Arise and Shine

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.  And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”  Isaiah 60:1-3

In our day, as in the past, the church of Jesus Christ is looked upon with disdain by the world.  The church body, Christians, have been persecuted throughout the ages, and this persecution will only become greater as we draw closer to the time of Christ’s second coming.  Believers who are 50 years old or older have seen the increase in hostility against Jesus and His church.  When I was young, people may not have been believers, but generally speaking, they had respect for the church.  They understood the importance of the church even if they didn’t attend or have any connection to it.  Fast forward to today and even some who claim to be Christians really don’t have the respect for the church that they should.  In the mega church that I attended for several years, young men wore their baseball hats in the sanctuary, women dressed like they were going to a nightclub, people strewed their bulletins on the floor, and some brought in their lattes as if they were in a movie theater.  Of course, these things are benign compared to how the unsaved are acting toward God’s house and His people in these last days.

The world is persecuting the very ones who have the knowledge and ability to show the world hope and the promise of a better life through Christ.  In Chapter 60 of the book of Isaiah, God calls on His people to “arise and shine” because His light is on them showing them the path they must walk and also letting others see the Light of the Lord on them.  I suppose we could call them “shining examples”.  This is what Christians are to be–a “shining example” to the rest of the world, showing them God’s light and how they don’t have to walk in darkness.

Whoever doesn’t know the Lord lives in darkness.  Our world is covered in the darkness of sin.  However, light always defeats the darkness.  Darkness can never overcome light, and God’s people are the only true lights in the world.  In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:14-16, He said, “Ye are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”  Good works do not save us, but they show the world the power of God in saving a person and giving him or her the desire to live righteously and let their light shine on a lost and dying world.  With today’s lack of concern for the Lord and for eternity, how are folks going to see the light of God’s love if we don’t show it to them by our words and our lives?  The lost don’t even realize the danger that is ahead of them because they are walking in the dark.

God intended for Israel to be a shining light for Him so that other nations would come to worship Him and claim Him for their God.  He sent His Son, Jesus, born into a Jewish family, to be the sacrifice for man’s sin.  Not only did the Jews fail to be God’s shining light to the rest of the world, they, as a nation, failed to embrace God’s Son as their Messiah.  Therefore, God turned to the Gentiles to populate His kingdom.  It was always God’s plan to offer His salvation to the Jew first, then to Gentiles.  When Jesus returns, salvation will be made available once again to Israel.

There is something compelling and drawing about light.  Turn on a porchlight in the summer and watch the bugs buzz about it.  We have heard stories about those who have died and revived and said that they saw a brilliant light.  People who begin to come out of a trying situation say they “can see a light at the end of the tunnel”.  When pursuing a solution for a problem, people will say, “Let’s shed some light on the problem”.  It is a shame that our political leaders refuse to shed the “light of the Gospel” on all the evil corruption that takes place among nations.  One day, though, they will have no choice other than to let God’s glorious light shine on their evil deeds and expose them for who they really are–agents of Satan.  God’s glorious light has a drawing power to all those who seek the truth.  When a Christian lets his light shine, others are drawn to him and desire the joy and peace that the true believer and follower of Jesus Christ exhibits.  Do those of us who are Christians realize what an important and necessary responsibility that we have to those who are walking in the dark?  If not us, then who?