giggling and laughing as they run.
And a part of me, metaphorically speaking, hopes that the children will never ever ever ever stop following the light.
People need light. Light is essential. Not just in a physical sense but in a spiritual way.
People make a choice to walk in darkness or to walk in light.
These are the 2 spiritual choices we have.
Darkness OR light.
Now you spend any amount of time watching current news, you can clearly see that many people are walking in darkness.
There’s loneliness, depression, addictions, sexual immorality, selfishness, narcissism, violence, nihilism, hatred, lawlessness, jealousy, racism etc… these are the path of darkness, and they are not God’s intended way for us.
How do I know this? Because the Bible says that God brings us light; through the life of His Son Jesus, God brought LIGHT to everyone. His light is the kind of light that shines in the darkness and cannot be extinguished.
His light brings love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Having these is literally walking in His light.
You know, God is very good at making light because He is light.
And light makes our path clear; light shows us the way. Light is a necessity of LIFE!
It is so appropriate that we use light to ‘dress up’ Christmas. Because the Christ in Christmas said, in the Bible,
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
Jesus came into this world to bring spiritual LIGHT that not only makes your life much more pleasant to view, but it literally helps you to see, Jesus shows you the way.
Life can be pretty tricky to navigate, particularly in the dark, wintry seasons, but Jesus lights your path.
Because Jesus is THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD!
But you’ve got to want Him.
You must invite Him into your life to experience the unique phenomenon of His spiritual LIGHT.
I implore you to follow the light to the light of Jesus this Christmas.
Allow Him to be intimately involved in your daily life. Step out of the darkness into His eternal PERFECT LIGHT.
And when you do, something truly amazing happens,
You begin to shine yourself.
You become biofluorescent AND bioluminescent!
YES you reflect God’s light, but you also have your own little light shining from deep within your spirit that’s been born again.
As we shine we become a delight for God and His kingdom to witness.
Matthew 5:14-16
“You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead, it is put on the lampstand, where it gives light for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.
Just like God is THE LIGHT, YOU can be a source of light too.
You can bring hope to others this Christmas time by being a good example. Amen