March, 1935
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
86
M o re m ysterious and p ow erfu l than th e flow o f electricity through cold and dar\ w ires is Tho LIGHT OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE_GLORY OF GOD B y W ILLIAM L. PETTINGILL* Wilmington* Delaware ¿ - W o CJU
He who is Light gave testimony, saying, “Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon y ou : for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in thfe light, that ye may be the chil dren o f light . . . I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness (John 12:35, 36 ,46 ). T he C onflict of L ight and D arkness There came a day when He who is the Light yielded Himself to the death of the cross, with the words, “ This is your hour, and the power o f darkness” (Lk. 22:53). He needed not to do this, and He said o f His life : “ No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down o f myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This com mandment have I received of my Father” (John 10:18). When He who is the Light laid down His life on Cal vary, “ from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour” (Matt. 2 7 :45). This looked like a great victory for the prince o f dark ness, but God was working out His wonderful plan to re deem men from the power o f darkness, “ to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power o f Satan unto God” (Acts 26:18). A fter three days, He who is the Light came forth out o f the grave, for Satan was not able to hold Him there. Through death, the Son o f God had overcome him that had the power o f death, that is, the devil, in order that He -might deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (Heb. 2 :1 4 ,15). A truly titanic struggle is constantly going on between the kingdom of light and the power o f darkness. But there
“ But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. “In whom the god o f this world hath blinded the minds o f them which believe not, lest the light o f the glorious gos pel o f Christ, who is the image o f God, should shine unto them. . . “ F or we preach n ot , ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake, _ “ F or God, who commanded the light to shine out o f darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light o f the knowledge o f the glory o f God in the face o f Jesus Christ. “ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency o f the power may be o f God, and not o f us (2 Cor. 4 :3-7). OD is Light. And,H is first recorded word was: “ Let there be light” (1 John 1 :5 ; Gen. 1 :3 ). Satan, whose original name, Lucifer, signifies “ light-bearer” or “ morning-star” (c f. Isa. 14:12, R .V .), fell from his high estate through pride and became the prince o f darkness, plunging the whole world into the dark ness which had come upon him through his fall. When the fullness o f the time was come, the mighty God became incarnate in the virgin’s Son, a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of His people Israel (Gal. 4 :4 ; Lk. 2 :32 ). His herald came before him “ for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might be lieve. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1 :6 -9 ). “ In him was life ; and the life was the light o f men. And the light shineth in the darkness ; and the darkness overcame it not” (John 1 :4, 5, R .V ., margin). *Author and*Bible Teacher.
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