The Joy of Living in Light

Before God said, “Let there be 
light!” and there was light, 
God was.  And Jesus was: 
Light of the world, 
uncreated light that was, 
and is, and is to come. 

Within the new Jerusalem
no other light will shine,
for he will reign, and day
and night (light undulating) 
will be redefined.  Forever
will be lit another way.

And I live in this light!
In “now” when sun still
rides the sky and moon 
still swells and shrinks
to mark the months,
my heart knows other rhythms.

The Joy within is lit by fires of
radiance from the Throne,
unending, independent of
rotations, situations.
I ask then, why am I:
too often numb to Joy?

How can my heart turn blind, 
unconscious of that glow?
Why do the ebbtides of
my passion leave me low,
stumbling once again 
in half-light, in dark shadow?

I yearn for understanding that 
goes deeper than my skin, for eyes
that see within and through
to what is real and true.
By Spirit power may I be filled 
with light, within my now!

We light the third candle of Advent and sing “Joy to the world! The Lord has come!” Contemplating the entry of the King of the Universe into human form, beginning as an embryo and growing up through childhood and teen years to manhood, we are overwhelmed by wonder. That is, we feel this impact when we let that truth sink in. But when we just light the candle and sing in what can become a routine celebration, we can miss that joy.

The shepherds heard the angels announce that joy and were amazed. They rushed off to see the reality of the baby wrapped in cloths to keep warm, lying in the trough that had held food for the animals. Wow! It was true! Just as the angels had said! Thrilled, they had to tell everyone they met what they had just seen. Their joy was overflowing. I wonder how many of those they told believed them and took off to see the newborn for themselves. Maybe they just disregarded their joy and their message as a frivolous rumor—as many do today.

Those of us who believe and know the rest of the truth about this King come to rescue us, we can experience the same joy that the shepherds felt. It may feel like we are in the dark of night, living in this world, but the Good News is still good news. And although we were not physically present when Messiah came to earth, we believe. That opens our souls, our spiritual selves, to joy!

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy[!] (1 Pet. 1:8 NIV)

Does that extravagant joy seem elusive? It is indeed hard to experience unless we focus on the gifts we have received from Messiah: forgiveness, redemption (bought out of slavery to the dark), constant guidance and companionship. We respond in love, committing ourselves to walk life with him. When our hearts are aligned with his, aware of his presence and activity, his joy fills us. It did that for the followers of Yahweh in the Old Testament days:

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. (Ps. 126:3 NIV)

Yahweh’s light gave joy to those aligned with his principles, the “upright”:

Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. (Ps. 97:11 NIV)

Then Jesus came as God in human form. He was the true Message from God, the one who breathed life into the dark world at creation and in his coming to earth:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  (Jn. 1:1 NIV)

And since Jesus is light, we have light that is more than just daily sunshine. It is life that lasts forever. We will never walk in spiritual darkness again!

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (Jn. 8:12 NIV)

So if we are walking in his light, and coming to know him and love him increasingly by turning our inner eyes to him constantly, we will experience that joy that we long for. The darkness has not overcome his light. We can see clearly, and God himself fills us with all the hope, peace and joy that we are so deeply grateful for as we contemplate the miracle of his coming to us. The Word himself underlined this provision for his people when he prayed to the Father just before he gave his life for us:

“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. (Jn. 17:13 NIV)

Peter heard that prayer, and passed on great encouragement in the letters he wrote. His words assure us that we can experience this joy when we love him and let him be the focus of our life:

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy (1 Pet. 1:8 NIV)

May our joy overflow so that the world is intrigued and drawn to the Light of the world!