Jesus is the Light of the world. (John 1:9, 8:12) This is no figurative expression, but the statement of an actual fact. The light by which we see to work or read, is that which shines from the Lord. "God is light," and Christ is the shining of His glory, (Hebrews 1:3) so that all the light that shines upon this earth comes from His person. Evidence of this is seen in the fact that, after saying, "I am the Light of the world," (John 8:12) He immediately made a blind man see. Further evidence of the reality of the light that shines from the person of Christ is found in the fact that in the New Jerusalem the city has no need of the sun or moon; for "the Lamb is the light thereof." (Revelation 21:23)
What a glorious thing to realize, that we are even now walking in the light of the countenance of God! Perhaps it seems unreal to you. Well, if you will but believe the Word, you will soon find it very real; and in familiarity with the thought is there strength and salvation. Recognizing that God's real presence is in the light, we shall "walk in the light as He is in the light," (1 John 1:7) and shall know the blessedness of the truth that ... "the blood of Jesus Christ ... cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)
The sun is the source of all the light and heat that this earth has. But the sun has nothing except what it receives from the Lord. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." (John 1:4)
All the life, therefore, upon the earth is the life of Christ. He is "the Life." (John 14:6) There is no other. Since the light that shines from the sun is the life of the Word, we can see how true it is that "The life was manifested, and we have seen it." (1 John 1:2)
But we do not always recognize light when we see it. Jesus was full of glory when He was on earth, yet very few knew it, simply because they were blind. (John 1:5,10) Even today there are very many "foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not," (Jeremiah 5:21) so that they do not perceive God in His works. Light is life. This is true of men and of all the plant creation. No plant can grow without sunlight. See how the tree reaches out its branches in every direction, to take in the sunshine. It grows symmetrically, and thrives, because it never rejects a ray of light. It longs for the light, and rejoices in it. Without the light, it would droop and die.
Year after year the tree stores up the light. Because it never shuts the light out, it is full of light. You don't see the light in the tree? That is because you have not your eyes open. If you are as yet unable to recognize it in the growing tree, wait until it has been cut down and is used as fuel. What a bright light shines from the grate. Where does it come from? Oh, the tree is now giving out the sunlight that it stored up during all the years of its life.
If you are burning coal, the same thing is seen. The coal that you burn was once growing timber. It became buried in the earth, and lay there for centuries, becoming harder and more compact, and undergoing certain chemical changes, waiting the time when it should be brought forth to serve man with the light that it received from the sun ages ago. If we burn gas or oil, which come from coal, it is nothing but condensed, concentrated sunshine. In an hour we get the benefit of the sunlight of years.
We can see the light when it shines from the grate or the lamp. But it was in the tree before it was given up for our use. Light a torch of wood. Now you see the light coming directly from the wood itself. That is positive evidence that the light is there, only we are so blind that we do not usually recognize light until it strikes us in the eye almost hard enough to blind us.
Light is power. Put the fuel into the furnace, under a boiler of water, and see what force is let loose. The railway train speeding across the country, and the vast steamship ploughing its way through the waters, carrying the load of a hundred railway trains, are both driven by the light of the sun. Men harness up the sun, and use it to drive all the machinery that is in existence, never once thinking that the force that serves them is the power of God's own light.
Perhaps we can now see the glory in the growing plant. The power by which it grows is the light of the sun, which we must never forget is the light of God's countenance. What marvelous glory the meadow reveals! Is not a forest, or even a single tree, in full leaf, a glorious sight? Ah, we do sometimes use that term, which shows that we recognize the fact that there is glory there; the trouble is, that we do not stop to think whose the glory is, and to give glory to Him who made all these things.
A tree however has something besides leaves; it has fruit. The ripened fruit is but the expression of the life power of the plant. The sun warmed the earth, it caused the water to mount up through the rootlets and the stock to the leaves and blossoms, and when the energy of the plant manifested itself in fruit, it was the sun that brought it to perfection, and gave its cheek its beautiful tint, which is so beautiful simply because it is not painted from the outside, but is the flush of life.
So all the good things that come to our table, which the earth brings forth abundantly, are but the fruit of the light. And that light is the life of the Lord of heaven and earth. Then we eat the light! Why, yes, the light is our life, just as it is also the life of all other plants; for "all flesh is grass." (Isaiah 40:6)
If we eat and drink to the glory of God, (1 Corinthians 10:31) recognizing His life in
His gifts, we shall eat and drink righteousness; for the promise is, "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:6)
Of God's servant it is said, "He shall blossom as the lily." (Hosea 14:5,RV) "Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit." (Isaiah 27:6) "For as the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." (Isaiah 61:11)
That which the plants do involuntarily, we must do voluntarily and consciously. They take in all the light that comes to them, and thus glorify God. If we do the same, then we shall be called "trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified." (Isaiah 61:3) "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth." (Ephesians 5:9)
The very same light that brings the fruits of earth to perfection, shines upon us, to make us bring forth fruit after our kind, and to cause us to bear much fruit, that God may be glorified. The fact that the light will do this for us, if we accept it, is shown to us every day in the gardens and fields, in the forests and meadows.
Let us therefore walk in the light, that we may be "Filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." (Philippians 1:11)--Present Truth, August 11, 1898.