Jesus Christ is the true Light that gives light to every man and woman. There is no other light! Other religions and peoples may have some truth, but only Jesus Christ is the truth for everyone who has ever been born into the human race, regardless of culture, age, nationality, generation, heritage, gender, color, or language.
There is not a Light for America and a Light for Africa and a Light for China and a Light for Europe and a Light for India – there is only one Light for the entire world for all time, for every person, and His name is Jesus. That’s why John bore witness to the Light. That’s why you and I share our faith, present the Gospel, and refuse to be intimidated by a multicultural, pluralistic world.
I live in the southern part of the United States. During the warmer months in particular, if I leave the porch light on at night, all sorts of moths and insects swarm to it. The variety can be fascinating. Everything from large luna moths to beetles to strange green crawly things beat and flutter their way to the light. I have never stood at the door and called these insects to come or set out bait for them. All I have to do is to turn on the light and they come of their own volition – by the hundreds. Moths, in the midst of the darkness, are not attracted to more darkness. They are attracted to the light.
People today, living in the midst of “darkness,” are not attracted to more darkness; they are attracted to the Light. So let your Light shine! Lift it high! You don’t have to have a clever presentation to your witness or learn evangelistic formulas or take a course on communicating to postmodern man. For heaven’s sake, just turn on the Light!
“By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain did. . . . And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead” (Heb. 11:4, NIV). Abel’s life, although brief, was not wasted because of his faith in God, expressed through his witness.
Have you ever wondered what people will think of you when you’re gone? What will your grandchildren know about you? Wouldn’t it be wonderful, if, like Abel, you are remembered throughout all the generations to follow as one who lived by faith in God?
Abel passed the baton of truth that leads to faith to the next generation, which was represented by his little brother, Seth. If you are single or childless, you are not exempt from the privilege as well as the responsibility of relaying the baton. While unable to relay it to your own children, you can relay it to someone else’s. The possibilities are limitless. So . . . pass it on!
Jesus hung on the Cross for three hours, wracked with white-hot physical pain, tortured mentally and emotionally, crushed by the weight of guilt and shame and sin that was ours but became His. Suddenly, the birds stopped chirping, the vultures stopped circling, the breeze stopped blowing, and everything became deathly still as darkness-pitch-black darkness-descended. The cries that could be heard were no longer just coming from the victims on the crosses but from the bystanders as they cowered, then fled in panic. Even the hardened soldiers must have shuddered at the supernatural power and anger that permeated the atmosphere.
As terrified people looked up, searching the sky, there were no clouds to block the sun but it was nowhere to be seen! Where it had been was just blackness! Why? The eerie darkness that descended was not just nature feeling sorry for the Creator who was nailed to the altar of the Cross. It was the very judgment of God for your sins and mine.
Your sin has been judged at the Cross, so you can be saved from judgment. Are you saved?
Heaven is a big place! “In my Father’s house are many mansions” – room enough for anyone and everyone who chooses to be a member of God’s family! So please feel free to invite your entire family – including in-laws and out-laws,
every one of your friends,
all of your neighbors,
the total population of your city,
your state, your nation –
everybody in the whole wide world!
Heaven is a great big place where all are invited to come!
