The Light of Christ
6 min read
11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
John 1:11-13
“[That] which was His own” is the whole universe, because the whole universe was created through Him (verse 3; Genesis 1), but it is specifically referring to humanity. There are those who receive Him—that is, those who believe everything that Jesus said. But the vast majority of humanity does not receive Him.
Those who do not receive Jesus only understand physical conception and birth. But those who receive Jesus are born of God. Being born of God is like Christ being born in us through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Or we could think of it as the light of Christ in us illuminating the image of Christ in us and growing the presence of Christ in us.
The light of Christ in us also reveals the sin in our hearts and sanitizes our hearts. Yet it is up to us to sweep away the dirt of sin, even though our hearts have been sanitized clean by the light of Christ.
It is the light of Christ in us that saves us, and that light can never be turned off once it’s been turned on.
The assurance of our salvation is (as the song goes) “a bulwark never failing,” a defensive wall that protects us from the attacks of the devil. More specifically, a bulwark is “an extension of a ship's sides above the level of the deck.” So not only does the assurance of our salvation protect us from external attacks, it keeps us from being thrown out into the raging seas of sin—or into the cold, empty space of sin (if you are a sci-fi fan).
The Apostle Paul refers to our salvation as a “helmet” (Ephesians 6:17). Along those lines, the assurance of our salvation protects our heads from suffering the injury of Satan’s schemes and lies that cause us to become paralyzed by guilt and shame. Or if our heads suffer the injury of Satan’s lies, we might become paralyzed in a seat of judgmentalism, constantly pointing a finger at others and doubting the salvation of others.
Whatever the case, when our heads suffer the injury of Satan’s lies so that we question the completion of the work of Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, either in ourselves or in others, our lives become unfruitful.
All of us have good days and bad days when it comes to sweeping away the dirt of sin from our hearts. But one thing we must be completely convinced of:
38 … that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38
Father, You alone are good, and Your lovingkindness, faithfulness, and mercy endure forever. You have “forgotten” all of my sin, even though my sin is always before me. But let me not be deceived into my own condemnation. Rather, let me hold on to Your grace. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
