December 3rd: I Am The Light of the World
The Lord Is My Light & My Salvation
by Jon Greig
“The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1
My mom’s stroke in 2007 was one of the most difficult things my family has gone through. Although she survived, she was never the same again. Her speech was garbled and she could no longer understand our words. But she maintained her sweet spirit until she passed away a couple of years ago. The loss of relationship with mom was hard for me and I went through grieving process. One positive thing that came from this situation is that the reality of heaven became more real to me. In my mind’s eye, I can see mom restored to a healthy, youthful state, her joyful face aglow with the glory of God.
I do not think of heaven in the abstract. I see it as a very real place where God will restore all things. I am confident that one day He will make all things new. We will trade in our frail, failing earthly bodies for spiritual bodies that never age, never become sick, and never grow weary.
Mom’s stroke, along with all of the many ills that inflict humanity, is the result of the curse. When Adam sinned, immediately fear and death entered the world. Hebrews 2:14-15 (NIV) says, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”
The effects of the curse are far-reaching. We see it in sickness and disease, financial struggles, relationship problems, depression, anxiety, and fear. But here, in the midst of our pain, God introduces His Son. The greater reality is that God sent His Son as a baby in a manger to break the power of every curse. We no longer have to be bound to the fear of death. The Bible says, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Galatians 4:4-5). That little baby would one day finish completely the work of our redemption on the cross, setting us free from the power of sin and death. By becoming a curse for us, he redeemed us from the curse (Galatians 3:13).
Still, on this side of heaven, we do not see everything completely restored. We claim the power of Christ’s redemption by faith. We look forward in hope to the place He is preparing for us, when God will literally make all things new. That which is not fully restored in this life will be fully restored in the next. It all began with a tiny baby, born in a manger.
In heaven God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. There shall be no more death. No more sorrow. No more crying. No more pain. No more fear. No more anxiety. No more curse (see Revelation 21:4 and 22:3). The effects of the curse may be far reaching, but the power of God’s blessing reaches farther still. It redeems our pain, our fears, and delivers us from death itself. God Himself absorbs our sins and sets us free. We do not have to fear death. We can say with confidence, “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” He makes all things new.