Acts 9:1- Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,

Acts 9:3-6 – Now as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do.”

Paul’s change was sudden, dramatic, and permanent. That’s how it is when Jesus steps into someone’s life, the old life is finished and a new life begins. Saul of Tarsus was not just any ordinary individual, he had been taught in the ways of Moses from his youth by one of the greatest teachers of his day, Gamaliel. The problem is this, without Christ there is no revelation, without the light we still walk in darkness. That was about to change for Saul that day as he headed on his mission to arrest Christians in Damascus. He met Jesus in the midst of chasing down believers and the darkness of his soul was flooded with light. From that day he would follow Christ and proclaim His word. Here is how Matthew Henry describes this moment.

“Here it is said only that there shone round about him a light from heaven, but what follows reveals that the LORD Jesus was in this light. This light shone on him suddenly. Christ’s revelations of himself to poor souls are often sudden and surprising, and he anticipates them with the blessings of his goodness. It was a light from heaven. It was a light brighter than the sun, because it was visible at midday. It shone round about him, not only in his face but on every side of him.…..Christ comes to the soul in light, because he himself is the light of the world. The first thing in this new creation, as in that of the world, is light.”

Saul of Tarsus was being changed to the Apostle Paul, the apostle to the gentiles and the one the Lord used to establish the theology of the Christian Church. The light that flooded Paul’s soul became the fountain that he preached from until the day that he died. His message included, justification by grace through faith, Christ in us, us in Him, the baptism in the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, the rapture of the church; I could go on and on but you get the picture. Much of what we believe as Christians flowed out of that moment on the Damascus Road. As we feast on these precious truths and draw near to the Lord we too are filled with the Light of the revelation of Jesus. One moment in His presence can cause our whole life to be flooded with light.