Jesus - The Light of the World

Part of the reason for this series is to connect the OT to the NT. They are not competitive narrations concerning the History of man and God’s message to him, but complementary.

The OT Points to the Coming Messiah

The NT Documents the Messiah who Came

We see this every clearly in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness

(Explain the Tabernacle - the tent in the wilderness that God instructed Moses to build)

So far we’ve examined:

The Brazen Altar

In this we see the image of the Suffering Saviour who shed His blood to atone for the sin of man

The Brazen Laver

In this we see the necessity of purification and Sanctification through Jesus in order to draw nigh unto God

Tonight, we’re going from the courtyard to the inside of the Tabernacle and we’re going to look at the Golden Candlestick / Lamp stand

First off we’ll look at The Plan

I. The Plan

(The Construction & importance of it)

It was Brilliant (v31a)

What I mean by that is that it’s pure. It was made of 1 talent of pure gold.

Remember the Brazen Altar was made of Brass and Shittim wood. The Laver - or the washpot - was made of pure brass.

But now once we’re in the Tabernacle, we see that the candlestick was made of pure gold. 1 talent of gold weight above 50 pounds, and in today’s value, it would be over 1.5 million.

It was Brilliant

It was Beaten but Beautiful (v31b)

God commanded them to fashion it into a very specific design, but He didn’t have them mold and shape it in gentle fashion, but rather told them that it would be ‘of beaten work’.

This means that the craftsmen would take and hammer-out the design - blow by blow, until it matched the shape that God had required.

But the shape itself was beautiful. The ‘almond, knop & flower’ It was made to resemble growth & beauty.

It was Beaten but Beautiful

One Beam with Six Branches (v32)

This lamp stand was made like unto a tree in some respects - in that it had a trunk and branches.

The main difference between this and a normal tree is that each branch was fastened in the trunk.

(Ill.) If you go look at a typical tree, you’ll see a trunk which sprouts branches. However, then you’ll see that those branches sprout other branches, and those sprout others, etc.

In the Candlestick, each branch was rooted in the trunk.

One Beam with Six Branches

We see the Plan. Next the Position

II. The Position

(Where it’s Placed and Why)

Within the Tabernacle

The Tabernacle in it’s entirety is separated into three sections

You have the Courtyard

Once you get beyond the Brazen Altar, you’re in the Courtyard.

You are now ‘in Christ’

You have the ‘Holy Place’

Inside the Tabernacle. Now you’re seeing the beauty of Christ and drawing closer to Him

You have the ‘Holy of Holies’

Here is where God is.

So the Candlestick is Closer to Christ, inside the Holy Place

It’s Within the Tabernacle

Against the Table

On the opposite wall you have the Table of Shewbread.

So one of the things that would be illuminated by the Lamp is the Table

Against the Table

We see the Plan. Next the Position

III. The Purpose

(What is the function of it)

To Give Light in Darkness

This is not Rocket Science. A Lamp’s purpose is to radiate light.

A light’s purpose is to give light where there is none.

One of the interesting features of the Tabernacle, is the fact that God didn’t allow for any windows in it. This is not an oversight by God, but on purpose, as we’ll see momentarily.

But because there was no natural light in the Tabernacle, then the light from the Lamp stand became even more important.

It’s Purpose was to Give Light in the Darkness

IV. The Performance

(The NT Scripture / Story that corresponds with it)

So what does all this mean and how does it apply to Jesus and us?

Well, first off, just like the Lamp stand, we see that Jesus is the Vine and we are the Branches.

Jesus is the Vine, we are the Branches

(Read Joh. 15:1-5)

This Scripture is a good image of Jesus and His church - which is what the Lamp stand represents.

Because the branches are connected to the Vine, they receive the nourishment that they need.

Branches have no root. The only way that they can bloom is by being rooted in the Vine

Jesus is the Vine, we are the Branches

All are Equal in Christ

As you look at depictions of the Candlestick, one thing is consistent in them all - the manner of the branches:

They are all equal in height. One does not tower over the other.

The ground is level at the foot of the Cross. The Rich & Poor come into the Tabernacle the same way - by the Altar of Sacrifice!

All are Equal in Christ, and All are Nothing without Christ

All are Nothing without Christ

Going back to the Vine & Branches, if a branch is disconnected from the vine, what good is it?

It can’t bear fruit

It can’t even sustain itself

It will shrivel up and die

Thus shows the necessity for you and I to be firmly planted in Christ. I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT SALVATION, I’M TALKING ABOUT, WHERE ARE YOU PLANTED? It’s necessary for us to be rooted in Christ

Paul Said: Colossians 2:6–7 “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

Because the truth of the matter is, we’re nothing without Him!

Jesus is the Beam, we are the Branches

The Beating of Christ made Him Beautiful

Isaiah 53:2–5 “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, And as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: And we hid as it were our faces from him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed.”

The Bible tells us the that Jesus wasn’t physically beautiful. But what He did sure revealed the true beauty in Him!

(Ill.) I read a story years ago about a daughter who was teased because her mother was scarred and considered ugly to look upon. The daughter obviously was hurt by that and a little embarrassed. She asked her one day ‘why don’t you look pretty like other mommies?’ Her mother proceeded to tell her that when she was a baby, she was asleep in her crib. She had to grab something from the neighbor and without wanting to wake her, she ran over quickly to get it. Upon returning, she saw that the house had caught fire. She then ran into the burning house, suffering great injury to reach her daughter and save her. It was at that point, the daughter saw the true beauty in her mother!

Just how the candlestick was beaten but beautiful, so was Christ - but that’s not all! Remember that the Candlestick is actually a picture of Christ and the Church, so therefore we see…

We are made Beautiful by Refining

Proverbs 25:4 “Take away the dross from the silver, And there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.”

(Ill.) I watched a clip on how silver is refined today. It actually goes through many steps of purifying. It is first extracted by dynamite, then crushed multiple times, placed in a fiery container called a ‘crucible’. It’s a process, but as Scripture says ‘comes forth a vessel for the finer’.

In the life of Christians, oftentimes we feel like we’re in the crucible. It often feels like we’re being pounded & beaten over and over. But it’s through these refinements that God will use to beautify us! He’ll use that to ‘take away the dross’ - the impurities, so that we can be beautiful like Jesus.

We are made Beautiful by Refining

Jesus was without Blemish

Speaking of the purity of the Gold, Jesus was pure and without sin.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

1 Peter 1:19 “But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”

Jesus was pure from spot or blemish. He was pure - and we are made pure in Him

We are Pure in Him

Again - 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

Ephesians 5:25–26 “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,”

I’m a sinner saved by Grace - but as far as God is concerned, my sins are not reckoned unto me, but they were reckoned unto Jesus! I am clean IN Him and THROUGH Him!

We are Pure in Him

The Light of Christ is Unique

There was only one light in the Tabernacle. And there was not another like unto it anywhere!

There are many ‘gods’ today - Allah, Buddha, Confucius, etc. But none like unto Jesus!

The Light of Christ is Unique

Natural Light is Different and Separate

Outside of the Tabernacle you had the natural light. But the natural light was different from the Light of the Candlestick

The Natural light illumination was limited

It couldn’t penetrate into the Tabernacle

The Natural light had a different source emitting it

(Which we’ll get to momentarily)

This brings us to the illumination that the world depends on to that which Christ provides.

The world sees things differently than Christians in Christ do. They’re view is limited by human reasoning - whereas Christians have the illumination that the Holy Ghost provides!

Natural Light is Different and Separate

The Light of Christ is Constant

Exodus 27:20 “And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.”

The Lamp was to burn continually - just as the Light of Christ illuminates continually.

Not only that, but the light of Christians should burn continually! We shouldn’t be burning one moment and dim the next!

Philippians 2:13–15 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;”

The Light of Christ - and of the church must be constant, else the Work Can’t be Done

Without it, the the Work Can’t be Done

(Ill.) Have you ever tried to work in the dark - it’s hard to get something done if you can’t see what you’re doing.

The light was necessary for the priests to carry out their work - and the Light of Jesus shining through us is necessary if the WORK of Christ is going to be accomplished!

Without it, the Work Can’t be Done

By the Light of Christ we have Fellowship

I mentioned how the Candlestick was across from the table of shewbread. The table represents fellowship that Christ provides for believers. And it’s by the Light of Christ where we have fellowship as believers

1 John 1:6–7 “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

By the Light of Christ we have Fellowship

The Branches are Designed to Mirror the Beam

(v32-34) we see the both the shaft (beam) and the branches were to sport ‘almonds, knops & flowers’. The branches weren’t made in opposition to the beam, they were made to MIRROR the beam!

We are Designed to be “Christ-like”

Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Colossians 3:9–10 “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:”

1 John 4:17 “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.”

Too many today desire to be like the world instead of like Christ. Jesus was so different that the Bible says: John 1:10 “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.”

The popular ‘contemporary’ church can continue modeling themselves after the world, I’ll just stick with Jesus!

We are Designed to be “Christ-like”

The Fuel is Necessary for the Fire

The Candlestick is worthless without the oil.

The oil represents the Holy Spirit of God.

I spoke on how Jesus spoke and ministered unto the unction of the Spirit of God. You and I have NO POWER without the Fuel of the Spirit!

The Fuel is Necessary for the Fire

Which was Specific

It wasn’t just any oil - but a specific one. Exodus 27:20 “And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.”

Not just any spirit would suffice - but the Holy Spirit is the fuel that Christians need today to be able to illuminate the world around them!

We need to Spirit of God!

Conclusion

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