“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” Lk 11:13
When Jesus taught his disciples – He made the point that the Holy Spirit, the gift of God’s ever-present indwelling personhood, was ready to live within them. How could they gain this advantage? By just desiring this close relationship and asking.
During Pentecost after Jesus had ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit poured out on 120 believers in the upper room while worshiping with gratitude and praise. This empowerment of the church testified to the presence of the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus.
Jesus was the incarnate Son of God, who in John 8:12 called himself the Light of the world. Paul further stated: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Co 4:6
“Light” is a metaphor which means the divine revelation which clears out the darkness of sin and guilt in a man’s life by revealing the glory of God in the face of the man, Christ the Lord, who walked amongst them.
The third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit of Christ, continues achieving this work on earth within believers. Here Paul notes that we are to let Christ abide in our heart via his Spirit, and emphasises – don’t let yourself drift away from this inner light of God as some have and will: “Some people once had God’s light. They experienced the heavenly gift and shared in the Holy Spirit.’ Heb 6:4 [God’s Word]
Jesus used a similar metaphor to reveal the presence of the Holy Spirt – the lamp’s light evidenced by the perception of the physical eye. Here He depicts the representative Christian walking in the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, using careful discernment to follow the Word of God and the promptings of God’s still small voice. (see Is 30:21)
Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light. But when it is bad, your body is also full of darkness. Take care then, that the light in you is not darkness. If therefore, your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be entirely illuminated, as when a lamp shines its light on you. Lk 11:35-36 [HSCB]
Again, Jesus uses the eyes of man, as a metaphor of accepting the Gospel light via the Holy Spirit, contrasting a healed blind man’s acceptance of Christ, to the spiritually blind Pharisees who excommunicated him for being healed on the Sabbath:
Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him; he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped him. Jesus said, “For judgment, I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. Jn 9:35-41
As Christians, we are offered the abiding presence of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, without whom we will walk in darkness. We must be careful if we believe that we walk in the light, abiding in Christ when we have an admixture of misguided ideology allowing lust, pride, legalism or any flagrant sin — thinking that we can still walk in the light of His loving presence. Without Christ we will be love’s kill-joy, our religion will be a hollow shadow of darkness. (see 1 Co 13)
It is Christ who calls us to walk in the revealed light of His Spirit, obedient to the revealed will of God. When doing so we will passively perceive His love. Our behaviour will actively echo His love for others.