Witness
by Meaghan Troup
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Price
$550
Dimensions
20.000 x 16.000 x 0.500 inches
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Title
Witness
Artist
Meaghan Troup
Medium
Painting - Oil On Canvas
Description
Light is truly amazing. Traveling at 299,792,458 meters/ second, (300,000 km/second and186,251 miles/second) light is the fastest entity in the universe. If you traveled at the speed of light you could make 25 trips from Philadelphia, PA to the Great Wall of China in 1 second. Light rays always travel in straight lines. The direction of light rays can be changed if the light is absorbed, refracted, or reflected, but it will still be traveling in a straight line. Distances in space are so vast that light is used to measure them. It takes only 8 minutes for light to travel from the sun to the earth. In contrast, it takes 5.46 years for light to reach us from Proxima Centauri, the suns nearest star, which is over 51 trillion km. away. As a result, we see Proxima Centauri as it was 5.46 years ago. More impressively, the star Deneb is 1,800 light years away, which means that wee see this star as it was when the emperor Septimius Severus was ruling Rome around 200 AD.
All life on earth requires light to survive. Light is a form of energy. We can feel its heat and we can see its radiance. Light is the only part of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible. We see colors due to the absorption and refraction of light. Colors, simply put, are different wave-lengths of light. Pure light, also known as white light, is the combination of all colors and is the brightest, hottest light, and it glows incandescently. The best examples we have of pure white light are the sun and stars. Although we are surrounded by light during the day, very few things give out light. The sun, other stars, and electric lights are light sources, but we see most things because they reflect light. In fact, our vision is so dependent on light that if the objects in our surroundings do not emit or reflect light, we cannot see them.
Can you imagine would the world be like without light? How would we manage to fumble through even the most basic aspects of our daily routines with nothing to illuminate our surroundings? We would be lost in complete darkness, and we would perish.
This piece is called "Witness" and is inspired by the following scripture:
"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.' " John 8:12
When Jesus spoke these words it was during the Feast of the Tabernacles- Israel's thanksgiving feast that celebrated God's provision for them and remembered God's deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. This festival included a lighting ceremony called the "Illumination of the Temple," which involved the ritual lighting of four golden oil-fed lamps in the Court of Women. These lamps were huge menorahs/candelabras (seventy-five feet high) lighted in the Temple at night to remind the people of the pillar of fire that had guided Israel in their wilderness journey. All night long the light shone brilliantly, illuminating the entire city. In celebration and anticipation, the holiest of Israel's men danced and sang psalms of joy and praise, before the Lord. This festival was a reminder that God had promised to send a light, the Light, to a sin-darkened world. Imagine the impact of the words said by Jesus in the Temple courtyard when he announced, "I am the Light of the world."
With this proclamation, Jesus was pronouncing himself to be God. "I am the Light of the world" is a declaration of His absolute deity because He used words in the Hebrew language that only God could use. It was also a capital crime. The Pharisees attempted to discredit Jesus, accusing Him of error by bearing witness of Himself (Jewish law at this time required two or more witnesses to a claim). However, God the Father was continuously bearing witness of Him, through Old Testament scriptures, and by displaying signs and wonders through His life. Since the Father was bearing witness of Jesus, the Pharisees should have recognized Jesus and believed His words.
The world is full of people trapped in darkness. They live out their entire existence lost in the dark, with no true sense of who they are or what their purpose is, because they don't have the light of Jesus Christ in their lives. Living without spiritual light is far worse than being without physical light. Without the light of Christ we have no protection. The devil loves darkness and is called the "Prince of Darkness" throughout the Bible. Without the light of Christ, the devil is free to kill our hope and fill us with fear. Basic human nature confirms this. Even the most fearless individual will experience anxiety if they find themselves in a dark and unfamiliar location. We are naturally afraid of the dark- afraid of the unknown. Without the light of Christ our human actions have no traffic light- there is no red light saying stop to our selfish passions, thoughts and emotions. More importantly, there is not green light telling us to get moving in accomplishing the good works that God created and destined for us. Without the light of Christ, human beings are engulfed in the complete night of egotism, selfishness, and depravity as they attempt to fill a void only Jesus can satisfy. What is wrong appears right and they do not possess the Holy Spirit in their lives to guide them otherwise. The darkness in the unbelieving heart makes it impossible for them to have peace, joy, and hope.
"Light of the World" means that Jesus is the source of truth for the world. He is the God with us and His nature is eternally pure and holy. Jesus was sent into the world to die as a perfect sacrifice for our sins so that each person can walk in His light and receive the gift of eternal life. For the believer, following Christ is a permanent spiritual attachment defined by a personal commitment to follow Him. When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, He changes our lives and we respond to Him as our Lord. Our self-centered notions dissipate as we ask the Lord what He would have us do. As a result of this abiding union with God the believer is the reflected light of the Lord Jesus. Christ is the light of the world and those who follow Him are to be light in the world.
So what does it mean to follow Jesus personally? We are able to serve God in many ways according to the gifts, talents, and opportunities He gives us. Each of us is an utterly distinct, magnificently unique work of the creative mind of God. Each of us has our own particular light and when live according to God's Word, we can use the talents and blessings He gave us to be a witness to others with the hope and life of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christians have the job of getting the light back on! We have to get the light of Jesus shining brightly again in human hearts, starting with our own. People who don't know Christ are spiritually, emotionally & psychologically blind. They have no understanding of where they came from, where they are now, or where they should be going. They are paralyzed. Christ makes all paths clear, and when we bring the light of Christ into someone's life we help to guide their feet.
A University professor at a well known institution of higher learning challenged his students with this question. "Did God create everything that exists?" A student bravely replied, "Yes he did!" The professor answered, "If God created everything; then God created evil and, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil." The student became quiet and did not respond to the professor's hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said, "May I ask you a question, professor?"
"Of course", replied the professor. The student stood up and asked, "Professor does cold exist?" His professor replied "What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The other students snickered at the young man's question. The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 F) is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."
The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?" The professor responded, "Of course it does." The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wave lengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."
Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?" Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said. We see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil. To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light."
This is a true story of a brilliant young scientist who bravely confronted his professor regarding the existence of God. It is widely believed that this young student was Albert Einstein, although this has not been confirmed. Regardless, this young man used his talents to provide a clear, scientifically rational argument for the existence of God. In doing so, he was a reflection of the light of Jesus, witnessing to all who were present and to future generations through his story.
Jesus is the light of the world. He is the purest light. Considering what we know about the physical light in this world we can imagine then that Christ is the most brilliant light anyone has ever seen. In fact, He is incandescent- so dazzling He radiates heat. In our earthly state we are not able to look upon Him or touch Him due to His intensity. Christ, as the purest light, embodies and emits all color, and literally nothing can hide from the illumination of His presence. Life is sustained by Him, without Him we will perish, and by His light we are able to see all things.
Famed novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, and Christian apologist C.S. Lewis stated:
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
Each one of us will face darkness in our lives- situations that at the time seem so unbearable that we will never make it through. Place your life in the steadfast hands of Jesus, lean on Him, and press on. Jesus Christ puts light, color, joy, happiness, and direction into your very life. He is the light for all people of all nations. Through His death on the cross, the darkness is defeated. Whoever follows Him will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life. He will light the path ahead and guide you through the darkness to the beauty of hope and healing. Live your life as a witness to the love, faithfulness, and power of God.
Uploaded
February 7th, 2013
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Comments (4)
Laurel Adams
Meaghan, this painting is STUNNINGLY beautiful as is your description. I am reminded of William Blake and his observation that “Colours are the wounds of light! It would seem that ALL of Life, Love and Nature reflects your observations. Well done, Meghan. L/F