'Christless eyes have never seen'

John 1: 4-5: [4] In him was life; and the life was the light of men. [5] And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

“If God is light and Jesus said, ‘I am the light,’ who is Jesus saying He is? That’s a proclamation by the Lord Jesus Christ of His deity. What deity? His deity as the Messiah. As the one who’s going to be the Light—Emmanuel,” says Richard Jordan.

“In Isaiah 59 is the Second Coming of Christ back to Israel to redeem it. The last two verses: [20] And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
[21] As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

“Now watch what happens when He’s come. Isaiah 60: [1] Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
[2] For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
[3] And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

“When Christ comes there’s light because He’s the light. Isaiah 60: 19-20, talking to the city of Jerusalem: [19] The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.
[20] Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.

“When Jesus says, ‘I am the light of the world,’ that’s another one of those statements in the Book of John reminding Israel and teaching them that He is Messiah and as the Messiah, He’s not only the Passover lamb, and the atoning lamb, He’s the one who is God in their midst.

“He talks about being the light in John 8 because He just dealt with a bunch of people who are sitting in total darkness, blind to everything going on around them. In fact, so treacherous is their blindness that they not only don’t recognize the Lord Jesus Christ, they’re seeking to entrap and accuse Him.

“They were actually doing exactly what Satan was trying to do to God, by putting Him in that Isaiah 49:24 condition/conundrum of, ‘I’ve made Israel my lawful captive.’ But he wasn’t wise enough to figure how God demonstrated His wisdom, as we know now.

“That wisdom is described over and over in the Bible as the Light. That’s why He says in John 3, ‘Except a man be born again he can’t see the kingdom of God.’

John 8:12: [12] Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

“The spiritual condition of the Pharisees was walking in darkness. They’re lost. You remember how Israel followed the cloud in the wilderness that led to Canaan? If they follow Christ, He’ll lead them to the kingdom and if they do, they’ll have the light of life.”

*****

George Wade Robinson, born in Cork, Ireland, was an Irish congregational minister who never married and passed away at only 38 years of age in 1877.

He published two volumes of poems, some of which were adapted for Christian hymnals, including the great old hymn, “Loved with Everlasting Love,” in which he concludes each verse with the refrain, “I am His, and He is mine.”

Loved with everlasting love, Led by grace that love to know; Spirit, breathing from above, Thou hast taught me it is so. Oh, this full and perfect peace! Oh, this transport all divine! In a love which cannot cease, I am His, and He is mine.
2	Heaven above is softer blue, Earth around is sweeter green; Something lives in every hue Christless eyes have never seen: Birds with gladder songs o’erflow, Flow’rs with deeper beauties shine, Since I know, as now I know, I am His, and He is mine.
3	Things that once were wild alarms Cannot now disturb my rest; Closed in everlasting arms, Pillowed on the loving breast. Oh, to lie forever here, Doubt and care and self resign, While He whispers in my ear, I am His, and He is mine.
4	His forever, only His: Who the Lord and me shall part? Ah, with what a rest of bliss Christ can fill the loving heart. Heaven and earth may fade and flee, Firstborn light in gloom decline; But, while God and I shall be, I am His, and He is mine.

In a Sunday message he once delivered on the subject of the atonement and its relationship to the human will, he challenged his congregation:

“Persevere and nourish that precious will you have by giving it to Christ. Without this, all the rest will be a failure. With this, all the rest will be a splendid success. Your will can never rule till it first bows. In proportion to the subjection of your will to Christ, will be the subjection of everything else to your will. Abide in Him and He in you. When the strong wind is blowing abroad, the trees all bend one way, the smoke all drifts one way, the weathercocks all point one way. Here today are hundreds of human wills, and the great Will of God is breathing past us toward righteousness. Does every will bend and point with Him? Is every heart so free from earthly attachments that it moves easily with the impulse of the wind of God? With all the strength of our will does each of us yield all we have to Him?”

In another poem turned to hymn, Robinson wrote:

I have tried and tried in vain

Many ways to ease my pain;

Now all other hope is past,

Only this is left at last:

Here before Thy cross I lie,

Here I live and here I die.

If I perish, be it here

With the Friend of sinners near;

Lord, it is enough — I know

Never sinner perished so.

Here before Thy cross I lie,

Here I cannot, cannot die.

(new article tomorrow)