How Does God’s Light Help Us Grow?

Human beings need certain things to maintain our physical existence, including air, water, and food. We also need sunlight. Spending time in the sunlight boosts our body’s vitamin D supply, as well as our mood and mental health. And the plants and animals we need to consume for a healthy diet also depend on sunlight to grow.

In other words, we need light to thrive.

Our physical necessities can help illustrate what we need to sustain our Christian life. For instance, we need to spiritually breathe, drink, and eat daily in order to grow in the life of God. And for normal growth, we also need God’s light. 

Today, we’ll use a few excerpts from the excellent book The Knowledge of Life by Witness Lee to see how we can experience God’s light. 

Light and life go together

First, we must realize that God’s light and God’s life always go together. In The Knowledge of Life, Lee speaks of this vital link on pages 204-205:

“Where light is, there is life. This is a great principle in the Bible. Psalm 36:9 says, ‘With thee is the fountain of life; in thy light shall we see light.’ This also clearly speaks of the relationship between life and light. Life always follows light, and only light can bring forth life.”

We first experienced God’s light when we were saved. As we heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, God’s light shined on us, and we were convicted of our condition. The shining of that light caused us to repent and turn to God. We believed in the resurrected Jesus and all He did for us, and we received Him as our Savior. This light also brought forth life in us: we were regenerated, or born again, in our spirit with the divine life of God.

But God wants us to continue to grow in His divine life until it fills every part of our being. This is His purpose for us. And for this to happen, we need His light.

So how do we practically experience the shining of God’s light?

We can experience light in God’s word

Psalm 119:105 says, 

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Genuine spiritual light is impossible to manufacture. The Word of God brings light to us and functions like a lamp that lights our way. But whether or not we receive light from the Word depends on how we approach it. Are we coming to the Bible just to get doctrines or teaching on how to live a good, moral life? Or are we coming to get spiritual light?

In the portion from The Knowledge of Life, Lee refers to John 6:63, which says:

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

Lee explains on page 207:

“Since both life and spirit are within us, it is clear that the words which the Lord speaks of here must also refer to the words which are spoken within us, not the letters of the Bible without. All the words outside of us are mere knowledge, not light. Only the words which enter into our spirit are the living, shining words of God. If when we read the Bible we constantly exercise our spirit in fellowship to read and open our spirit to receive, the words of the Bible are spirit and life to us. They can enter into our spirit and become living words, bringing the light of life.”

So if we exercise and open our spirit when we read the Bible, God’s Word can become spirit and life within us, bringing to us the light of life.

How to exercise our spirit

So how do we exercise our spirit when we read the Bible?

One of the best ways to exercise our spirit is to pray. We can pray while we read the Bible, using the words we read to pray. These words then become spirit and life to us.

For example, let’s say in your Bible reading you come to Ephesians 5:15-16:

“Look therefore carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

You can use these verses to exercise your spirit and pray to the Lord, maybe something like this:

“Lord, I want to look carefully how I walk. I don’t want to be unwise in my walk, but wise. Lord, I realize the days are evil. I’ve wasted too much time. Lord, I repent. Help me redeem my time.”

As you receive God’s Word by praying over it, the Lord has a way to speak to you. Maybe He shines on the amount of time you spend on social media. In His light, you become aware of the negative effect this has had on you and are convicted about the time you’ve wasted.

You could ignore this shining and keep spending your time in the same way. Or you can respond to the Lord’s light by praying:

“Lord, You’re right. I don’t want to waste my time on so many things. Lord, help me redeem my time. Lord, I need You. Strengthen me to obey You in this.”

When you respond to the Lord’s shining concerning this matter, you receive more life, allowing the life of God to increase in you.

The Lord Jesus is the light of life within us

In addition to the Word of God, we also have the Lord Himself living within us to be light to us. John 1:4 says:

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

And John 8:12 says:

“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.”

On page 208, Lee speaks about the light of life and the light of men mentioned in these two verses:

“John 1:4 tells us that the life of God is in the Lord Jesus, and this life is the light of men. When we receive the Lord Jesus as Savior, this life enters into us and becomes our ‘light of life’ (John 8:12). Therefore, strictly speaking, this light is not an objective light which enlightens us from without, but a subjective light which enlightens us from within.”

The Lord in us is our light of life. He lets us know how He feels about everything in our lives. We have a consciousness, a feeling, about what He approves or disapproves of, what makes Him happy or displeases Him. That inner feeling is the light of life shining in us. And this shining is subjective, enlightening us from within.

A practical example

How can we experience this subjective shining of the light of life?

Let’s say a friend sends you a text message that rubs you the wrong way. Your first reaction is to respond angrily. As you type, you begin to feel uneasy and sense something within you saying, “Stop.” That feeling is the light of life enlightening you. As you yield to this shining, you may say, “Okay, Lord, I’ll stop. What do You want to write? How are You responding?” You delete what you wrote and spend time to open further to the Lord. As you do this, more life is imparted to you. You then write a reply to your friend, not in yourself but in Christ.

The way we communicate would probably undergo a big change if we started obeying the shining of the light of life in us! More importantly, imagine how much the life of God would grow in us as a result.

What should we do when God shines on us?

When God shines either through His Word or from within us, we should simply obey. It may sometimes be hard, but we should remember that we need God’s light in order to grow.

The alternative to receiving God’s light is to remain in darkness. But if we obey the shining of God’s light, His life will have a way to grow in us. As a result, we’ll be full of joy and peace and experience normal, healthy Christian growth.

In this post, we referenced chapter 14 on “Life and Light” from The Knowledge of Life. If you live in the US, we encourage you to order a free copy here and read more about knowing and experiencing God’s life. You can also download the e-book for free here from anywhere in the world.