The rising of the sun

This morning the BBC reported that around 36,500 people welcomed the dawn of the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge, UK.

The dawning of a new day is often a wonderful thing to watch. Before the sun rises everything is a dull grey but as the first rays of the day come over the horizon colour begins to flood the landscape and the birds increase their singing as the dawn chorus reaches its climax.

Every day the rising of the sun is a reminder to Christians that God created the heavens and the earth and all of the life on earth. But if we look at the opening verses of Genesis Chapter 1 and the account of creation we find that the Sun, as well as all of the other planets and stars, were not just created for the practical aspects of providing light and gravity. Genesis 1 v 14 & 15 [1] say: "And God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth'".

They were created for "signs" and it is an interesting study to look at the way the Bible refers to the Sun, Moon and Stars to represent many different things.

I don't want to do a study on these signs now but as I lay in bed this morning listening to Radio 4's report from Stonehenge, I was reminded of the fact that in the gospel record of John Jesus is described as being "The light of the world". Jesus was the light that came to show men and women God's ways. He came to show the true beauty of God's love for those who seek out his ways and try and do his will. John 3 [2] tells us that that this light, as it falls on people, is welcomed by some but hated by others because it highlights the true character of us all:

"And this is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, "lest his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God." (John 3 v 19-21 ESV [3])

As Christians everything we do should be done in the open. We should be held up to the light and the things we do should be examined against the teachings of the Jesus Christ who preached the Gospel, the good news of the kingdom of God. If we have read or heard the message of God then the light has shone into our lives. What it finds in each of us is between each of us and God.

The message of the Bible is that in the Kingdom that Jesus came to preach there will be no need for the light of the sun and moon. Revelation 21 v 23-27 [4] says:

"And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day - and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does that what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life".

So the glory of God and his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, will be the light of the world. And there will be no-one in this Kingdom who has not come into the light and tried to live lives that are a reflection of the life of Christ, a life that was spent doing the will God.

It would be great if there were 36,500 people living today who would welcome the return of the Lord Jesus to establish this kingdom and whose names were also written in the Book of Life. Will you be one of them?