Becoming One in the Light

- Ray & Doris Prinzing -

"God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." [1 John 1:5].

The vision ever grows brighter as the Spirit of God illumines the path of His apprehended ones. God is processing and preparing a people through whom He shall reveal Himself to the world. This is indeed a people with a purpose, for they shall be like ones to Him, to be as He is, that sameness of essential character and being. To become ONE in their state of being, and to be identified in His form and expression which is LIGHT.
"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." [John 8:12].
Jesus said, "I AM..." these words immediately denote His identity. In our own present state of development we are in what is termed as the process of BECOMING― it includes the whole spectrum of the new birth, growth, and development unto the fulness of the measure of the stature of Christ. However, we shall not always be in this process of becoming, for we are confident of this very thing, that "HE which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." [Phil. 1:6]. Or, as the Wuest Expanded translation gives, "will bring it to a successful conclusion." Eventually, In His appointed time, we shall have fully become, entered into that STATE OF BEING where we can say, "I am." Not, "I will be some day." But, simply, "I am." This will be totally wrought by the sovereign inworking of the grace of God, so that self will have no place of boasting, but our whole state of being will testify as to what GOD hath wrought. Whatever position we shall fill, through His appointment, it will be evidence of His grace, and His alone.
Jesus Christ identified Himself as The Light, both as the Source and the manifestation of its form. As the "Everlasting Father" [Isaiah 9:6], He is the very Source. As to His manifestation as The SON, He is the form and expression.
In James 1:17 we read of "The Father of LIGHTS." As to His fatherhood, Light can only beget light. And since HE IS The Light, then He begets lights. Wuest expanded translation brings out that He is the Father of "heavenly luminaries." And it is of "His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures." [James 1:18]. The first fruits of His creatures are to be AS HE IS, namely, they are to be LIGHTS.
In giving further description to our "Father of lights," the Amplified records, in verse seventeen, "in Whom there can be no variation (rising or setting) or shadow cast by His turning (as in an eclipse)."
It seems that far too much of our past experience portrayed us as just being little "moons," only reflecting some of His light to earth, to men. And there have been so very many eclipses! There are two important kinds of eclipses with which we are familiar. There is the SOLAR eclipse, when the moon comes between the sun and the earth, then the only light is that which shines out around, and in spite of the moon. Any time a ministry, or vessel so being used, comes between THE SON and the earth, then we surely have an eclipse, and the only light mankind receives at such a time is that which shines out around that ministry or vessel, literally inspite of that one. Oh, may God help us not to become guilty of eclipsing the light which needs to be shining upon men today. When our ministry, our doctrine, our traditions, which we think are reflecting the light of God to men, come in the way, and stand between God and man, then the true Light is eclipsed.
The other most familiar kind of eclipse is referred to as a LUNAR eclipse, when we have a situation wherein the earth comes between the moon and the Sun. When our own earth (flesh) gets in the way, then HIS OUTSHINING again is eclipsed, and the light is veiled from view. We have received a blessing from the Lord, and we would pass it along to others, but when our flesh gets in the way, the real light of the blessing does not reach those with whom we would share.
But we are not interested in just being "moons" to serve as some form of "reflector" of our Lord. This makes a good illustration for the point of eelipses, but we truly desire to BECOME ONE IN THE SUN, to possess His nature of light, and to have that inherent quality of light within. Praise His name, He shall bring a people into that state of being where there is FULL LIGHT. A very important part of the process is to bring us into ONENESS, until we no more walk in duality, partaking of both good and evil, but "when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light." [Luke 11:34].
The word "eclipse" comes from the Greek, ek― out, and lielein― to leave. A form of this word is used in the New Testament, ekliepo, which is translated as FAIL.
Of our Lord it is written, "But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not FAIL ( or shall not go into an eclipse, or cease, leave out)." [Hebrews 1:12]. He is the unchangeable Christ, in Whom there is no variableness, nor any shadow which is caused by turning, as in an eclipse. HIS YEARS, THEY FAIL NOT. He is "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and for the ages." [Hebrews 13:8].
Then, in speaking to Peter, Jesus said, "Satan hath desired to have thee, that he may sift thee as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith FAIL ( or eclipse) NOT." [Luke 22:31-32]. Oh, may the Lord help us, so that at no time will our faith go into an eclipse. There are times when some very dark clouds of circumstance would try to overshadow our faith. Peter was severely tested, his flesh was troublesome, and he even openly denied his Lord, but his faith was not eclipsed, IT DID NOT LEAVE. Outward appearances might have just about seemed that way, but our Lord prayed for Peter that his faith would not go into an eclipse, and that prayer was answered. When the sifting process ended, immediately Peter remembered the words of the Lord, and faith came to the front, in honest repentance and a new following on with the Lord.
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them age-abiding life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My hand." [John 10:27-28].
God will use every dark cloud and testing in His process of our training and deep development, but never can those situations cause our faith to go into some kind of an eclipse, since we are "kept by the power of God through faith into salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." [1 Peter 1:5].
0, to be identified in that SAMENESS OF EXPRESSION as Christ, that we might be able to shine without an eclipse, because of the ETERNAL LIGHT OF HIS LIFE WITHIN, which is the source of all our light. "He that hath the SON hath life." [1 John 5:12]. To have His LIFE is also to have the light, the expression of His life.
As the SUN (SON), He is the out-raying expression. "He is the sole expression of the glory of God― The Light-Being, the out-raying (or radiance) of the Divine." [Hebrews 1:3, Amplified]. God, omnipresent Spirit, invisible to this gross material realm, gave sole expression of Himself through the LIGHT-BEING, our Lord Jesus Christ.
"And God said, Let there be LIGHT..." [Genesis 1:3].
"I form the LIGHT..." [Isaiah 45:7].
"Who being in the FORM of God..." [Philippians 2:6].
"That is the TRUE LIGHT which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." [John 1:9].
He is the "brightness of glory, the express image of His person," for HE, being "in the FORM of God" revealed to mankind the invisible realm of Deity. Wuest Expanded translation gives clarity here, "In that MODE OF BEING in which He gives outward expression of His essential nature, that of absolute deity, which expression comes from and is truly representative of His inner being..."
The Word― divine will and thought and purpose, came forth as The Light. The Word, Greek here is LOGOS, is more than just a spoken word, but includes the whole thought, mind, will and purpose behind that which is expressed. Antedating all other manifestations, GOD, THE WORD, became the First Cause of all manifestations. Then, the first expression of the LIFE of God was in the form of LIGHT. And He who is The Word spake, and other visible expressions began to appear. But before them all came the expression of light. Every sound has its own color vibration, and LIGHT travels exceedingly faster than sound. "Blessed the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, IN THE LIGHT of Thy countenance." [Psalm 89:15].
"In the beginning was the WORD... in Him was life; and the life was the light of men." [ John 1:1, 4].
Now we are "being (process) born again by the WORD of God." [1 Peter 1:23].
God is the "Father of spirits," the "Father of lights." Having left this realm in God, and becoming a partaker of flesh and blood, subject to the bondage of vanity, we must now be BORN AGAIN, which literally signifies the inworking of the process of our RETURN INTO GOD. (Read Romans 11:36). The new creation now coming forth under the hand of God is a new manifestation of that which once was, before chaos set in, the fall came, and the purpose of the ages began its working into fulfillment.
Out of GOD―WORD―LIFE comes forth the light. Life is the CAUSE, light is the manifestation. Where there is no cause, LIFE, there can be no effect, LIGHT.
"While the light ye have, believe INTO the light, that SONS OF LIGHT ye may become..." [John 12:36, Interlinear]. Often times the light comes to us, and we have it with us, surrounding us, but we do not enter into it and become a part of that light. We hold it a distance from us, examining it, and yet seem to be so fearful of believing into that light, until we are submerged in it, till we are clothed therewith. But if we do go on and believe into the light which He gives us, then sons of the light we shall become, thereafter to always possess that light within us as a very part of our inherent nature.
To receive the light is to be ever lifted up into higher realms of more light. But to reject the light is to find that it shall become darkness unto us, and so we read, "If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness." [ Matthew 6:23]. This is a very interesting statement, IF THE LIGHT THAT IS IN THEE BE DARKNESS. How can the light in us be darkness? Well, to begin with, darkness is a part of light, but it is light on a lower vibration. And if all of your light is in the form and density of darkness, how great is that darkness. When every ray of light has to slow down its vibration until it comes to you in the form of darkness (light on its lowest vibration), how sad is such a condition. Is it not because there is such continual rejection of the light in its higher expressions, that the vibration has continually been lowered until now "the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people." [Isaiah 60:2]. Thus the darkness also is an expression of the low level mankind is dwelling upon, if the light has to descend to the form of darkness in order to fellowship with man, and be received by man. OH, to be raised up, to ascend, to be changed from glory to glory, until we can walk in the brightness of His light, and be a part of that dimension and expression.
Jesus, the Light of the world, came unto His own, but His own received Him not. He was not the Light in its most brilliant manifestation, for He had already condescended to men of low estate, and came to those who were sitting in the shadows, and He brought them the LIGHT on the low vibration of parables and symbols, but even this they could not receive. Therefore all their signs and symbols became darkness unto them. But if we walk in the light which we have at present, moving up that ray into the SOURCE, using the shadows, signs, symbols as steps into greater light, and believe into the light, then sons of the light we shall become.
But, if, having received the light of the symbols and signs, and for a time following on to the deeper truths, then if we begin to return back into the lesser lights of symbols and signs again, we shall find that our light is becoming darkness, and how great is that darkness. There are a lot of very religious people today who are dwelling in darkness. They keep every symbol and ceremony with careful observance, and yet they do not have one glimpse into the true light of God's purpose for TODAY. Why? Because when the light came to them they would not walk on and believe into the REALITY of that ray of light before them, and hence their light became darkness, gross darkness, and they know it not, but continue to grope in the shadows, to stumble and fall.
A shadow cannot always remain a shadow, but must either become swallowed up into full light, or else its vibration descends into total darkness. We might walk in shadows for a time, and enjoy the signs and symbols of our religious practice, but it is only the true reality behind the symbols which gives them any meaning at all, and if we will not progress into the reality thereof, we shall find those shadows becoming darkness to us― a form of godliness without any life or power, and hence, actually they become chains which fetter us in a darkened state.
An interesting thought can be inserted here. Light doesn't prove darkness, but the darkness proves the light. In fact, darkness can even be used to prepare for the revelation of the light. We find that God uses many clouds of darkness as apart of His purpose. All the confusion of our day, with its bleakness and blackness shall but serve as a backdrop against which the new manifestations of light shall be seen. Into the chaos and gross darkness of the ending of this age God shall place HIS SONS, His heavenly luminaries, and they shall guide those who sit in darkness, in the regions of the shadow of death, out of the prisons and unto HIM who is the Light of life. If it were not that God chooses to use death and darkness to bring forth a FURTHER REVELATION OF HIMSELF, there would be no purpose for their existence, and they simply would not be. But all this present gross darkness shall be used to prove that there is a LIGHT, and ultimately, praise God, all darkness shall be raised up into the higher vibrations of light, ''as the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth, even as the waters cover the sea." Hallelujah!
"The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not." [John 1:5].
Amplified, "The Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it― put it out, or has not absorbed it..."
Herein is our desire for this phase of identification in Christ, when like ones to Him we shall be, LIGHT, until we are able to absorb the darkness, and never be circumvented by it. TO BE AS HE IS― "If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee." [Psalm 139:11-12]. In HIM there is no difference, all is LIGHT unto Him, regardless of its vibration or form of expression, and though HE who is the Light can absorb the darkness into the higher forms of light, yet the greater can never be absorbed into the lesser. He can descend and condescend to low estates, to meet man on his own level, but He is never overcome by that low level, and hence is able to raise the low degree and increase the glory into the higher realms of His victory.
"I will make the darkness light before thee." [Isaiah 42:16].
How shall this be? By absorbing the darkness into higher light vibrations. Or, if we might be permitted to use the term, BY RESTORING IT TO ITS HIGHER STATE.
We have been prone to shun darkness, because we have not been able to absorb it, and raise it up into greater light. But as we become ONE IN HIM, as He is, then shall we be able to handle the situations as HE handled them. For illustration, consider Zacchaeus. This man was a tax-collector, very despised by the people, and rejected by those about him. But Jesus went to his house, and when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, "That He was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner." But Jesus was not circumvented by that sin, He was not overpowered by that darkness, He was master over it all, and even declared, "THIS DAY IS SALVATION COME TO THIS HOUSE." [ Luke 19:7, 9].
0, that God would bring us to that position in Him, until we could enter into a home, and without going through all the ramifications of theological discourses and personal works, having become HIS LIGHT, we can simply state, by virtue of our state of being in Christ, "This day has salvation come to this house." Not imputing their trespasses against them, but rather absorbing the darkness, we release it in higher vibrations of light to illume the whole house.
Then shall it be said, "YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD." [Matthew 5:14]. Being placed in a darkened corner, we shall not be overpowered by the darkness, but we shall absorb it into the light, to the glory of God. Even in a measure this can be done now, as His life in us reaches out to bring a positive beam of light and love into a home. We might not be empowered to change the situation completely, but we can leave behind a ray of hope, a token of love, and a positive note of cheer, which in its own way helps to brighten the outlook and bring new light to the individual in that home.
It is also written, "The path of the just is as a shinning light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." [Proverbs 4: 8]. There is a progression from glory to glory, and then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord, that HIS going forth is prepared as the morning, and we too, shall be partakers of that new day of perfection, completeness in Him.
"Giving thanks unto the Father, Who hath qualified and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God's holy people) in the Light. (The Father) has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love." [Colossians 1:12-13, Amplified].
"Then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness shall be as the noon day..." [Isaiah 58:10].
This coming to the light, and being changed from one degree of splendor to another by the inworking of His Spirit, shall consumate when our whole body is filled with light. Interestingly enough, we have heard it has been reported that "blood is congealed light." When all that which is now darkness, and densified light, is changed from glory to glory and raised to higher vibrations of light, then shall we truly become SONS OF LIGHT, as light courses through our whole body.
On the "mount of transfiguration" Jesus gave expression to His true inner nature, which was LIGHT, and thus the very "fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistening." [Luke 9:29]. When our whole inner nature is changed, one in HIS divine nature, and He also changes our present body of humiliation, fashioning it anew like unto His glorious body, and we in turn begin to give expression to the true new creation which we have become, shall not that expression also be one of glorious light? Praise God, it shall be!
Therefore, until the hour that this vision becomes full reality, remember, we "have the prophetic word made firmer still. You will do well to pay close attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dismal (squalid and dark) place, until the day breaks through the gloom, and the Morning Star rises (comes into being) in your hearts." [2 Peter 1:19, Amplified].
Yes, we are a people with a purpose― to become ONE IN THE LIGHT, to become sons of the light, that we might bear that light to every darkened corner, so that they who sit in the shadows, in the darkness, in the regions of death, unto them can the light be given, and new life spring forth.

THE LIGHT OF HIS LIFE

Life-the first cause of all causes,
Gives birth to vibrations of light,
While light in its densified pauses
Becomes slow vibrations of night.

And yet when the night is the darkest,
The hours seem solemn and still,
Remember the Spirit yet markest
The way of His own sovereign will.

Thus darkness is but for the proving
The glory of God's light divine,
With all night eventually moving
To realms where the light doth outshine.

0, grant that the life of the Saviour
In fulness may now dwell in me,
Identified in the blest hour
When like ones to Him we shall be.

His life, the first cause of all blessing,
To flow from the innermost deep,
Absorbing the darkness prevailing,
New light o'er horizons to sweep.

Transforming the lowest vibrations
To higher dimension's peace,
Unfolding divine revelations
Which cause the darkness to cease.

Other Writings in This Series: