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Let His light shine

Subhead
Built on a Rock
By
Pastor Andrew Palmquist, Bethany Lutheran Church, Luverne

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. (2 Corinth. 4:6)
When the author and poet, Robert Louis Stevenson, was 12 years old, he found himself one evening looking out into the dark from his upstairs window, watching a man light the streetlamps. When his governess walked by, she asked, “What are you doing?” He replied, “I am watching a man cut holes in the darkness.”
That’s not a bad picture of what the Lord is asking of us, as He tells His followers to “Go, and make disciples of all nations....” which means sharing with others, “the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” Or put another way: As Christians our task is to be sharers of God’s light … to be people who are busy cutting holes in the spiritual darkness of this world.
Ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God and took a bite of forbidden fruit, they and all of creation were cast into a spiritual darkness that was so thick that it permeated the very souls of all mankind, and brought sin, death, and everlasting damnation to every human being. It was a darkness of which no mere mortal could ever escape. As the Apostle Paul once revealed, “All have sinned [are lost in spiritual darkness] and have fallen short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23)
But the same God who in the beginning said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” had such a love for fallen mankind, that He sent His own Son Jesus to become one of us and rescue us from that condemning darkness.
It was Christ Jesus who fulfilled God’s will and commandments perfectly, and who gave up His sinless life, purposely sacrificing himself on the Cross so that the huge debt of sin would be paid. And it was Jesus who rose victoriously from the grave so that we, too—now forgiven and at peace — would rise to a new life … and to life everlasting!
That wonderful heart-felt knowledge and understanding of Jesus, and the salvation He accomplished for us, is the Gospel light that broke through our darkened hearts and brought us into His marvelous light of life! By God’s amazing grace, the Holy Spirit created this life-giving light in our hearts in Baptism, not merely for ourselves to enjoy and treasure, but that we — children of light — might be instruments of His will in spreading that life-saving Gospel light to others.
As Christians, that’s our purpose: to be ever growing in our faith, growing in the “knowledge of God’s glory.” And as we do that, through reading and hearing God’s Word, the Holy Spirit makes the light of Christ shine brightly in our lives, revealing Jesus to others, enabling us to tell of His great love and salvation, and bringing glory to our Heavenly Father!
As the children sing in VBS, “Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m gonna let it shine!” may God enable us to be and do what His light does: dispelling the darkness by bringing the saving light of our Savior to the lost!

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