The Gift Of Perfect Light

The Gift Of Perfect Light

Pastor Vincent - 4 June 2015

Doing Nothing, Yet Believing Everything

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. (1 Corinthians 1:17 NIV) In life, we are subjected to various circumstances and decision points that propel us to mobilize our human wits to do something, find something, or solve something right away. Our human nature always draws us to focus on the signs and outcomes of things, and thus it activates our big self easily, causing the big self to drive us. Yet, the big irony is, it's also this big self that hinder us from magnifying Christ, ie the biggest victory before we ever activate anything. When Christ sent His disciples to preach the gospel, those who were sent included people like Peter who was a mere fisherman, lowly educated he was. But God has a message for us -- a lot of times, we focus a lot on the outcomes eg whether one will believe in Christ, whether our family will be saved, can we fulfil our key performance indicators at work etc etc... But when Christ commissioned His people to preach the gospel, it's because the gospel itself is all that we ever need in evangelism, not our eloquence nor human wits. The gospel, in its inherent nature, has all its power to effect the outcome God has intended to bring on. But it's only when man looks upon God with a believing heart can he participate in the glorious fulfilment of God's work. As we continue on our pilgrim's journey, God wants us to do nothing out of our human nature, but believe in everything because we genuinely and sincerely hold onto God's promises. When we rest ourselves on the right platform (eg the unchanging promise of God), it will activate all our spiritual senses and propel us to live by faith.

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The Gift Of Perfect Light


Christmas is in fact about light in darkness. People are lost in a fallen world covered by the darkness of sin, sufferings and dissatisfaction. So Jesus came as the perfect Light to drive out darkness, and bring warmth to the soul. Light is what we need to help us see our way and find the Answer we are searching for.
 

Christmas: Light in Darkness

1. The world is darkened.

  • Darkness:
    1. Evil / Sin.
    2. Ignorance.
  • <Isa 8> 20 Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. 21 Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.
  • Darkness blinds our eyes.

2. God shines His light into our darkness.

  • <Mt 4:16; Isa 9:2> the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
  • <John 8:12> When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
  • Gospel: Not what we humans can do, but what God has done!
  • JESUS: Light of the world; light of life.
  • 1) What does LIGHT do?
    1. Enables us to see:
  • 2 Cor 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
  • See just how sinful we are
  • See how much we need Jesus
  • See the glory of God
  • See how dignified we are, created in God’s image
  • See devil lurking in the dark
  • See the blessed way to go
    1. Warms.
  • Comforts.
  • Reignites our cold hearts towards God.
    1. Gives life.
  • Makes us born again.
  • 2) Yet, strange reaction to light:
    • Strong light pains our eyes.
    • Thus, some people want to get away from Jesus.
    • Like to indulge sins.
    • Don’t like our ego hurt.
    • Don’t like to lose freedom.
    • But the blessed will appreciate light.
  • 3) Darkness will never overcome light.
    • <John 1:5> The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
  • 4) Light from God comes to draw us, rather than turn us away.
    • <John 3:17> For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

3. God’s invitation during Christmas.

  • <Mt 1:22> All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
  • To be with us and have a personal relationship with us.
  • Accept Jesus as our Redeemer.
  • Welcome Jesus as the King of our lives.
  • To walk in the light as children of God.
    • <Ep 4:11> “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness…”
    • <1 John 1> 5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
  • To witness about the Light.
    • <Mt 5:16>In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

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Preacher Hui Jun
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Huijun serves as Secretary of The Blessed RUN Ministries. She is also the Preacher at The Life Church and Missions (Singapore). She graduated from Singapore Bible College and currently lives in Singapore with her husband, Chengji.

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