And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Revelation 22:5

My wife and I have so many things in common. We love to read, hike, eat good food, laugh like crazy, and go overboard decorating the house for Christmas every year. One of the things we don’t share in common is my love of a brightly lit house. What I mean by that is the first thing I do after I wake up in the morning or when we get home at night is turn on as many lamps as possible. I LOVE a bright house! It cheers my soul. Of course, my wife Melissa would tell you the same, but she doesn’t feel the need to have every light in the kitchen, living room, and library on to achieve it. 

When I think of the new heavens and new earth that the Book of Revelation gives us a brief glimpse of, I think of it as the brightest and most beautiful place ever. I think I have good reasons, too, especially when you consider that it will be the light of God that replaces our former need for lamps and the sun. This will be no dimly lit world, either. Take a moment to reflect on the light of Moses’s face after He had spent time conversing with God on Mt. Sinai and how he had to wear a veil because his face was too bright to behold.

For the Lord God will be their light…

And not just light to see the next foot in front of us so we don’t trip. But the light of illumination. We will “know fully, even as we have been fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12). All that has been hidden will be revealed by the light of the Lord God. All the internal darkness that our hearts have been immersed in will be lifted and replaced with the beautiful shame and guilt-lifting light of the Lord God. Imagine the astonishing clarity and warmth of such a light. 

And night will be no more.

Like I said earlier, I don’t enjoy a dimly lit house. It’s not that I can’t see anything, it’s that the light puts a shade on the room that feels like the equivalent of a dark and overcast sky. It’s not a room I’m very drawn to or want to stay in. The light of Christ that we will one day live under the full illumination of can be experienced even now, as God gives us glimpses of it through the reassurance of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The God who loves us is a God who’s light is never obscured by the darkest night. Whatever your eyes are unable to see, God sees with resounding undimmed clarity.  

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you (Psalm 139:11-12). 

Reflect

What would you like some clarity in as this year comes to a close? As you ponder the new year, ask God to give you increased faith in Him for those things you can’t see, trusting that He can always see.