Children of Light

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

John 3:20-21

John 3:20-21, speaks of the contrasting difference between light and dark, and how ultimately through our baptism Christ’s light shines through us.

It is clear that we live in a world full of sin, and as John writes in chapter three, darkness.  To put it simply, darkness is a metaphor for death and evil.  There are not many things that scare people more than darkness.  One of the reasons for this fear of the dark is the evil things that are done under the cover of darkness. 

Something that may even be scarier than the murders and robberies that go on under the cover of darkness are the sins in our own lives that we try to cover in darkness.  There are things in all of our lives that we try to keep in the dark, things we don’t want anyone else to see about us.  Addictions to drugs and alcohol, gossip about friends and co-workers, unfaithfulness in our relationships, stealing from work, and cheating at school are just some of the sins in our lives that we try to keep in the dark. 

What are some of the sins in your lives that you try to keep in the dark?  Though we may think that we can keep some of our sins a secret and that no one will find out, that is not the case.  No amount of darkness can keep God from knowing the secret sins of our lives.  God knows all of our sins of thought, word, and deed.

The dark news is that we are dead to our sins.  Because of the evil that we continue to do in our lives, we deserve nothing more than eternal damnation.  The Good News is that Christ has come to be the light in our lives.  Earlier in John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Through our baptism we are called sons of God.  We are brought into his good and perfect light.  God did not give us His light by taking us out of the darkness of this world, but by sending His one and only son, Jesus Christ, into the world to save us all from our sins.  Christ came into our dark world and paid the ultimate price for our sins. 

John 3:21 says, “But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.”  Those deeds that have been carried out in God are the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Through His death and resurrection we are saved from our sins and the eternal death that we deserve from our sins.  Because of Christ’s death and resurrection we are now called Children of the light.  Ephesians 5:8 says, “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light.”

It is important for all of us to know that all of our sins, even the ones that we try to keep hidden in darkness were taken up to the cross for us through Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection.  It is with this knowledge that we can face the dark things in our lives like death, relationship problems, and financial problems, knowing that through our baptism we are brought into fellowship with Jesus Christ who died and rose again for all of our sins that we may live in his light forever.  We know that through Christ, this dark world is not all there is for us.  We have the promise of eternal life in a place where as it says in Revelation 22:5, we will not need a lamp or the sun because the Lord God will give us light. 

Live as children of light because through Christ we know that all of the sins and darkness of this world will eventually fade away, but the light of Christ is for all eternity.