JESUS CHRIST- THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

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John 7:53-8:20
Continuing with Jesus' "I am" statements, in this reference He is stating that He is the Light of the World. In John 8:12 He makes another bold statement that left His skeptics and critics in an uproar. He said: "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." John the Baptist had already witnessed to the fact that Jesus Christ would be the true light in John 1:4-9, and in Luke 2:25-32 Simeon prophesied that Christ was "a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles."

Light means “to shine or make manifest; esp. by rays;(1) and darkness is defined here as "spiritual depravity or moral darkness, emblematic of sin, as a condition of moral or spiritual depravity." (2). The unregenerate man can not understand the spiritual things. He has to be regenerated from within by the Spirit of God.
 
From the very beginning God separated the darkness and the light. It was His first act of creation He realized that man can not live in darkness- Genesis 1:1-5. But ever since, men have loved darkness and have hated the light. The reason many hate the light is because it reveals their sin. Their sin is hidden (so they think) in the darkness of their lives which is consumed with death and sin. But when we allow the Light of the Lord to shine upon us, it reveals those things which are not pleasing to the Lord- our sin.
 
Psalm 43:3 "Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle." (NKJV) When we take a look at this verse we see that God's light and truth leads us-- to His holy hill and tabernacle--- that is His Presence! When we allow God's truth and light lead us it takes us into His Presence. In the tabernacle, in the Holy Place were the altar of incense, the table of showbread and the candlestick. There was no other light in that place except the light from the candlestick which represented Jesus Christ- the Light of the World. This light fell on the other articles in that room and also on that beautiful designed curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. That same light must illuminate our very inner most room of our spirit. We must allow the Light of Jesus Christ to lead us into His presence. Just think about how that Light enters into our very spirit- it casts shadows on the objects of our carnal nature- those things that God wants us to deal with. When we have a love for the truth, we will welcome the light into our spirits to reveal what is really there. God already knows- but He wants us to know- so we can make things right.
 
Last Christmas as my husband and I were driving in the city, we came upon a street that was lined with luminaries. All along this particular street were luminaries on each side of the street. At the end of that street we noticed a church. The luminaries were directing people to the church. What an illustration of the light of Jesus Christ- leading us to His presence!
 
If we are really honest with ourselves, we will see there is still a lot of darkness in our own lives- in our minds. There are many divine truths we are still ignorant of and we need the LIGHT of Jesus Christ to shine upon our hearts. We do lack spiritual perception in many areas of our lives. We need to hold our hearts up to the Light to reveal these areas. It’s better to see them now than to have them trip us up later when they become strongholds in our minds. We must be willing to be vulnerable before the Lord. As we seek Him and desire Him and His Truth- He gradually increases His LIGHT upon our minds and spirits and opens up His Word to us.
 
Eph. 5:8- “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”
 
1 Thess. 5:5- “You are sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness,”
 
 

Dear Lord, may we allow Your light to shine in our innermost parts- showing up the sin and darkness that is there. Help us truly cultivate a love for Your truth- however painful it may be- but knowing that in the end we will be closer to You in the process. May Your truth and Your light lead us in an ever increasing measure into Your Presence. In Christ's Name- Amen.

(1) "Abingdon's STRONG'S Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible"
(2) "The Expanded Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Word. W.E. Vine"

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