The LIGHT is The TRUTH -- The WORD Himself

WHY is the World as it is TOday? WHAT is the source of the World's current mayhem, the present chaotic culture, the rock-bottom REASON for the cause of all the UNhappy events, volatile UNrest, UNmistakable DARKNESS that can be plainly discerned by any REASONable MIND?

IGNORANCE -- Ignorance of TRUTH. Ignorance of REALITY. Ignorance of the TRUE Nature of GOD and of the TRUE nature of his own SELF.

Man's PRIDE of his intellect, PRIDE of his education, PRIDE of his ethnicity -- PRIDE of SELF -- has made him IGNORANT to his own IGNORANCE that he himself is IN DARKNESS and IS DARKNESS himself.Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached that the world is as it is today because of IGNORANCE -- ignorance of WHO GOD IS, ignorance of WHAT man REALLY IS. The world is as it is today because of the DARKNESS in the world itself -- and the IGNORANCE of man NOT KNOWing his OWN IGNORANCE -- NOT REALIZING that the DARKNESS is withIN his own HEART, his own MIND, his very own deepest SELF."The world is in a current state of DARKNESS that has pervaded EVERY aspect of human history since The FALL. Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones notes that this DARKNESS is twofold in that it is not only a state of IGNORANCE that mankind is IN, but that the DARKNESS is also withIN man's HEART, as manifested by his LOVE of SIN and HATRED of CHRISTian Doctrine. However, GOD has sent Believers The Holy SPIRIT, who through enLIGHTening the Believer's eyes to The TRUTH about GOD and the GLORY of His Salvation, enables them to be LIGHTs themselves in the persistent DARKNESS." (The LIGHT Shines In The Darkness -- by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones -- https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons-online/john-1-5/the-light-shines-in-the-darkness/)

The LIGHT is CHRIST JESUS. He Himself proclaimed, "I AM The LIGHT of the world. IF you follow Me, you won't have to walk in Darkness, because you will have The LIGHT that leads to LIFE" (John 8:12).

 

 And what is enLIGHTenment but TRUTH-fullness? And the REAL FULLness of TRUTH is only found in the very Person of CHRIST JESUS Himself. HE is The WAY to The TRUTH. HE is The LIGHT that leads to The LIFE with RESURRECTION POWER, that is lived out before the HOLY Presence of GOD, in His Kingdom of MAJESTY and GLORY.

 

CHRIST JESUS Himself proclaimed, "I AM The RESURRECTION and The LIFE. Anyone who BELIEVES INto Me will LIVE, even after dying" (John 11:25).

Do you have The LIGHT that leads to The LIFE, to The RESURRECTION? Do you KNOW this very LIGHT that pierces the Darkness -- this TRUE LIGHT that the Darkness can NOT spiritually discern or comprehend, and can NEVER extinguish or overcome?

The LIGHT of TRUTH is CHRIST JESUS Himself. The LIFE to Heavenly RESURRECTION is The LORD JESUS, SON of GOD. Has The LIGHT pierced the Darkness of your own SOUL? Do you have The LIGHT -- CHRIST JESUS Himself as your WAY to The FATHER?

 

Do you BELIEVE the Word of The WORD Himself -- The WORD Who IS GOD made Flesh -- Who left His GLORY and MAJESTY with The FATHER in the Heavenlies, to come into His OWN Creation as a helpless human Baby, to grow up sinless and blameless, yet rejected and persecuted by His own people, so that He can pay with His OWN shed BLOOD, the just penalty and punishment of SIN-natured men and women like you and me by Crucifixion -- the utterly most horrific method of execution ever devised by SIN-full man.

Do you have The LIGHT of JESUS shining withIN your soul, withIN your heart of hearts? IF so -- are you shining your JESUS-LIGHT in the Darkness of 2021?

When one has The LIGHT, he or she is IN CHRIST -- with EVERlasting JOY unspeakable! \o/

("The LIGHT Shines IN The Darkness" -- by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones -- This post was written after listening to the sermon several times. Though it was preached in October 1962, the timeless TRUTHs expounded are SO very relevant today, 2021 -- especially with the very challenging trials that so many individuals, as well as the nations of the world, are experiencing. Dr Lloyd-Jones' message is one of HOPE, despite the REALITY of today's UNcertainties.)

JOHN 3:16 -- The LIGHT of the World

For GOD so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

For GOD did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of GOD.

And this is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in GOD. (John 3:16-21, NKJV)

From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that GOD made. They can clearly see His invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing GOD.

Yes, they knew GOD, but they wouldn't worship Him as GOD or even give Him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what GOD was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused.

Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead. (Romans 1:20-22, NLT)

JESUS said, Believe in the Light while there is still time; then you will become children of the Light. (John 12:36, NLT)

CHRIST JESUS is The Light.

GOD The Son, through Whom all things were made, Who sustains the universe, Who holds our very lives in His hands -- was ridiculed, mocked, arrested and tied up; spat upon, struck on the face for telling the truth; stripped, flogged with a lead-tipped whip; forced to wear a crown of long, sharp thorns; hit by His captors with their fists; beat on the head with a stick -- with the crown of thorns on His head; unjustly accused, tried and found guilty without proof of any guilt; made to carry His cross, already much weakened after the loss of blood from the scourging...

crucified -- nails hammered into His flesh, through tendons and muscles and bones of His hands and feet...

JESUS was made to be sin for all the sins of humankind (past, present and future)... CHRIST, the Lamb of GOD... unblemished, sinless, perfect -- He was the necessary substitutionary Sacrifice who took upon Himself what was due us sinners. And as He hung on the cross, in indescribable agony -- GOD, The Father, unleashed upon JESUS His intense hatred for sin. Wave upon wave upon wave of The Father's ultimate wrath was poured out upon His own Son.

The Father and The Son, who have never been separated from time eternal, were divided -- separated by humanity's sin laid upon JESUS' perfect holiness.

Is it any wonder that JESUS asked His Father in Gethsemane, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want Your will, not Mine." (Matthew 26:36) JESUS was indeed willing to suffer the excruciating torture on the cross, but to do so without the unfathomable spiritual agony of separation from The Father. (Commentary from Pastor Charles Stanley)

"Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? My GOD, My GOD, why have you forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46) GOD, JESUS' Father -- Righteous and Holy -- turned His back on His Only Begotten Son.

JESUS' last words, "It is finished!" (John 19:30)

The sin-debt for your sins and mine have been paid -- in full -- by CHRIST's atoning death on the cross. His blood was literally shed for you and me. By His shed blood, you and i are redeemed... set free from the death penalty of sin.

Death -- physical and spiritual -- is the penalty of sin. Eternal separation from GOD... that place where there is not even a hint of any presence of the Light, but of utter darkness -- an eternal place of total depravity and utmost suffering -- that is the hellish sentence from which we have been set free.

What it cost The Father and The Son is unfathomable to us -- mere finite humans. Yet we don't have to fully understand the indescribable Infinite to be saved from sin's penalty of death. We just have to humbly admit that we are wretched sinners -- repent -- and receive the only Way of redemption -- the substitutionary death of CHRIST JESUS on the cross at Calvary.

Peace or continued enmity with GOD depends on our acceptance or rejection of His Son whom He sent to die for our sins. Believe in The Light -- JESUS, The CHRIST -- while there is still time (for tomorrow may not arrive); then you will become children of The Light (children of the One True GOD -- Creator of Heaven and Earth, Maker of all things seen and not seen).