The Bible Telescope

UV 1722/10000 The Bible Telescope
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 8 v 12

Jesus, His life, His example, His teachings are the light in this world of darkness. We who follow Him should offer our lives, our example, our words, our actions and reactions as the lens through which His light, the light of life passes to reveal the glory and grace of the Lord. You might have heard of the Hubble, the world’s largest telescope that is installed in space to capture every ray of light and distant heavenly bodies and objects and its contours travelling through the vast space of the universe. A telescope is a combination of a series of lens installed in such a way as to magnify the rays of light coming through the outermost lens. We are the “Bible telescope”. We have multiple lens in our lives. We have the lens of our own inner life- our souls which are the primary lens for the light of the transforming power of Jesus to flow in and out of our lives. We have the lens of our family life to allow the light of God’s love to flow through as manifested in Jesus. We need to exhibit the same forgiveness, mercy and grace extended to us in Jesus. We also have the lens of our workspace, our public life and our ministry or witness to others so that those who live in darkness and ignorance of God’s love see the hope that we have and the consequent joy and strength that hope inspires in us.

As “Bible telescopes” we look through the lens of the immediate at the ultimate and absolute truth- the very light of life. Jesus also said, “ I am the way, the truth and the life.” The light of His love and grace illuminates our ways, our paths and reflects God’s truth and power in and through our lives. We can also look at the immediate through the lens of the ultimate and the absolute- the Word of God. Unlike the Hubble telescope that can only look outward, we gain a two way perspective – from the inner to the outer and from the outer to the inner, from the absolute to the relative, from the relative to the absolute. Each word of scripture is a ray of light. All the lens of our lives will magnify the grace and light of Jesus in this world.

We do not drive away darkness but we allow and welcome the light of Jesus into our lives and the darkness is automatically eliminated. The presence of God or our personal equation and relationship with God through Jesus means the absence of darkness. The more we allow the light of Jesus to penetrate the different areas of our lives, the dark recesses of our minds and hearts, the more we overcome the darkness of lust, the folly of wickedness. Instead of becoming the wicked as is our natural proclivity, we become the lit wick of light. We become a microscope to magnify what cannot be seen by the human eye, what is hidden from our natural vision. We are also a telescope to magnify what is distant.


Prateep V Philip