âLet there be light.â Are there first words more famous?
Not that the Speaker was wordless till then,
But first, because this is where life starts, for us.
In Him was life, this life the light of men.
Who is He? In truth, He is all truthâs ground,
The life, the way, the one who promised, when
With whole heart He is sought, He will be found
- But the tragedy is this: all have sinned
And fallen short, and all of us have bound
Ourselves to the dark. We would rather be blind,
Had we our way. We choose slavery, call
It freedom, grapple with shadows trying to find
Meaning and life where neither is. And all
Striving after light is futile by our hand;
Itâs not that we find it, but that it falls
Upon us. It took me long to understand
That sight is not a given, but a gift.
I thought I knew this Jesus: in the land
Iâm from, most do. I got the general drift
That a man died on a tree long ago,
And He did it out of love. I could sift
That much from the stories and songs, though
What it meant for me, I couldnât yet tell;
I couldnât yet see; I didnât yet know
That He died out of love for me. And well
You might ask why. It wasnât for me to
Learn and discern, to have a Christian sell
It to me. It was up to the one who
Told light to shine in darkness to show
Himself to me, in my darkened heart, through
His Spirit, that by this light I could know
The glory of God when I saw Christâs face.
It was the Spirit who led me to go
To the Way, Truth, Life waiting to embrace
Me. See, this is where life starts, for us. Seeing
Is truly believing, when we find our gaze
Turned to the cross and watch our debt being
Paid for, our sin being slain, once, forevermore.
The Spirit illuminates, Heâs freeing
Eyes from their scales, and this alone is more
Than we deserve, but it doesnât stop there:
Jesus told His disciples, the night before
He died, that better than His being here
With us is the Spirit alive within
Us. He is our Counsellor; Comforter;
Our guide into all truth and peace; hidden
Wisdom in plain sight; the very mind of
Christ; guarantee of the promise, sealed in
Our hearts. He keeps our minds on things above,
With Christ at the side of the Father whom we
Know is ours through love. Once, as a dove,
He descended, but also as fire; He
Fills us with peace, but also with power,
Fervour, light, love, joy, peace, patience, every
Facet of the one we now see with our
Faces unveiled as all things are made new,
From glory to glory, hour by hour,
Until we find we are like Him, through
The Spirit. Till then, let us take the word
Of God with both hands, and let it imbue
Our being; it is the Spiritâs own sword,
Slaying the dark with the light of the Lord.
