LIVING IN THE LIGHT

Zechariah 14:1-21; Revelation 20:1-15; Psalm 148:1-14; Proverbs 31:8-9

“Then the Lord my God will come, and all his holy ones with him. On that day the sources of light will no longer shine, yet there will be continuous day! Only the Lord knows how this could happen. There will be no normal day and night, for at evening time it will still be light. On that day life-giving waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead Sea and half toward the Mediterranean, flowing continuously in both summer and winter. And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one Lord—his name alone will be worshiped.”

‘And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

“Let every created thing give praise to the Lord, for he issued his command, and they came into being. He set them in place forever and ever. His decree will never be revoked.”

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.”

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His steadfast love endures forever… which is a lot longer than our troubles will last. Folks, that is truly wonderful news! God will outlast everything and everyone that stands against Him. What encouragement! In the midst of strife and difficulties, it is so tempting to give up, lose faith and feel like the sun will never shine again. Pain has a nasty way of lengthening our days and limiting our perspective. But Scripture declares, once and for all, that the Lord will always rise to the occasion. He is resurrected. There’s just nothing, nothing that can or will ever overcome Him. In Him is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. When we come to the end of our own ropes, we have a standing invitation to grasp His, and allow Him to carry us all the way to eternity.

When Christ does finally lead us through Heaven’s Gates, we will enter unending day. We will be shed of the twilight that blurs the distinction between right and wrong. Not only will our troubles fall away, but we will finally know that our faith was worth the effort and the uncertainty. All of life’s mysteries will be solved (except, perhaps, for those which never really mattered in the first place, which may prove to be the majority). There will be no more darkness, physical or spiritual. We will be healed of all infirmities. We will be given all knowledge. We will truly experience what it is to think with the mind of Christ. Most important, we will be joined together as One, the Bride of Christ, with each of us knowing all the others, as we will be known. We will live forever in Sonlight in the divine Now, in complete fellowship with our fellow believers and our Father, as He always intended life to be. No doubt, we will wonder why we ever strayed into the darkness in the first place.

Light is potent medicine, and when it is wielded by the Creator, it completely overwhelms darkness. Even a little light does serious damage to the blackest night, but the eternal Day of Heaven will cause darkness to become a forgotten thing altogether. It is definitely something worth looking forward to. But it also is probably why so many will choose to remain behind, heedless of the eternal consequences. Like vampires, they suck the life out of others and so are not comfortable in the daylight, where their actions can be seen and addressed. They need their secrets. They do whatever it takes to protect them, even if it means getting dragged into the Lake of Fire in the process. For them, the Light of Christ will be terminal at some point, unless they change their ways.

I understand how darkness of the soul works, and I’ve seen the damage it can do. Many years ago, I worked with a young man a few years older who started out as a real good guy. Over the next few months, though, he began to experiment with the dark side of life. Underaged, he began drinking. Overly hormonal, he took stupid risks. Believing himself above the law, he began stealing. Claiming “street smarts” he most assuredly did not have, he pushed his luck. In just a matter of months, this young man’s character was all but completely eroded. He had no family life, no friends, no one to care for him or help him over the rough spots in life. Anyone who tried to bring even a little light into his life was forcefully rejected and ridiculed. In short order, this child-man was trying to swim with sharks who were a whole lot tougher, bigger and more experienced. He could not see himself clearly until it was too late because he’d cloaked himself in darkness. The police’s best guess was that, one night, he simply stole a tape deck from the wrong car. They found his body at the bottom of a shallow lake, miles from home, battered and bloodied.

There is a reason light and dark don’t mix. They are plainly incompatible. We need to get a lot more serious about living in the light, and we need to practice. Nothing will be hid from the Master; nothing can be hid. If we have nothing to be ashamed of, the transition from twilight to daylight will probably be a whole lot easier.