039: The Light of Christ [Podcast]

Merry Christmas!

Years ago, someone asked me a question which I struggled with for some time, which I will now ask you:

“Can you see light?”

She wanted to know if we saw things with our eyes by using light, could we actually see light.

What do you think? (I will answer this later.)

Photo courtesy of Flickr/Creative Commons/d arthur [/featured-image]

Personally, I struggled with this question for days. Being an electrical engineering student who was studying the electromagnetic spectrum, I suddenly realized how little I knew about my field of study and how it applies to reality.

But, later in life, another question brought me back to this issue. Today, I want to share both with you as we explore the light of Christ who is the light of the world.

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The topic of the Week: Light of Christ | The Light of the World

This is a quick outline of the podcast.

My first struggle with light: “Can we see light?” 

• Result: We can see NOTHING but light.
• The eye is the receptor of light but can be fooled into thinking something is there.

• • Optical illusions
  • Flight instruments and simulators

The Properties of Light

• Spectrum
  • Radio/TV/MW — infrared- ROY-G-BIV – ultraviolet — X-rays
  • True light is WHITE. When you take away part of the light, you get color.
• Absorption
  • When we see color, it is not color, but the absence of color. It is not true light!
  • Color is beautiful, but it is not pure light. It is messed with light.
• Dual nature of light
  • Waves – reflection, refraction. TV antenna reflects off a billboard
  • Particle nature – Photons

Light and Christ

• We cannot explain two things:
  • Triune God (Trinity)
  • Dual nature of light.
• Purity. Made of many colors. Seems simpler, and yet complex.
• Truth
  • Light is the source, eyes are the receptor of light. The eye can be deceived.
  • Truth is the source (John 17:17), the heart is the receptor. The heart can be deceived. (“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9 ESV)
  • Just like the light spectrum, most deception is a part of the truth! Cults are an example. People who pick a particular quote in the bible as justification for sin are speaking partial truth. Not pure.
• Absence
  • Absence of light – darkness
  • Absence of good – evil
  • One question we often ask, why does evil exist? How can God allow evil? A better question is to define evil without good. It is like defining darkness without using light.
    • Darkness is the absence of light.
    • Evil is the absence of good.

My Crisis of Light and Christ

• Question from my 4-year old son: “How can I pray to someone I cannot see?”
• Often quoted passage from my pastor: “Keep your eyes firmly focused on Christ”

Result: Just as the eye can only see light, Christ is all we can see. As we struggle through life, we struggle to find the truth.

If you keep digging, you will find the truth!!!

If you do not and you are struggling with your faith, keep digging, and looking for truth.

When you dig enough, you see that there is only one pure truth and one pure light. Do not let your eyes nor your heart deceive you.

Merry Christmas!

Episode Resources

References to light in the bible. Not all are about the Light of Christ.

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[reminder]How have you seen the light of Christ? [/reminder]