God’s Light of Life
John 8:12 NIV
12 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."
The use of light in the Gospels follows, on the whole, the use of light in the OT and late Hellenistic (Greek) Judaism. Hebrew thought uses light as a symbol of the divine presence and salvation
How does this apply to us today? What is the connection we have to experience.
1. When the sun goes down and darkness covers the beautiful creation of God. The sun rises and all is revealed again.
2. With Light God, and the things of God are Revealed it shows his presence in our lives
Illustration: Darkness is the absence of light
A University professor challenged his students with this question. “Did God create everything that exists?” One student bravely replied, “Yes he did!”
“God created everything?” The professor asked. “Yes sir, he certainly did,” the student replied.
The professor answered, “If God created everything; then God created evil. And, since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil.”
The student became quiet and did not answer 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?”
“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 wavelengths 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.”
The professor sat down. The young student’s name, Albert Einstein.
You see darkness and light can’t mix. Think about it. How do you mix darkness and light? If you bring light into the darkness, it is no longer dark.
3. “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Jesus gives us the ability to see and navigate through our lives.
The lost sinner lives in darkness and will spend eternity in darkness if he rejects Christ.
a) Darkness speaks of death, ignorance, and sin. - The light reproves sin.
“If a piece of wood is kept in a dark place, all kinds of ugly insects will hide under it. But if exposed to the light, the insects will run away, for they love darkness and hate light. So with our hearts: if we do not have Jesus, the Light of the world, in our hearts, they will be dark too, and harbor evil thoughts. The moment we receive Him, the evil thoughts will be driven away.”
b) Light speaks of life, knowledge, and holiness.
It opens our heart to the fullness of God, and we discover the warmth and comfort that only Jesus can bring.
2 Cor 4:6 NIV
6 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 the glory of God in the face of Christ.
c) Light symbolizes God’s Guidance.
A man flew into Chicago & hired a taxi to take him downtown. As he was riding along they came to a red light & the driver went right on through the red light. The man said, "Hey, the light was red. You’re supposed to stop." The driver said, "Yeah, I know, but my brother does it all the time." Soon they came to a second red light & again he went right straight through. The passenger said, "You’re going to get us killed. That light was red. Why didn’t you stop?" The driver said, "Don’t worry about it. My brother does it all the time." Then they came to a green light & he stopped. The man said, "The light is green. Now is the time to go. Why don’t you go on through?" The driver answered, "I know it’s green. But you never know when my brother may be coming through." Sometimes it seems as if all the world is going through on red & stopping on green.
We’re constantly trying things that don’t work.
As the light of the world, Jesus is our guide. Not only can He show us the way out of the darkness, but we should also seek His counsel whenever we have a major decision to make as we walk in the light.
Ps 119:105 NIV Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
d) Light Brings Knowledge of Our Need
Light exposes our deeds of darkness to help us see our need for salvation
e) Light Brings Hope to the Hopeless
There is a story about how the caverns north of Yellowstone National Park were discovered. As the story goes, one of the original explorers was walking along the top of that mountain and fell through a hole, and he dropped down several hundred feet into this cavern and was stuck in almost total darkness for over a week, no food, no water. He cried out every day, "Help me!" hoping that somebody would hear his voice and figure out that he was down there. Sure enough a guy came along and heard this faint sound and looked around and found the hole. They dug him out and that’s how they found this giant cavern. They asked him, "How did you hold on to hope day after day after day in the dark without giving up?" He said, "There was one little pinhole ray of light that was coming through and I just kept focused on that ray of light."
Many around us in this nation today are like that man down in the cave. They are in darkness looking for a way out.
He is the Light at the end of the tunnel. In Christ there are no longer hopeless situations, and nothing can change that, not even death. WHY? John 1:4, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
f) Light gives us Courage
Psalm 27:1 (NIV) Of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid?
g) Light represents Fellowship with God
Isa 2:5 NIV 5 Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
1 John 1:7 NIV 7 But if we walk in the light , as he is in the light , we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
h) Light makes the rough areas of life become smooth
Isa 42:16 NIV 16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.
i) God’s light is our armor against deeds of darkness
Rom 13:12-14 NIV
12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light . 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
j) Light brings truth to our lives
Eph 5:8-9 NIV
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)
Application: Jesus called us to be children of Light
What is a Saint?
During a sermon, a pastor asked a reflective question to the congregation, "And what is a saint?"
A little boy looked up at the stained glass windows of the apostles and blurted out, "People who let the light shine through!"
Because we are saints with the light of God in our lives, we are to let the light shine through us.
If you are sitting in a dark room with no windows, you can’t see the objects in the room. Even though the objects are there, you aren’t aware of them because you’re in darkness. However, if someone turns on the light switch, the things previously hidden from your eyes are now obvious.
Don’t get angry at people in spiritual darkness for not being able to see what’s obvious to you. Instead, bring them some spiritual light.
