4 The Light of the World
4
The Light of the World
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
As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
John 9:4–5
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
Genesis 1:2–5
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:4–5
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
John 3:19
You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.
John 12:35–36
The deepest darkness I ever experienced was during a tour of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. The group had just entered a much deeper cavern and our guide informed us that the lights were about to be turned off. We were instructed not to move until the lights were turned on again, and nobody had a problem obeying that order! For the first time I understood what Moses meant when he described the tenth plague in Egypt as “darkness that can be felt” (Exod. 10:21–23). It’s impossible to explain it, but we could feel the darkness and were happy to see the lights come on again.
The people living on Planet Earth are very familiar with the sequence of day and night, so it’s no surprise that in many languages light and darkness are used as metaphors. Light usually symbolizes what is good and darkness what is bad. For example, if you don’t understand what’s going on, you are “in the dark”; if you do understand, you are “enlightened.” In Scripture, light speaks of God (“God is light,” 1 John 1:5), and the darkness speaks of sin and Satan (John 3:19–21; Acts 26:18). Sinners perform “deeds of darkness” (Rom. 13:12), while God’s people should live as “children of light” (Eph. 5:8–13). Jesus called hell “outer darkness” (Matt. 8:12; 25:30 NASB), but Revelation 21:25 tells us that there will be no night in heaven. Unbelievers are lost in the darkness (John 12:46), while believers have been called out of darkness and “into his wonderful light” (1 Pet. 2:9).
When John the Baptist appeared on the scene and announced the arrival of the Messiah, “he came as a witness to testify concerning that light [Jesus]” (John 1:7). The only people you must tell that the light is shining are blind people! Many people believed John, repented of their sins, and had their eyes opened to truth, but the religious leaders of the nation remained in darkness. They thought that they could see and that the common people were ignorant, but it was quite the opposite. The common people believed John and followed Jesus, while the “spiritual leaders” resisted God’s truth (see Matt. 21:23–27). Some of them said that Jesus was a drunk, a glutton, and a demon-possessed man.
As in that day, so today: the most dangerous darkness in our “enlightened age” is the dense spiritual darkness that blinds the minds and controls the hearts of people who have never trusted Christ or who claim to know Him but don’t follow Him. Jesus came to dispel spiritual darkness, and to do so, He had to endure the darkness and the suffering of the cross. As the prophet Isaiah described it, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned” (Isa. 9:2; see also Matt. 4:15–16).
In order to live as “children of light,” we must understand and personally apply the truths Jesus shared when He said, “I am the light of the world.” Let’s consider three aspects of this statement from our Lord.