Distinguishing the sons of the Light and the sons of the Darkness

 Distinguishing the sons of the Light and the sons of the Darkness

Instructor: Did something good happen?

Man: Yes! Yesterday, our pastor said that we all will be saved as we are "the sons of the light!"

Instructor: Wow, that's nice. But, how do you know that you are 'sons of the light? It is not like you are glowing with light.

Man: Aw, that is not possible! How can anyone be glowing? 

Instructor: Then, how can you figure out who are the sons of the Light?

Man: I guess... if they go to church...???

Instructor: Haha! Shall we talk about the light and the darkness in biblical terms today? First, what are the characteristics of light and darkness?

Man: Mm... light is bright and darkness is dark? 

Instructor: That's right. I prepared a table about light and darkness.

Man: This is something everyone knows. 

Instructor: True. Then, let's talk about the light and the darkness in biblical terms. If you see 1 Th 5:4-8, there are the sons of the light and the ones who belong to the darkness (the sons of the darkness). These people are clearly distinguished by whether there is light or not. 

Man: What is the light here? How can this be the standard to distinguish who belongs to the light or the darkness? Mm... Jesus? We often hear that if we don't believe in Jesus, we cannot go to Heaven. 

Instructor: Do you want to know? Let's get into it. Where do you think the origin of light is? 

Man: The origin of light... From a light bulb? 

Instructor: Hahaha. The origin of the light is 'the sun'.  The sun(the figurative sun) in the bible is God (Ps 84:11).

Instructor: The true word that comes from God is the light(Ps 119:105 and Jn 1:4). But how does God convey His word to us? 

Man: He gives us the word through God's pastors. Then God's pastors are also the light? 

Instructor: Exactly. God is the light in the spiritual world. As He has to give the light to the physical world, He does this work through chosen pastors. Who do you think the light was on Earth 2,000 years ago? 

Man: Jesus! I know I am right!

Instructor: You are right! Jesus said that He is the light of the world (Jn 8:12). And! 

Man: Is there more? 

Instructor: Of course, there are more people we cannot forget about.

Man: People? 

Instructor: Jesus became the light as He received the world, the light, from God. Then what? 

Man: The 12 disciples who received the world from Jesus must have become the light, right? 

Instructor: Yes, and the believers who receive the world and understand the truth through God's pastors become the light too. Here is the question. Who would be the sons of the light? 

Man: Believers who understand the truth through Jesus! 

Instructor: That's right. If we summarize the light, it would look like this

Man: Darkness is the opposite of light. So it must be Satan and his people. 

Instructor: Exactly! Because they have opposite characteristics. This is how we can differentiate the light and the darkness.

Man: Ah-ha! The sons of the light are the ones who understand God's word, right?

Instructor: Yes! And this is how the light works. God's chosen pastor opens the word, which is figuratively hidden (secret), tells this plainly to those who are ignorant, and lets them understand it. Jesus, who came to the world 2,000 years ago as God's son, did the work of the light. 

Man: The light came to the world, then!

Instructor: Before the light comes, there is only darkness But what happens when the light comes in? 

Man: It brightens up the world, right? 

Instructor: Yes. As the world is brightened, the light and the darkness are differentiated. So there were the ones who walked into the light, which means that they came to Jesus to listen to His word. 

Man: And the ones who persecuted and hated Him were the darkness! 

Instructor: That's right. It says that the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (Jn 1:5). How do you think God would view the people who listen to the truth and follow it? 

Man: I think He would consider them to be those who love the truth and the world. It is fun and interesting when you explain the bible plainly. Why don't people want to listen to it? 

Instructor: As you know, light has the characteristic of lighting things up and letting people see them. If that happens, what else can you see, apart from what you usually see? 

Man: Mm... the dark side? 

Instructor: You're right. People hate the light as they are afraid that their evil deeds will be revealed (Jn 3:19-21). 

Man: Evil deeds? What did they do wrong? Can't they just repent? 

Instructor: They can, but pastors have analyzed the bible and taught it as the wanted. What would happen when God's pastor comes and preaches the truth? 

Man: Their lies would be revealed! 

Instructor: Precisely! What they could do is come learn the bible and then preach it to believers, but the don't do that. And not only that, but the ignorant believers will believe whatever their pastors say to them, misunderstanding God and the bible. 

Man: I see.

Instructor: When Jesus came and revealed the Old Testament at a time when people insisted on following the laws of Moses, People who belonged to the darkness treated Jesus as a heretic and didn't believe Him. 

Man: Right. Then when the Secrets of Heaven in the New Testament are revealed to those who believe the word of Jesus' first coming, People might take it as heresy and Satan's words, and not believe it? 

Instructor: Yes. As people don't know the word of God, they only listen to their pastors, go to church and serve in the church. People believe that they can enter the kingdom of heaven just by saying, "Lord, Lord."

Man: If you see them spiritually, they are in darkness because they don't know God's word, the true meaning of the word, which is like the light that leads them to heaven. 

Instructor: Yes. When the time comes, God will open the New Testament, the recorded prophecies, and tell us plainly (Jn 16:25). And those who learn and understand the word at that time will become the sons of the light, whereas those who don't know it, who misunderstand it and don't come out to the light, become the sons of the darkness. 

Man: Now that I know this, I am so embarrassed. I bragged about being a son of the light, but did not know anything. 

Instructor: You can start learning from now on. 

Man: Come to think of it, I can learn God's word in biblical terms here. I will have to try hard to understand the word!

Instructor: Hahaha! When people like you with a noble and good heart listen to the word, you all can really become the sons of the light!

Man: Amen! Amen! 

Reference: https://youtu.be/IUUO8FCItRk