Leaving the Cave

The Apostle John says that “Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. John 3:19-20 (NIV). It seems backwards, illogical, but something or someone, has tricked us, blinded us.

The Apostle Paul says, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4, NIV). We are kept in darkness by the leader of darkness. Worse, we want the darkness. We don’t even want a world touched by the sun’s rays.

So what will change this dark story?

Let’s pretend that you were born in a cave and you grew up knowing nothing about the sun. You are content with dim candles and you don’t appreciate what the sun has to offer. How can you be thrilled or motivated by it until you have experienced it? The only chance in your dark situation is if someone else comes and tells you about their experience in the sun and you are compelled to see it yourself.

Our world has lost sight of God’s glory. It has no sight at all! Lost people cannot experienced God’s glory nor do they seek it. It’s a fairy tale with little relevance or sometimes portrayed as oppressive (in light there is accountability).

Paul explains God’s solution- complete conversion. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6, NIV).

We need to be re-born to see, feel, and long for light. This is the same miraculous creation as when God formed the earth out of chaos. Like Adam who awoke to see his Creator, so the first thing our hearts perceive is the beauty of Christ.