Light
About this series:
The title of our teaching series throughout 2023 is The Kingdom Of God. The essential goal is to help people understand the Bible’s teaching on the kingdom of God and raise confidence in God’s plans for his kingdom’s expansion / multiplication.
Teaching about The Kingdom Of God is a great way to address life as a church community - this is how life together under God’s reign should look like. And to address our lives in the world - demonstrating to those in our sphere of influence the reality of God and what life looks like when God is your king.
The second part of our teaching on the Kingdom is called “Kingdom Priorities.” Here we look at some familiar biblical themes, and bring an emphasis on how they are a feature of God’s kingly reign.
About this talk:
Scripture: Isaiah 49:6; cf. Matthew 5:14-16, Acts 13:47
Light is one of the themes that runs through the Bible from beginning to end - from Genesis 1:3, “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” to Revelation 21:23-24, “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it.” Elsewhere we read, “God is light” (1 John 1:5), we are “light in the Lord…children of light” (Ephesians 5:8) and have been brought into “the kingdom of light” (Colossians 1:12). In contrast, we have been “rescued from the dominion of darkness” (Colossians 1:13), we should “have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness” (Ephesians 5:11) and Satan’s kingdom will be “plunged into darkness” (Revelation 16:10). God’s kingdom is characterised by light because there is no darkness in him - “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
It’s no surprise, then, that John identifies Jesus as light and that Jesus announces, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). He then calls his followers the same (Matthew 5:14) by their connection to him and his life in them. Jesus is picking up on the Old Testament theme of light and especially Isaiah’s prophecies in regard to the coming of God’s kingdom in the mission of the Messiah, who would come for all nations:
Isaiah 9:2: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”
Isaiah 42: 6: “‘I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles.”
Isaiah 49:6: “He says: ‘It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’”
God’s intent was not simply to brighten up Israel, but to bring light to all nations. And it is exactly this that the early church knew was their mission, framed also as being witnesses to all nations (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:8), as going to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-19) and as being sent just as Jesus had been sent (John 20:21-22). In short, God is light, his kingdom is light and a priority of his people is to witness to the light (as John the Baptist did, John 1:8), living as light in a dark world.
And so it’s significant that Paul and Barnabas, in Acts 13:46-47, take the prophecy of Isaiah 49 (first applied to Jesus) and now apply it to themselves, as the church continues Christ’s mission - “For this is what the Lord has commanded us…” Though the quote that follows retains a singular “you” both times, it is clear that the apostles see themselves as now continuing the Servant’s mission.
There is no darkness in God’s reign; he is pure light. His people have come from darkness into light (see Psalm 18:28) and our mission is to bring that same light into the dark places of the world where God has placed us, thus extending his kingdom.
Can you give some examples of where you’ve seen Christians or the church being light in the places God has placed them? Do you have some personal examples?
What does it mean in practice to lose your saltiness or put your light under a bowl?
What does it look like for you to be light and bring light in the places where God has placed you?
Audio only
