Illumination—When the Light Goes On
We live in a time where right and wrong, good and bad, truth and lies, is constantly changing. Is there even an ultimate truth? From a Christian understanding, ultimate truth is not as subjective or fluid as our culture claims. There is a final truth that guides all of humanity and it comes from God. In this current series of blogs, “Truth: Fluid or Final?” I want to delve into what is the bedrock of truth for humanity—the Bible—it’s origins, its function, reliability, and authority. Today, I’m exploring how God reveals his truth to us through illumination. This occurs when God the Holy Spirit helps the Christ-follower understand and apply the truth of God’s word.
TWO ADVOCATES
God has revealed himself and his truth to humanity and ensured it has been communicated to the world through the centuries. First by prophets/preachers of old who were inspired by God to speak truth and preserve it through the written word. That shows up as Old Testament Scripture. And then in John 1:14, the Apostle John writes…
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Jesus personified the truth of God. He was God’s personal advocate (promoter, encourager, and comforter) to people while he lived on earth. He lived out God’s truth perfectly; he taught it, explained it, and demonstrated it. To ensure humanity would have knowledge of the life of Jesus, God preserved the life story of his Son through the Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—all of whom were inspired by God the Holy Spirit and oversaw the transmission of the life and words of Jesus. The balance of the New Testament scripture was also written by men who knew Jesus and were likewise inspired by the Holy Spirit. The finished writings of the New Testament canon originated from God and therefore is authoritative as absolute truth. The Apostle Paul wrote 2 Timothy 3:16-17…
16 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
The question is, how does God make scripture useful to us? How can we understand the truths of Jesus, as well as the Old Testament and New Testament writers? Answer: God gave us a second helper; an advocate—the Holy Spirit. Jesus talked about God’s plan to make his truth understandable to people of faith in John 14:16-17, 26…
16 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
Jesus is saying that his followers have two Advocates:
(1) Jesus who pleads our case to God the Father for the purpose of salvation and forgiveness of sin.
(2) the Holy Spirit who pleads the Father’s provisions for the believer.The Holy Spirit personally relates and joins Christ-follower to the Father and the Father to believers in wonderful fellowship and community. This is actually a closer relationship than the apostles experienced with the physical presence of Jesus in their lives. How?
We read in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that the Spirit of Jesus, lives inside his true followers…
19 “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?”
You can expect the Holy Spirit to work on your behalf each day. He will take up the role that Jesus had with the apostles while He was on earth, but even more!
IN A NUTSHELL
In John chapters 14-16, we’re given insight into what the Holy Spirit does for the follower of Jesus:
A. To Advocate, Comfort, Support, and Console; come alongside you and within you to help. 14:16
B. To teach you all things, and to bring to your remembrance the word/truth of Jesus Christ. 14:17
C. To testify of Jesus Christ. 15:26.
D. To convict you of your sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 16:8
E. To guide us into all truth. 16:13
F. To show you things to come. 16:13
G. To glorify Jesus. 16:14
H. To show you the things of the Father and of the Son. 16:15.
In short, the Holy Spirit connects your born again human spirit to the deep things of God. He engages the word of God, the scriptures, to make it alive, active, known and understood by people belonging to God. Hebrews 4:12 says…
12 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
The Spirit teaches you, reminds you, guides you, gives you wisdom and reveals the deep things of God, casts light upon the truth of God and how it applies to everything going on in your life. It’s called illumination. The question is, are you committed to living a life of illumination?
PEEPHOLE LIVING
Let’s see if I can illustrate this from a story from USA Today writer Larry Copeland. He wrote a story about “peephole” driving. He writes…
“Anyone who lives up here in the frozen north knows what this is. We’ve all been a peephole driver. You're in a hurry to get to work on time, and when you walk out into the cold you find that your car is covered in a layer of snow and ice. You start the car and turn up the heater. You do some scraping but lose the battle, so you chip out a small peephole space on your windshield because by then you can’t feel your fingers or toes, so you just get in and go! Then it hits you: you can hardly see. You drive really slow, lean up close to the windshield, peer out your peephole and hope you don’t run into anyone before the defrosters melt more of the ice away from your windows. Copeland's article ends with this warning from the Department of Motor Vehicles: “Peephole driving is an invitation to disaster.”
Well, peephole driving is a good picture of what it's like to go through life with the limited vision that comes from a narrow understanding of God and his truth. It’s the kind of limitations that come from not knowing the Scriptures and how they apply to life. Instead, cooperate with the Holy Spirit who is living and working in your life to illuminate your mind and instruct your heart.
NEXT STEP
1. There’s really no shortcut. In my estimation, hearing about Jesus secondhand (radio, preaching, talking to others about God is good and helpful to a point. Don’t get stuck in the rut of peephole driving as a Christ-follower. There’s no good substitute for reading, knowing and seeking to understand scripture for yourself. If you have been more dependent on second-hand truth, challenge yourself to set aside time to read, study, and reflect on the Scriptures as a way of life. Get in a Bible study with others where the scriptures are read and discussed.
