Message Six

The Great Light

Scripture Reading: Isa. 9:1-5; 42:6; 49:6; 50:10-11; 2:5

Isa. 9:1-5  But gloom does not remain in the place where there was anguish: formerly He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali contemptibly, but afterward He treats the way of the sea, across the Jordan, with glory, Galilee of the nations. ²The people who walked in the darkness / Have seen a great light; / Upon those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death / Light has shined. ³You have multiplied the nation; / You have increased their gladness; / They are glad before You as with the gladness of harvest, / As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. ⁴For You break the yoke of their burden / And the staff on their shoulder, / The rod of their oppressor, / As in the day of Midian. ⁵For all the boots / Of those who in boots trample in the battle-quake / And the garments / Rolled in blood / Are for burning; / They are fuel for fire.

Isa. 42:6  I am Jehovah; I have called You in righteousness; / I have held You by the hand; / I have kept You and I have given You / As a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations;

Isa. 49:6  He says, It is too small a thing that You would be My Servant / To raise up the tribes of Jacob / And bring back the preserved of Israel; / I will also set You as a light of the nations / That You may be My salvation unto the ends of the earth.

Isa. 50:10-11  Who among you fears Jehovah; / Who hears the voice of His servant; / Who walks in darkness / And has no light? / Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, / And rely on his God. ¹¹Indeed, all of you who kindle a fire, / Who surround yourselves with firebrands, / Walk into the light of your fire / And into the firebrands which you have lit. / You will have this from My hand: / You will lie down in torment.

Isa. 2:5  House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Jehovah.

I. The light in Genesis 1:3 is a type of Christ as the real light—John 1:4-5, 9:

Gen. 1:3  And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.

John 1:4-5  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

John 1:9  This was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

A. Christ is the true light of the universe; He is the rising sun from on high, the bright morning star, and the Sun of righteousness—Luke 1:78; Rev. 22:16b; Mal. 4:2.

Luke 1:78  Because of the merciful compassions of our God, in which the rising sun will visit us from on high,

Rev. 22:16  I Jesus have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright morning star.

Mal. 4:2  But unto you who fear My name will the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings, and you will go forth and leap about like well-fed calves.

B. The physical light in Genesis 1:3 is a type of Christ as the spiritual light for the new creation—2 Cor. 4:6; 5:17:

Gen. 1:3  And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.

2 Cor. 4:6  Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Cor. 5:17  So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new.

1. Light is necessary for generating life; according to a great principle in the Bible, light is for life, and where light is, there is life—John 8:12; 1:9, 12.

John 8:12  Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 1:9  This was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

John 1:12  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name,

2. In Genesis light is for the old creation, but in the Gospel of John light is for the new creation; the old creation was brought into existence through physical light, whereas the new creation is brought into being through Christ as spiritual light—vv. 4-5, 9, 12; 8:12; 12:36; 2 Cor. 4:6.

John 1:4-5  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

John 1:9  This was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

John 1:12  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name,

John 8:12  Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 12:36  While you have the light, believe into the light, so that you may become sons of light. Jesus said these things, and He went away and was hidden from them.

2 Cor. 4:6  Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

II. The divine light is the nature of God’s expression, it shines in the divine life, and it is the source of the divine truth—1 John 1:5-6; John 1:4; 8:12:

1 John 1:5-6  And this is the message which we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. ⁶If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and are not practicing the truth;

John 1:4  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 8:12  Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

A. Light is God’s shining, God’s expression; when God is expressed, the nature of that expression is light—1 John 1:5.

1 John 1:5  And this is the message which we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

B. The divine light shines in the divine life, for light and life go together—John 1:4; 8:12; Psa. 36:9.

John 1:4  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 8:12  Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Psa. 36:9  For with You is the fountain of life; / In Your light we see light.

C. The divine light is the source of the divine truth; when the divine light shines upon us, it becomes the truth, which is the divine reality—John 1:5, 9; 8:12, 32; 18:37.

John 1:5  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

John 1:9  This was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

John 8:12  Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 8:32  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

John 18:37  Pilate said therefore to Him, So then You are a king? Jesus answered, You say that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, that I would testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.

D. The divine light, which shines in the divine life and issues in the divine truth, is embodied in the Lord Jesus, God incarnate—1:1, 4, 14; 8:12; 9:5; 14:6.

John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:4  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 1:14  And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.

John 8:12  Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 9:5  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

John 14:6  Jesus said to him, I am the way and the reality and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.

III. Christ is the great light for shining in darkness and for release from bondage—Isa. 9:1-5:

Isa. 9:1-5  But gloom does not remain in the place where there was anguish: formerly He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali contemptibly, but afterward He treats the way of the sea, across the Jordan, with glory, Galilee of the nations. ²The people who walked in the darkness / Have seen a great light; / Upon those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death / Light has shined. ³You have multiplied the nation; / You have increased their gladness; / They are glad before You as with the gladness of harvest, / As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. ⁴For You break the yoke of their burden / And the staff on their shoulder, / The rod of their oppressor, / As in the day of Midian. ⁵For all the boots / Of those who in boots trample in the battle-quake / And the garments / Rolled in blood / Are for burning; / They are fuel for fire.

A. As the great light, Christ is the true light, the light of life—John 1:9, 4; 8:12:

John 1:9  This was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

John 1:4  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 8:12  Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

1. Christ is the unique light; apart from Him there is no light—12:46.

John 12:46  I have come as a light into the world, that everyone who believes into Me would not remain in darkness.

2. In order to have true light, we must have Christ in an experiential way—Micah 7:8; John 8:12.

Micah 7:8  Do not rejoice against me, O my enemy; / When I fall, I will rise up; / When I sit in the darkness, / Jehovah will be a light to me.

John 8:12  Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

3. We can see light only in the light of Christ; if we want light, we must receive Christ and touch Christ—Psa. 36:9b.

Psa. 36:9  For with You is the fountain of life; / In Your light we see light.

B. As the great light, Christ shines upon the people walking in darkness and upon those dwelling in the land of the shadow of death—Isa. 9:2; John 1:5; Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13:

Isa. 9:2  The people who walked in the darkness / Have seen a great light; / Upon those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death / Light has shined.

John 1:5  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Acts 26:18  To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.

Col. 1:13  Who delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

1. Christ is the light to be the salvation of God—Isa. 49:6.

Isa. 49:6  He says, It is too small a thing that You would be My Servant / To raise up the tribes of Jacob / And bring back the preserved of Israel; / I will also set You as a light of the nations / That You may be My salvation unto the ends of the earth.

2. Christ saves us by shining on us; His shining upon us as the great light is our salvation—Acts 9:3; 22:6; 26:13.

Acts 9:3  And as he went, he drew near to Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

Acts 22:6  And as I journeyed and drew near to Damascus about midday, suddenly a great light flashed out of heaven around me;

Acts 26:13  At midday, on the way, I saw, O king, a light from heaven beyond the brightness of the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.

3. The inner shining of Christ is His saving us from the darkness of death—Isa. 9:2; Matt. 1:21, 23; 4:16; 2 Cor. 4:6.

Isa. 9:2  The people who walked in the darkness / Have seen a great light; / Upon those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death / Light has shined.

Matt. 1:21  And she will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.

Matt. 1:23  “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel” (which is translated, God with us).

Matt. 4:16  The people sitting in darkness have seen a great light; and to those sitting in the region and shadow of death, to them light has risen.”

2 Cor. 4:6  Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

C. Christ’s shining as the great light upon God’s people releases them from bondage in darkness, breaks the yoke that has been upon them, and destroys their enemies and destroys their armor—Isa. 9:3-5; 10:26-27.

Isa. 9:3-5  You have multiplied the nation; / You have increased their gladness; / They are glad before You as with the gladness of harvest, / As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. ⁴For You break the yoke of their burden / And the staff on their shoulder, / The rod of their oppressor, / As in the day of Midian. ⁵For all the boots / Of those who in boots trample in the battle-quake / And the garments / Rolled in blood / Are for burning; / They are fuel for fire.

Isa. 10:26-27  And against them Jehovah of hosts will rouse up a whip like the stroke against Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff will be over the sea, and He will lift it up the way He did in Egypt. ²⁷And in that day their burden will be removed from your shoulders, and their yoke from off your neck; and the yoke will be broken due to the fatness.

D. The prophecy in Isaiah 9:2 was fulfilled in Matthew 4:16:

Isa. 9:2  The people who walked in the darkness / Have seen a great light; / Upon those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death / Light has shined.

Matt. 4:16  The people sitting in darkness have seen a great light; and to those sitting in the region and shadow of death, to them light has risen.”

1. When Christ came to Galilee, the people sitting in darkness saw a great light, and to those sitting in the region and shadow of death, light sprang up.

2. Christ’s ministry did not begin with earthly power but with heavenly light:

a. This light is Christ Himself as the light of life, shining in the shadow of death—John 12:46; 8:12.

John 12:46  I have come as a light into the world, that everyone who believes into Me would not remain in darkness.

John 8:12  Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

b. Christ is the great light with the power to attract people and capture them—Matt. 4:17-22.

Matt. 4:17-22  From that time Jesus began to proclaim and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near. ¹⁸And while He was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹And He said to them, Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men. ²⁰And immediately leaving the nets, they followed Him. ²¹And going on from there, He saw another two brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. ²²And immediately leaving the boat and their father, they followed Him.

3. In particular, the Lord’s teaching was the shining of a great light; every word that issued from His mouth was an enlightening word, and the people in darkness were enlightened by His teaching—Mark 1:21-22.

Mark 1:21-22  And they went into Capernaum, and immediately, on the Sabbath, He entered into the synagogue and taught. ²²And they were astounded at His teaching, for He taught them as One having authority and not like the scribes.

E. We can see the Christian life in Isaiah 9:1-5 with the enjoyment of Christ as the great light; through His shining, He saves us and breaks the yoke of our burden, the staff on our shoulder, and the rod of our oppressor.

Isa. 9:1-5  But gloom does not remain in the place where there was anguish: formerly He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali contemptibly, but afterward He treats the way of the sea, across the Jordan, with glory, Galilee of the nations. ²The people who walked in the darkness / Have seen a great light; / Upon those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death / Light has shined. ³You have multiplied the nation; / You have increased their gladness; / They are glad before You as with the gladness of harvest, / As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. ⁴For You break the yoke of their burden / And the staff on their shoulder, / The rod of their oppressor, / As in the day of Midian. ⁵For all the boots / Of those who in boots trample in the battle-quake / And the garments / Rolled in blood / Are for burning; / They are fuel for fire.

F. Christ was called by Jehovah to be a light for the nations—42:6:

Isa. 42:6  I am Jehovah; I have called You in righteousness; / I have held You by the hand; / I have kept You and I have given You / As a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations;

1. Christ is the true light that shines over the world and enlightens every man to enliven man for regeneration; He is the light for God’s people to receive God as life—John 1:4, 9, 12-13; 1 John 1:5; 5:11-12.

John 1:4  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 1:9  This was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

John 1:12-13  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, ¹³Who were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

1 John 1:5  And this is the message which we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

1 John 5:11-12  And this is the testimony, that God gave to us eternal life and this life is in His Son. ¹²He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

2. Christ is the divine, marvelous light to open the eyes of the blind and to deliver God’s chosen people out of the darkness of death, the death-realm, the authority of Satan, into God’s life-realm of light—Isa. 42:7; Acts 26:18; Col. 1:12-13.

Isa. 42:7  To open the eyes of the blind, / To bring the prisoner out from the prison, / Those who dwell in darkness from the prison house.

Acts 26:18  To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.

Col. 1:12-13  Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light; ¹³Who delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

3. Although Isaiah 49:6 refers to Christ, whom God made a light to the Gentiles so that His salvation might reach to the ends of the earth, the apostle Paul, who was one with Christ in carrying out God’s salvation in Christ, applied this prophetic word to himself in his ministry of gospel preaching—Acts 13:47.

Isa. 49:6  He says, It is too small a thing that You would be My Servant / To raise up the tribes of Jacob / And bring back the preserved of Israel; / I will also set You as a light of the nations / That You may be My salvation unto the ends of the earth.

Acts 13:47  For so the Lord has commanded us, “I have set you as a light of the Gentiles, that you would be for salvation unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

4. God has called us out of darkness—the expression and sphere of Satan in death—into His marvelous light—the expression and sphere of God in life—1 Pet. 2:9.

1 Pet. 2:9  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people acquired for a possession, so that you may tell out the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

IV. We were once darkness, but we are now light in the Lord, and we should walk as children of light—Eph. 5:8-9:

Eph. 5:8-9  For you were once darkness but are now light in the Lord; walk as children of light ⁹(For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),

A. As God is light, so we, the children of God, are children of light—1 John 1:5; Eph. 5:8; John 12:36.

1 John 1:5  And this is the message which we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

Eph. 5:8  For you were once darkness but are now light in the Lord; walk as children of light

John 12:36  While you have the light, believe into the light, so that you may become sons of light.

Jesus said these things, and He went away and was hidden from them.

B. We are not only children of light; we are light itself because we are one with God in the Lord—Eph. 5:8; Matt. 5:14; 1 John 1:5.

Eph. 5:8  For you were once darkness but are now light in the Lord; walk as children of light

Matt. 5:14  You are the light of the world. It is impossible for a city situated upon a mountain to be hidden.

1 John 1:5  And this is the message which we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

C. The fruit of the light in goodness, righteousness, and truth is related to the Triune God:

1. God the Father as goodness is the nature of the fruit of the light; therefore, goodness in Ephesians 5:9 refers to God the Father—Matt. 19:17.

Matt. 19:17  And He said to him, Why do you ask Me concerning what is good? There is only One who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.

2. Righteousness refers to God the Son, for Christ came to accomplish God’s purpose according to God’s righteous procedure—Rom. 5:17-18, 21.

Rom. 5:17-18  For if, by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. ¹⁸So then as it was through one offense unto condemnation to all men, so also it was through one righteous act unto justification of life to all men.

Rom. 5:21  In order that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

3. Truth, the expression of the fruit in the light, refers to God the Spirit, for He is the Spirit of reality—John 14:17; 16:13.

John 14:17  Even the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you.

John 16:13  But when He, the Spirit of reality, comes, He will guide you into all the reality; for He will not speak from Himself, but what He hears He will speak; and He will declare to you the things that are coming.

V. He who fears Jehovah and hears the voice of His Servant should trust in Jehovah so that he may have light while walking in darkness—Isa. 50:10-11; Psa. 139:7-12, 23-24:

Isa. 50:10-11  Who among you fears Jehovah; / Who hears the voice of His servant; / Who walks in darkness / And has no light? / Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, / And rely on his God. ¹¹Indeed, all of you who kindle a fire, / Who surround yourselves with firebrands, / Walk into the light of your fire / And into the firebrands which you have lit. / You will have this from My hand: / You will lie down in torment.

Psa. 139:7-12  Where shall I go, away from Your Spirit, / And where shall I flee from Your presence? ⁸If I ascend into heaven, You are there; / If I make my bed in Sheol, there You are. ⁹If I take the wings of the dawn / And settle at the limits of the sea, ¹⁰There also Your hand will lead me, / And Your right hand will take hold of me. ¹¹And if I say, Surely darkness will cover me, / And the light around me will be night; ¹²Even the darkness is not dark to You, / And night shines like day; / The darkness is like the light.

Psa. 139:23-24  Search me, O God, and know my heart; / Try me, and know my anxious thoughts; ²⁴And see if there is some harmful way in me, / And lead me on the eternal way.

A. Those who make light for themselves and walk in their self-made light instead of God’s light will suffer torment—Isa. 50:11.

Isa. 50:11  Indeed, all of you who kindle a fire, / Who surround yourselves with firebrands, / Walk into the light of your fire / And into the firebrands which you have lit. / You will have this from My hand: / You will lie down in torment.

B. This should be a warning to us so that we may walk in the light given by God, not in the light we make for ourselves—1 John 1:5.

1 John 1:5  And this is the message which we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

C. “Come and let us walk in the light of Jehovah”—Isa. 2:5.

Isa. 2:5  House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Jehovah.

VI. As the shining light, the believers in Christ, the kingdom people, are like a city situated upon a mountain, a city that cannot be hidden—Matt. 5:14:

Matt. 5:14  You are the light of the world. It is impossible for a city situated upon a mountain to be hidden.

A. This light is not an individual believer; it is a corporate city built up as one entity to shine over the people surrounding it—16:18:

Matt. 16:18  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

1. The city is the light; if there is no city, there is no light—Rev. 21:23-24.

Rev. 21:23-24  And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon that they should shine in it, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴And the nations will walk by its light; and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it.

2. If we are divided, we are finished with the shining; in order to be a shining city, we must keep the oneness and remain one entity, a corporate Body—Eph. 4:1-6; 5:8-9.

Eph. 4:1-6  I beseech you therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, ²With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing one another in love, ³Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace: ⁴One Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵One Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Eph. 5:8-9  For you were once darkness but are now light in the Lord; walk as children of light ⁹(For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),

3. If we would become this city of light, we need to be built up as the Body of Christ—Matt. 16:18; Eph. 4:16:

Matt. 16:18  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

Eph. 4:16  Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.

a. To be built up with fellow believers is the Lord’s supreme and highest requirement of His faithful seekers according to the divine oneness of the Divine Trinity—John 17.

b. Being built up with fellow partakers of the divine life is the highest virtue of one who pursues after Christ according to God’s eternal economy—Eph. 2:21-22; Phil. 3:7-12.

Eph. 2:21-22  In whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; ²²In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.

Phil. 3:7-12  But what things were gains to me, these I have counted as loss on account of Christ. ⁸But moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ ⁹And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is out of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith, ¹⁰To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, ¹¹If perhaps I may attain to the out-resurrection from the dead. ¹²Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue, if even I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

B. Ultimately, this city of light will consummate in the holy city, the New Jerusalem, and “the nations will walk by its light”—Rev. 21:10-11, 23-24.

Rev. 21:10-11  And he carried me away in spirit onto a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, ¹¹Having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal.

Rev. 21:23-24  And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon that they should shine in it, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴And the nations will walk by its light; and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it.