Living in Light of Eternity: Walking in the Light of Christ

July 11th, 2023
by Ryan Barlow

What is the Light?

In John 1, we learn that Jesus is the true light and that His light shines in the darkness, which nothing can overcome. When we live in light of eternity, we are living in the light of Christ. However, the world is a dark place, and when we put our hope in worldly things, we are not walking in the light.

Walking in the Darkness

Many of us walk a path of darkness, whether it be consumerism, hedonism, or nihilism. These paths may seem to offer light, but ultimately lead to destruction. Confessing our struggles to Jesus is the only way to walk in the light.

What happens to us when we continue to walk in the darkness? Let’s look to Romans 5:3-4 in reverse.

No Hope: The here and now is all we have and there is nothing beyond this life. With this perspective our…

Character Decreases: Life is all about the self. All of the dark “isms” become our gods. When our character decreases our…

Perseverance Decreases: We lean towards giving up. We self-medicate. When hope, character and perseverance decreases, we are not prepared for…

Suffering, Loss, or Trials: Suffering is interpreted as God’s absence. We will do whatever it takes to avoid suffering. This is a wide, dark path that leads to destruction.

Walking in the Light

When we continue to walk in darkness, our hope, character, and perseverance decrease, ultimately leading to suffering and despair. However, by the power of the Spirit, we can walk the narrow, well-lit path outlined by the Apostle Paul in Romans 5:3-4

Let’s look at Paul’s text in the correct oder to see how we walk in the light!

Glory in Suffering: Trial, loss and suffering are not viewed as the absence of God - it is in our suffering that God shows up! This is our cross to bear so that others can see our perspective and give glory to God. Even our suffering can be leveraged to help ourselves and others to…

Grow in Perseverance: The Holy Spirit is within us and around us, giving us faith that Jesus will never leave us, nor forsake us. Jesus didn’t give up. Jesus carried His cross to Calvary’s hill. We are called to carry our cross of suffering with perseverance. Suffering and perseverance…

Deepens our Character: As our character deepens, we grow in the fruit of the Spirit. We realize that true life is found when we give our lives to love God and our neighbor. Suffering, perseverance and character lead us to…

Hope: Our hope increases for what is happening now, and what is to come. We have been set free as Christians to live with hope and joy. Christ will make all things in His creation new.

We can glory in suffering, grow in perseverance, deepen our character, and increase our hope. Jesus is the light and the life, and He invites us to walk with Him on the well-lit path. Our eternity is in His hands, and we can be the light of Jesus as we live in light of eternity. This is the well-lit path that Jesus walked for us - and He invites us to walk with Him. Jesus is the light and the life! Live in light of eternity.