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Hey everyone, and welcome to Brown Couch Commentary.
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If you love reading the word of God and want a community to talk about it with, then you have found the right place.
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So grab your Bible and let's dive in to this week's topic.
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Hey guys.
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Welcome in.
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I'm sitting here with my notes.
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Some are from the Daily Grace Bible Handbook, as they call it, this is a study tool that my mom got for Christmas, actually, and I borrowed some of it to help me study for our topic today.
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Daily Grace Co has such good and beautifully designed devotionals and a couple of Bible handbooks.
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This one is laying out the themes of the Bible and it has really good.
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Graphs and charts and things to help you as well.
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So it's really neat.
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I've gone through a couple of their devotions in my personal study time over the years, and they're just really well done, and so I recommend checking them out.
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I'll put a link in the.
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Show notes, but our topic this week is as the title states about light, and I want to look at light from its first mention all the way to its last.
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For our purposes right now, we are going to take a 30,000 foot view of this topic.
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We could study in extensive detail, all of these biblical moments that we are going to touch on today.
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Because there's so much depth in the word of God, but also just the vastness of God's perspective.
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His understanding versus my own limited perspective and understanding has just been so illuminating to me since about the beginning of the year.
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And.
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Have you ever had that moment where something from the Bible or your prayer time, or maybe from a message that was preached at your church, sticks out to you and you roll it over and over in your mind and you're thinking on it, and then as the days and weeks pass, you start to hear and encounter so many things about that very topic that you've been mulling over.
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And that's been happening to me for several weeks with the topic of light in the Bible, for instance, with this Daily Grace handbook.
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I was over at my mom's in the week or so after Christmas already thinking about light and the theme of.
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And she's showing me this handbook and I just flip it open and it flips open to the exact page that starts the study on the theme of light and darkness in the Word of God.
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And I am like.
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Oh my goodness.
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I've been thinking about this topic, and so it's just little moments like that that I find so interesting.
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It's because our mind is focused in on the topic that we notice it more around us, or maybe it's God just placing conversations and scriptures and handbooks in our path to help us navigate what he is trying to help us learn.
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It's like those reels that were popular or are popular where people choose a color for the day, whether they are traveling or just out and about around their town, and they take pictures of items or buildings, all sorts of things that are in that color that they've chosen.
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And when they come across it, they take a picture and it's just there to remind you to navigate your day with a focus and stop and observe and notice the things around you.
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And this topic of light in my life has been similar in that way, where I've had it in my mind and things have just come out in conversation and through different, um, words at church, et cetera.
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And I just think it's really cool.
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Anyways, let's dive in, shall we, to the topic of light, and I wanna start in Genesis one and one, or as fro line.
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Maria would say, let's start at the very beginning.
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I'm sure most of you finished that line in your heads right after I said it, and if you did, well done.
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Awesome job.
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Okay, so Genesis one, verses one through three says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
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The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
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Then God said, let there be light, and there was light.
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This scripture, verse three, let there be light.
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And there was light.
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Such powerful words, simple in their delivery.
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Really.
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So very dramatic when you imagine the cause and effect of what is taking place in our galaxy, light, light and darkness have been present since the beginning.
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It's so interesting to me that God spoke light into the earth before he even made the sun.
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He created light and darkness on the first day, calling it day and night.
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He didn't create the sun till the fourth day.
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Genesis one 14 through 19 says, then God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years, and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth.
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And it was so.
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Then God made two great lights.
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The greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night he made the stars.
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Also, God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light on the earth and to rule over the day and over the night and to divide the light from the darkness.
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And God saw that it was good.
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So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
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So we can take from this, that light and darkness do not always mean the sun and the moon or the stars, or even the revolution of our day.
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Light is a theme used throughout the Bible, often associated with the presence of God, righteousness and the saving knowledge of God, and darkness is associated with the devil evil.
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Living in sin, walking in darkness looks like rejecting God and gratifying the desires of the flesh while walking with God in the light means honoring him and living according to his righteous decrees and holiness.
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Light leads to life.
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Darkness leads to death.
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These are the overarching themes,, and there's a through line that we see God weaving in his narrative since the beginning when he spoke.
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Let there be light as the Daily Grace Co would say, the light that opens God's creation of the world shone forth from his sheer presence.
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This light shone on the work that God was about to display in the world.
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Had there never been this light at the beginning, how would we distinguish the tangible and detailed evidence of God's handiwork and creation? Light changes everything.
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We need light to see and distinguish things around us.
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Have you ever left your house in the daytime and then returned at night and you thought you left the outside lights on when you left the house, but you accidentally forgot to turn on the switch? And that's happened to me several times.
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And we live on a country lane and it is dark outside.
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And so out comes my phone flashlight so that I can make my way out of the car and to the door.
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Because we need light.
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It cuts through all the unknown and unseen places that are covered in darkness.
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It unveils the light will always expose, what the darkness aims to hide, even down in the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean that have gone unexplored for thousands upon thousands of years, there are strange fish that shine their own fluorescent light because since the beginning there has always been light shining in the darkness.
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So we have light and darkness or these greater themes of God's presence and the presence of evil, righteousness versus sin.
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God created man and woman in the light of his presence to walk with him in the cool of the day, and man and woman, humans fell to sin and they tried to hide in the shadows.
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They disobeyed God in Genesis three and God knew what they had done and he knew the life altering consequences that would follow Yet by asking them what they had done, it gave the opportunity for their confession, their repentance.
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To bring them back into the light.
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God did not leave them in utter darkness.
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He brought a shining promise of hope in Genesis three in 15 that he would send a savior to crush the serpent and defeat sin and death.
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Once and for all, just as God brought light into the darkness in creation, God made the promise of spiritual light.
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We see the working of God's promises all throughout the Old Testament.
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God makes promises to an obedient but barren Abraham that he would have descendants when Abraham could not have a single child.
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God pointed to the stars that lit up the heavens to make his point.
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Genesis 15, four through five says, and behold the word of the Lord came to him saying, this one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body, shall be your heir.
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Then he brought him outside and said, look now toward the heavens, and count the stars if you are able to number them.
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And he said to him, so shall your descendants be.
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And Abraham believed God would do what he said he would.
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God continued to use light as we move on into Exodus, the Israelites coming through Abraham are a great nation.
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They were once in Egypt for safety, and now they are enslaved there.
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And God has commissioned Moses to lead the charge of setting the Israelites free.
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We see the presence of light in the form of a burning bush that caught the eye of Moses and led him into the presence of God.
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Exodus three, four through five says,, so when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses.
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And he said, here I am.
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Then he said, do not draw near this place.
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Take your sandals off your feet for the place where you stand is holy ground.
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That place of calling was Moses' first steps into what God had preserved him for and set him aside to do.
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God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery and toward the Promised land.
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The place that he had made a covenant with Abraham to bring his people as the Israelites leave Egypt following the 10 plagues, the ninth one being darkness upon Egypt while light remained where the Israelites lived.
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Again, let there be light, and there was light.
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As the Israelites leave the spiritually hardened and dark place of Egypt, God's presence never leaves them, and it was continuously represented with light.
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Exodus chapter 13, 21 through 22 says, and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light so as to go by day and night.
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He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before.
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The people.
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This was a physical reality that was visible to them and reminded them of God's faithful presence.
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Darkness might have been covering their enemies who pursued after them, but God's presence was shining all around them, protecting them, and God delivered them from Pharaoh and his mighty army on chariots at the Red Sea.
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In the battle of light versus dark, the light always wins because true darkness cannot exist.
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Even with the smallest pinpoint of light, and here we have the light and glory of the Almighty God spoken from the beginning.
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Moses' face was even glowing with a reflection of light when he came down Mount Sinai after he met with God there for further instructions from God concerning his law and how the Israelites were to live and conduct themselves.
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And I want to read this full passage about this because it's actually gonna come up again later.
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So in Exodus 34, 29 through 35, it says, now it was.
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So when Moses came down from Mount Sinai.
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The two tablets of the testimony were in Moses' hand when he came down from the mountain that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.
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So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold the skin of his face shown and they were afraid to come near him.
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Then Moses called to them and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them afterward, all the children of Israel came near and he gave them as commandments, all that.
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The Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai and when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face.
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But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off until he came out.
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And he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whenever he had been commanded.
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And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses.
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That the skin of Moses' face shone.
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Then Moses would put the veil on his face again until he went to speak with him.
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Moses' face shone.
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When he returned from the presence of God, he was reflecting God's light.
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The light of his glory.
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And the Israelites were afraid of this glow coming off of his face.
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And so he wore a veil when he was with them.
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And then of course, he would take it off when he went back into the presence of God.
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But it shows God's presence represented by light, both literally and figuratively.
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God's law.
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God's word brings light to those who read it and to those who live by it.
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Psalms 1 19, 1 0 5 says, your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.
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God's word instructs us on how to live a holy and righteous life pursuing God.
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It is a guardrail against a life of sin and falling to temptation.
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The prophet Isaiah talks about what happens when we don't heed the word of God.
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In Isaiah eight, verses 20 through 22, it says to the law and to the testimony, if they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
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They will pass through it hard pressed and hungry, and it shall happen.
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When they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse their king and their God and look upward.
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Then they will look to the earth and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish, and they will be driven into darkness.
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The truth of God's word helps us combat sin and evil.
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As the Israelites moved into the promised land and the land became their home, they were given a king leading to the anointing of King David.
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In this time, they held the role of God's chosen and anointed nation, and they were favored and blessed because King David sought the Lord and God was their one True God.
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They were a light to the nations, as Isaiah would say.
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But as time went on, the Israelites turned toward idol worship, slipping further and further into darkness, resulting in God pronouncing his judgment and removing his presence from them.
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There were really major repercussions from this.
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They had been living for their flesh instead of living for God, and now they watched as Israel's capital collapsed and they were taken captive.
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The light was gone.
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Without God, there is only spiritual darkness.
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They repeatedly remained unfaithful to God, who is so merciful and faithful that even in their captive state, his promise was sure.
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He would not stay away forever.
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There would be light.
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There was light.
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God does not see time like we do.
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He knows the end from the beginning.
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He is the first and the last.
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So when he spoke out into creation, let there be light, he was there at the beginning.
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But he was also in this moment when his people had turned their backs on him, and the promise spoken at the beginning was still a strong foundation Let there be light and there was light even in the dark and trying times.
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Even when we have given over to our flesh another time, and we are coming back to God in repentance, desperate for his presence, even when the night seems like it has overtaken, God has already spoken into your life.
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At the beginning, he was there with you in that moment saying, let there be light, and I'm here to remind you there is light.
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Isaiah nine and two says, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
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Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death upon them, a light has shined.
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This scripture is prophesying a light that was to come.
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And his name is Jesus.
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We talked about the word being a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, as David wrote so eloquently, well, John would continue that train of thought in John one, john one verses one through five says, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God.
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And the word was God.
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He was in the beginning with God.
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All things were made through him, and without him, nothing was made.
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That was made in him was life, and the life was the light of men.
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And the light shines in the darkness.
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And the darkness did not comprehend it.
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John is talking here of Jesus.
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Jesus was the word at the beginning.
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Let there be.
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Light and that light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot stay.
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Jesus talks of this himself in John 12 and 46.
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He says, I have come as a light to the world that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness.
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Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and God's presence is the light.
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So we must draw near to God's presence, near to Jesus and live in the light.
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Isaiah 42 16 says, I will bring the blind by a way They did not know I will lead them in pads They have not known..
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I will make darkness light before them and crooked places straight.
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These things I will do for them and not forsake them.
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Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise.
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Generations and generations later, John eight and 12 says, then Jesus spoke to them again saying, I am the light of the world.
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He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.
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The light of life.
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Jesus divinely shines the truth.
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In our hearts.
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He is the light of the world.
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Let there be light, and there was light.
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In John 1235 through 36, it says, then Jesus said to them a little while longer, the light is with you walk while you have the light less darkness overtake you.
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He who walks in darkness does not know where he's going.
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While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light.
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These things, Jesus spoke and departed and was hidden from them.
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We hear him saying this, and we can apply it to our own lives.
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We have the light, so let's walk in it.
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As Christ has shown his light on us, we are called to walk in the light pursuing goodness, righteousness, and truth.
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What is pleasing to God.
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The gospel message of Jesus Christ shines into the darkness of sin and brokenness.
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Jesus's sacrifice and his mercy causes us to be able to live in the light.
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After Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection, we see his followers gathered in an upper room in Acts two, they're praying for his presence to come and his Holy Spirit is poured out as it was prophesied.
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And what do we see happen? Tongues of Fire sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.
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fire.
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A wholly purifying presence falling on each of them as the light of the world filled their hearts.
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Paul talks about this in Second Corinthians chapter four, verse five through seven, and I'll read the new Living Translation.
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You see he says.
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We don't go around preaching about ourselves.
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We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus's sake, for God, who said, let there be light in the darkness has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
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we now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.
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This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
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God gets all the glory.
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We are reflections of his glory.
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Toward the beginning of the episode, we talked of Moses reflecting the glory and covering his face with a veil.
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The full glory of God was veiled to them then, but as Paul states, we see it in the face of Jesus Christ and we having the Holy Spirit reflect it to others who are in darkness.
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I will read the full passage here in two Corinthians three.
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It says, but if the Ministry of Death written and engraved on stones was glorious so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the spirit not be more glorious? For if the Ministry of Condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory for even what was made Glorious had no glory in this respect because of the glory that excels for if what is passing away was glorious.
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What remains is much more glorious.
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Verse 12.
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Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech.
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Unlike Moses who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away, but their minds were blinded for until this day.
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The same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament because the veil is taken away in Christ.
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But even to this day, when Moses is red, the veil lies on their heart.
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Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
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Now the Lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is.
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There is liberty.
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But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, just as by the spirit of the Lord.
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Here in this scripture passage, Paul is saying, guys, listen, we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
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Let's let it shine through us.
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Don't cover it up.
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You know the kids' song, and I'm sure it's been in your mind.
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This little light of mine.
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I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
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This is what the song is talking about.
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Don't veil the light of the Lord because where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
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There's freedom.
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So walk in that liberty and mirror it to those around you.
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Illuminate the hope that is found through salvation in Jesus.
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Living a life that brings honor to the Lord and points people back to him.
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Matthew five 14 through 16 says, you are the light of the world.
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A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
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Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.
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God gets all the glory, and as the Daily Grace Handbook states the theme of light and dark gloriously bookends in the concluding chapters of Revelation, here we see the Apostle John writing about the new Heaven and the new Earth.
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In Revelation 21, verse 23, it says.
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The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God.
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Illuminated it.
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The lamb is its light.
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The light in Genesis one, verse three.
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Points to the culmination of God's redemptive story when God Himself will light the world with his presence, there will be no more night darkness will end sin, and death will be no more.
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We will be complete in the righteousness of Jesus.
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We will see all of his plans and purposes unfold, and all the beauty of his creation will be visible to us.
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We will bask in the radiance of God's glory and we will live and worship in the splendor of his holy light forever.
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And I want to experience that.
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I know you want to experience that.
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I have so much hope and joy knowing that God fulfills his promises and that we can trust in him, and it makes me want to reflect that glory to those in darkness so that as many as our willing can come into that eternal light.
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Roman Romans 13 and 12 says The night is far spent.
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The day is at hand.
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Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light.
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So let's go forward this week, putting on the armor of light, walking in the light, shining it to those around us all for the glory of God, because God said, let there be light and rest assured there is light.
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I want to say a big thank you.
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Thank you so much for joining me today.
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I hope you have a wonderful week and find yourself seeing God's light all around you and shining for his glory.
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Until next time, thank you for listening to Brown Couch Commentary.
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Hey everyone, and welcome to Brown Couch Commentary.
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If you love reading the word of God and want a community to talk about it with, then you have found the right place.
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So grab your Bible and let's dive in to this week's topic.
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Hey guys.
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Welcome in.
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I'm sitting here with my notes.
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Some are from the Daily Grace Bible Handbook, as they call it, this is a study tool that my mom got for Christmas, actually, and I borrowed some of it to help me study for our topic today.
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Daily Grace Co has such good and beautifully designed devotionals and a couple of Bible handbooks.
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This one is laying out the themes of the Bible and it has really good.
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Graphs and charts and things to help you as well.
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So it's really neat.
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I've gone through a couple of their devotions in my personal study time over the years, and they're just really well done, and so I recommend checking them out.
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I'll put a link in the.
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Show notes, but our topic this week is as the title states about light, and I want to look at light from its first mention all the way to its last.
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For our purposes right now, we are going to take a 30,000 foot view of this topic.
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We could study in extensive detail, all of these biblical moments that we are going to touch on today.
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Because there's so much depth in the word of God, but also just the vastness of God's perspective.
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His understanding versus my own limited perspective and understanding has just been so illuminating to me since about the beginning of the year.
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And.
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Have you ever had that moment where something from the Bible or your prayer time, or maybe from a message that was preached at your church, sticks out to you and you roll it over and over in your mind and you're thinking on it, and then as the days and weeks pass, you start to hear and encounter so many things about that very topic that you've been mulling over.
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And that's been happening to me for several weeks with the topic of light in the Bible, for instance, with this Daily Grace handbook.
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I was over at my mom's in the week or so after Christmas already thinking about light and the theme of.
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And she's showing me this handbook and I just flip it open and it flips open to the exact page that starts the study on the theme of light and darkness in the Word of God.
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And I am like.
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Oh my goodness.
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I've been thinking about this topic, and so it's just little moments like that that I find so interesting.
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It's because our mind is focused in on the topic that we notice it more around us, or maybe it's God just placing conversations and scriptures and handbooks in our path to help us navigate what he is trying to help us learn.
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It's like those reels that were popular or are popular where people choose a color for the day, whether they are traveling or just out and about around their town, and they take pictures of items or buildings, all sorts of things that are in that color that they've chosen.
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And when they come across it, they take a picture and it's just there to remind you to navigate your day with a focus and stop and observe and notice the things around you.
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And this topic of light in my life has been similar in that way, where I've had it in my mind and things have just come out in conversation and through different, um, words at church, et cetera.
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And I just think it's really cool.
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Anyways, let's dive in, shall we, to the topic of light, and I wanna start in Genesis one and one, or as fro line.
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Maria would say, let's start at the very beginning.
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I'm sure most of you finished that line in your heads right after I said it, and if you did, well done.
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Awesome job.
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Okay, so Genesis one, verses one through three says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
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The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
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Then God said, let there be light, and there was light.
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This scripture, verse three, let there be light.
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And there was light.
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Such powerful words, simple in their delivery.
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Really.
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So very dramatic when you imagine the cause and effect of what is taking place in our galaxy, light, light and darkness have been present since the beginning.
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It's so interesting to me that God spoke light into the earth before he even made the sun.
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He created light and darkness on the first day, calling it day and night.
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He didn't create the sun till the fourth day.
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Genesis one 14 through 19 says, then God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years, and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth.
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And it was so.
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Then God made two great lights.
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The greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night he made the stars.
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Also, God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light on the earth and to rule over the day and over the night and to divide the light from the darkness.
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And God saw that it was good.
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So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
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So we can take from this, that light and darkness do not always mean the sun and the moon or the stars, or even the revolution of our day.
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Light is a theme used throughout the Bible, often associated with the presence of God, righteousness and the saving knowledge of God, and darkness is associated with the devil evil.
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Living in sin, walking in darkness looks like rejecting God and gratifying the desires of the flesh while walking with God in the light means honoring him and living according to his righteous decrees and holiness.
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Light leads to life.
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Darkness leads to death.
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These are the overarching themes,, and there's a through line that we see God weaving in his narrative since the beginning when he spoke.
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Let there be light as the Daily Grace Co would say, the light that opens God's creation of the world shone forth from his sheer presence.
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This light shone on the work that God was about to display in the world.
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Had there never been this light at the beginning, how would we distinguish the tangible and detailed evidence of God's handiwork and creation? Light changes everything.
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We need light to see and distinguish things around us.
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Have you ever left your house in the daytime and then returned at night and you thought you left the outside lights on when you left the house, but you accidentally forgot to turn on the switch? And that's happened to me several times.
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And we live on a country lane and it is dark outside.
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And so out comes my phone flashlight so that I can make my way out of the car and to the door.
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Because we need light.
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It cuts through all the unknown and unseen places that are covered in darkness.
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It unveils the light will always expose, what the darkness aims to hide, even down in the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean that have gone unexplored for thousands upon thousands of years, there are strange fish that shine their own fluorescent light because since the beginning there has always been light shining in the darkness.
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So we have light and darkness or these greater themes of God's presence and the presence of evil, righteousness versus sin.
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God created man and woman in the light of his presence to walk with him in the cool of the day, and man and woman, humans fell to sin and they tried to hide in the shadows.
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They disobeyed God in Genesis three and God knew what they had done and he knew the life altering consequences that would follow Yet by asking them what they had done, it gave the opportunity for their confession, their repentance.
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To bring them back into the light.
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God did not leave them in utter darkness.
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He brought a shining promise of hope in Genesis three in 15 that he would send a savior to crush the serpent and defeat sin and death.
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Once and for all, just as God brought light into the darkness in creation, God made the promise of spiritual light.
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We see the working of God's promises all throughout the Old Testament.
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God makes promises to an obedient but barren Abraham that he would have descendants when Abraham could not have a single child.
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God pointed to the stars that lit up the heavens to make his point.
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Genesis 15, four through five says, and behold the word of the Lord came to him saying, this one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body, shall be your heir.
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Then he brought him outside and said, look now toward the heavens, and count the stars if you are able to number them.
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And he said to him, so shall your descendants be.
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And Abraham believed God would do what he said he would.
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God continued to use light as we move on into Exodus, the Israelites coming through Abraham are a great nation.
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They were once in Egypt for safety, and now they are enslaved there.
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And God has commissioned Moses to lead the charge of setting the Israelites free.
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We see the presence of light in the form of a burning bush that caught the eye of Moses and led him into the presence of God.
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Exodus three, four through five says,, so when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses.
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And he said, here I am.
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Then he said, do not draw near this place.
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Take your sandals off your feet for the place where you stand is holy ground.
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That place of calling was Moses' first steps into what God had preserved him for and set him aside to do.
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God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery and toward the Promised land.
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The place that he had made a covenant with Abraham to bring his people as the Israelites leave Egypt following the 10 plagues, the ninth one being darkness upon Egypt while light remained where the Israelites lived.
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Again, let there be light, and there was light.
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As the Israelites leave the spiritually hardened and dark place of Egypt, God's presence never leaves them, and it was continuously represented with light.
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Exodus chapter 13, 21 through 22 says, and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light so as to go by day and night.
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He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before.
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The people.
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This was a physical reality that was visible to them and reminded them of God's faithful presence.
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Darkness might have been covering their enemies who pursued after them, but God's presence was shining all around them, protecting them, and God delivered them from Pharaoh and his mighty army on chariots at the Red Sea.
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In the battle of light versus dark, the light always wins because true darkness cannot exist.
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Even with the smallest pinpoint of light, and here we have the light and glory of the Almighty God spoken from the beginning.
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Moses' face was even glowing with a reflection of light when he came down Mount Sinai after he met with God there for further instructions from God concerning his law and how the Israelites were to live and conduct themselves.
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And I want to read this full passage about this because it's actually gonna come up again later.
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So in Exodus 34, 29 through 35, it says, now it was.
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So when Moses came down from Mount Sinai.
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The two tablets of the testimony were in Moses' hand when he came down from the mountain that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.
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So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold the skin of his face shown and they were afraid to come near him.
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Then Moses called to them and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them afterward, all the children of Israel came near and he gave them as commandments, all that.
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The Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai and when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face.
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But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off until he came out.
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And he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whenever he had been commanded.
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And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses.
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That the skin of Moses' face shone.
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Then Moses would put the veil on his face again until he went to speak with him.
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Moses' face shone.
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When he returned from the presence of God, he was reflecting God's light.
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The light of his glory.
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And the Israelites were afraid of this glow coming off of his face.
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And so he wore a veil when he was with them.
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And then of course, he would take it off when he went back into the presence of God.
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But it shows God's presence represented by light, both literally and figuratively.
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God's law.
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God's word brings light to those who read it and to those who live by it.
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Psalms 1 19, 1 0 5 says, your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.
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God's word instructs us on how to live a holy and righteous life pursuing God.
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It is a guardrail against a life of sin and falling to temptation.
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The prophet Isaiah talks about what happens when we don't heed the word of God.
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In Isaiah eight, verses 20 through 22, it says to the law and to the testimony, if they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
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They will pass through it hard pressed and hungry, and it shall happen.
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When they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse their king and their God and look upward.
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Then they will look to the earth and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish, and they will be driven into darkness.
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The truth of God's word helps us combat sin and evil.
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As the Israelites moved into the promised land and the land became their home, they were given a king leading to the anointing of King David.
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In this time, they held the role of God's chosen and anointed nation, and they were favored and blessed because King David sought the Lord and God was their one True God.
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They were a light to the nations, as Isaiah would say.
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But as time went on, the Israelites turned toward idol worship, slipping further and further into darkness, resulting in God pronouncing his judgment and removing his presence from them.
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There were really major repercussions from this.
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They had been living for their flesh instead of living for God, and now they watched as Israel's capital collapsed and they were taken captive.
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The light was gone.
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Without God, there is only spiritual darkness.
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They repeatedly remained unfaithful to God, who is so merciful and faithful that even in their captive state, his promise was sure.
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He would not stay away forever.
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There would be light.
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There was light.
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God does not see time like we do.
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He knows the end from the beginning.
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He is the first and the last.
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So when he spoke out into creation, let there be light, he was there at the beginning.
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But he was also in this moment when his people had turned their backs on him, and the promise spoken at the beginning was still a strong foundation Let there be light and there was light even in the dark and trying times.
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Even when we have given over to our flesh another time, and we are coming back to God in repentance, desperate for his presence, even when the night seems like it has overtaken, God has already spoken into your life.
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At the beginning, he was there with you in that moment saying, let there be light, and I'm here to remind you there is light.
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Isaiah nine and two says, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
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Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death upon them, a light has shined.
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This scripture is prophesying a light that was to come.
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And his name is Jesus.
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We talked about the word being a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, as David wrote so eloquently, well, John would continue that train of thought in John one, john one verses one through five says, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God.
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And the word was God.
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He was in the beginning with God.
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All things were made through him, and without him, nothing was made.
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That was made in him was life, and the life was the light of men.
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And the light shines in the darkness.
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And the darkness did not comprehend it.
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John is talking here of Jesus.
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Jesus was the word at the beginning.
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Let there be.
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Light and that light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot stay.
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Jesus talks of this himself in John 12 and 46.
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He says, I have come as a light to the world that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness.
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Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and God's presence is the light.
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So we must draw near to God's presence, near to Jesus and live in the light.
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Isaiah 42 16 says, I will bring the blind by a way They did not know I will lead them in pads They have not known..
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I will make darkness light before them and crooked places straight.
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These things I will do for them and not forsake them.
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Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise.
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Generations and generations later, John eight and 12 says, then Jesus spoke to them again saying, I am the light of the world.
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He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.
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The light of life.
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Jesus divinely shines the truth.
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In our hearts.
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He is the light of the world.
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Let there be light, and there was light.
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In John 1235 through 36, it says, then Jesus said to them a little while longer, the light is with you walk while you have the light less darkness overtake you.
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He who walks in darkness does not know where he's going.
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While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light.
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These things, Jesus spoke and departed and was hidden from them.
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We hear him saying this, and we can apply it to our own lives.
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We have the light, so let's walk in it.
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As Christ has shown his light on us, we are called to walk in the light pursuing goodness, righteousness, and truth.
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What is pleasing to God.
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The gospel message of Jesus Christ shines into the darkness of sin and brokenness.
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Jesus's sacrifice and his mercy causes us to be able to live in the light.
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After Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection, we see his followers gathered in an upper room in Acts two, they're praying for his presence to come and his Holy Spirit is poured out as it was prophesied.
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And what do we see happen? Tongues of Fire sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.
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fire.
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A wholly purifying presence falling on each of them as the light of the world filled their hearts.
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Paul talks about this in Second Corinthians chapter four, verse five through seven, and I'll read the new Living Translation.
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You see he says.
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We don't go around preaching about ourselves.
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We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus's sake, for God, who said, let there be light in the darkness has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
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we now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.
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This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
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God gets all the glory.
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We are reflections of his glory.
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Toward the beginning of the episode, we talked of Moses reflecting the glory and covering his face with a veil.
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The full glory of God was veiled to them then, but as Paul states, we see it in the face of Jesus Christ and we having the Holy Spirit reflect it to others who are in darkness.
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I will read the full passage here in two Corinthians three.
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It says, but if the Ministry of Death written and engraved on stones was glorious so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the spirit not be more glorious? For if the Ministry of Condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory for even what was made Glorious had no glory in this respect because of the glory that excels for if what is passing away was glorious.
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What remains is much more glorious.
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Verse 12.
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Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech.
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Unlike Moses who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away, but their minds were blinded for until this day.
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The same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament because the veil is taken away in Christ.
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But even to this day, when Moses is red, the veil lies on their heart.
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Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
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Now the Lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is.
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There is liberty.
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But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, just as by the spirit of the Lord.
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Here in this scripture passage, Paul is saying, guys, listen, we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
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Let's let it shine through us.
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Don't cover it up.
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You know the kids' song, and I'm sure it's been in your mind.
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This little light of mine.
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I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
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This is what the song is talking about.
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Don't veil the light of the Lord because where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
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There's freedom.
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So walk in that liberty and mirror it to those around you.
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Illuminate the hope that is found through salvation in Jesus.
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Living a life that brings honor to the Lord and points people back to him.
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Matthew five 14 through 16 says, you are the light of the world.
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A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
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Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.
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God gets all the glory, and as the Daily Grace Handbook states the theme of light and dark gloriously bookends in the concluding chapters of Revelation, here we see the Apostle John writing about the new Heaven and the new Earth.
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In Revelation 21, verse 23, it says.
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The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God.
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Illuminated it.
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The lamb is its light.
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The light in Genesis one, verse three.
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Points to the culmination of God's redemptive story when God Himself will light the world with his presence, there will be no more night darkness will end sin, and death will be no more.
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We will be complete in the righteousness of Jesus.
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We will see all of his plans and purposes unfold, and all the beauty of his creation will be visible to us.
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We will bask in the radiance of God's glory and we will live and worship in the splendor of his holy light forever.
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And I want to experience that.
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I know you want to experience that.
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I have so much hope and joy knowing that God fulfills his promises and that we can trust in him, and it makes me want to reflect that glory to those in darkness so that as many as our willing can come into that eternal light.
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Roman Romans 13 and 12 says The night is far spent.
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The day is at hand.
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Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light.
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So let's go forward this week, putting on the armor of light, walking in the light, shining it to those around us all for the glory of God, because God said, let there be light and rest assured there is light.
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I want to say a big thank you.
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Thank you so much for joining me today.
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I hope you have a wonderful week and find yourself seeing God's light all around you and shining for his glory.
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Until next time, thank you for listening to Brown Couch Commentary.
