GOD’S PLAN OF REDEMPTION
FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT
John 1:1-5
1. 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 men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
This is just a repeat of Genesis 1.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
John 1:1-2 give some further clarification of God. John 1 clarifies but also complicates
Who God is.
John 1 :3 states that everything that was made was made through the Word (Jesus).
In Genesis 1, it is God doing the talking. It is God speaking the world into existence.
John 1:3 says it was the Word (Jesus) who is God the creator.
The person of God and the person of Jesus are the same. Later on
We will find that person of the Holy Spirit is one with God.
The understanding that we have of the Word is through the Holy Spirit.
One God in three persons.
Verse 4, Jesus is life. Jesus made man in His own likeness and image. Genesis 1:27
He breathed into man and he became a living soul. To deny the existence of Jesus is to
Deny your creator.
Verse 4. Life is a connection with Jesus. Light is Jesus and Jesus is the light of man.
Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Being connected with Jesus is access to all knowledge
Life, light, and knowledge are all unlimited aspects of Jesus.
John 1:5
The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
I want to spend some time looking at light and darkness.
The odds are against the world coming to the light.
There are 7.9 billion people in the world. Only 31 percent of the population
Are Christian.
How often do most Christians go to church?
A survey found that only 26% of those polled attended religious services \”every week or more often\”, 9% went \”once or twice a month\”, 21% went \”a few times a year\”, 3% went \”once a year\”, 22% went \”less than once a year\”, and 18% never attend religious services.
It is our desire to be in the dark that prevents us from living fully in the light.
John 3:19
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness
instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Most Christians are not totally committed to living with Jesus.
We talk a good game. But we can’t fool God. We can’t fool the Light.
Commitment shows up in service and giving.
Christians give on average only 2.5 percent of their income.
The command is 10 percent plus an offering. Mal 3:10
Most Christians, are not serving and not giving, but God’s mercy and grace
Flows freely.
We are living in partial darkness. We are living in sin.
Sin didn’t just happen, it is part of God’s plan of redemption. It is God’s plan to
Give man a choice; Sin or God, light or darkness
Let’s look at a simple illustration
GOD’S REDEMPTIVE PLAN FOR MAN
BORN IN DARKNESS
All of us have areas of darkness.
Sin is not your fault. You were born in sin, shaped in iniquity.
CREATION OF ANGELS
Sin has it origin among the angels before the earth was formed.
The angels were created first
Job 38:4-7
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
THE FALL OF THE ANGELS
Isaiah 14:12-15
How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart, \”I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.\”
15 But you are brought down to the grave,
to the depths of the pit.
Ezekiel 28:12-16
\”\’You were the model of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper,
sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold;
on the day you were created they were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you. 16 Through your widespread trade
you were filled with violence, and you sinned.
Lucifer renamed Satan fell before the foundation of the earth.
He was kicked out of heaven and allowed to roam the earth
GOD’S PLAN FOR DARKNESS
Darkness has a definition
Darkness is ignorance of God’s Word
Darkness is sin.
Darkness has a purpose
Darkness frames the light
Look at the moon at night. Darkness is a frame for light.
DARKNESS IS A SHOW CASE FOR GOD’S GLORY
When we come to appreciate the light, God can bring us out of darkness
Darkness is a showcase for light
If we didn’t have darkness, you would not see God’s glory in the stars and the moon
The light shows you the magnitude of darkness.
Darkness is a place of separation
Genesis 1:4-5
God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the
light \”day,\” and the darkness he called \”night.
Darkness is a place for the dead.
2 Peter 2:17
These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.
Darkness prompts the grace and mercy of God toward those in the light.
Colossians 1:13-14
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The problem with darkness is that it is never all dark
Darkness cannot overcome light
Every individual was given the ability to know the light
Everyone knows right from wrong
Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world God\’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Therefore, those who do evil are well aware of their wrongs. Those who lie know it is a lie. They
Would rather believe the lie that they tell themselves.
It is the darkness of the world that distresses the predestined that God uses to draw them to himself.
John 6:44
\”No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is the Word, Jesus, God that calls us out of darkness.
Romans 8:30
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
GOD’S PURPOSE OF LIGHT
TO RESCUE MAN
Light has it’s purpose
Genesis 1:4
God saw that the light was good.
It is God’s desire that we see His Good
Light has a definition
Knowledge of Jesus
God is light.
God uses the light to draw us out of darkness
God uses the light to show us His righteousness.
Light cannot be overcome
The word overcome in Greek means to seize with hostile intent.
We have to seize the light with the intent of destroying darkness in our
Lives.
The only time you can’t see the sun and the moon is when God is working in
The atmosphere to bring rain.
Light is eternal
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
Light is the place of the living
John 8:12
\”I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.\”
Light is the time of work
John 9:4-5
4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
What is the work we were designed to do?
John 6:29
Jesus answered, \”The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.\”
Our work is to believe and present the Gospel so others can believe in God.
The point of the lesson is to show that we all have areas of
Darkness that we need to be aware of and work to eliminate.
We have a choice; Light or darkness.
We all should be the light that people are drawn to.
Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
CLASS EXERCISE
WHAT IS A SMPLE WAY TO INTODUCE JESUS TO A STRANGER?
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO CHANGE A WORLDLY CONVERSATION TO A DISCUSSION ABOUT GOD?
HOW DO YOU ENCOURAGE SOMEONE WHO DON’T GOD WITH THE WORD?
Rev. M. Mitchell
