James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
There is a river of cascading light flowing down from the Father above. He is the fountainhead and giver of all life. This river of light effects us powerfully once our eyes have been opened. Before Christ opened our eyes we were blind; blind to His goodness and to all His gracious work all around us. We were blind to the glory of the Lord; our lives were flooded with the darkness of this generation. This darkness effected the way we talked, the way we thought, the way we viewed the world, and was the source of all of our actions. When Christ came the darkness disappeared suddenly from our lives. First, we saw the beauty of Christ from this light. We began to be overwhelmed with the beauty of His nature; His kindness, His holiness, His wisdom and His love. Next, we begin to see our lives from this light. We saw our sinfulness and His offer of salvation. Then, as we embraced this light, our whole being was flooded with light. We are different people now, the glory of God has changed us into different people. Here are some thoughts from Matthew Henry on today’s verse.
“What the sun is in nature, God is in grace, providence, and glory; aye, and infinitely more. For every good gift is from him. As the Father of lights, he gives the light of reason. The inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding. He gives also the light of learning: Solomon’s wisdom in the knowledge of nature, in the arts of government, and in all his improvements, is ascribed to God. The light of divine revelation is more immediately from above. The light of faith, purity, and all manner of consolation is from him. So that we receive from God, as there is no evil or sin in us, or done by us, but what is owing to ourselves.”
Now, we see everything differently, the Lord appears beautiful to us, we also see ourselves in a different manner, and we see our purpose in life very differently. We are awakened by Him, transformed by Him, inspired by this light, empowered by it, and consoled and strengthened as we embrace His light. The world lies in darkness, unable to see the goodness of God. We are no longer part of this darkness, we have become children of light.