THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
Verse: John 1:4 “In him was life, and that life was the light of men”
If we look into the sky on a clear night, when the moon is shining, lighting the sky. We should also be aware that the moon has no light of its own. We know that because men have landed on the moon and we were able to see that pitch darkness on our TV screens, and we now know that the light that seems to come from the moon is really the light that comes from the sun. The Suns light is being reflected through the moon. So if the sunlight passes through space to reach the moon, why is all the sky dark around the moon? The answer is light is invisible. You only know light is there when it strikes an object. So as the sun strikes the moon there is light.
Now in Johns Gospel verse we see Jesus described as Gods light to men on earth. Jesus constantly identified himself with God. So you could say the light of God was reflected on earth through Jesus Christ. John speaks of Jesus this way John 1:9 “the true light that gives light to everyman was coming into the world” This universe you and I live in is full of God. He is the father of light. Father God of course is invisible he is spirit John 4:24. But the apostle Paul writing of Jesus, Colossians 1:15 “he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation”.
So Jesus brought light into a dark world, why dark? because humankind was made in the image of God, Genesis 1:27 but like sheep all have gone astray and do as they please. Sin is lawlessness, paying no heed to God and even declaring there is no God. We see plenty of evidence of this lawlessness in the world today.
When Jesus began his ministry on earth we know the authorities Jew and Gentile conspired to reject and crucify Jesus, but like a light that cannot be extinguished Jesus rose from the dead, giving hope to all those who would believe in him.
So when we become “born again” John 3:3 that light now lives in us too, and we have those words of Jesus regarding our light “let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven” Mathew 5:16 Again 1 Thessalonians 5:5 “you are all sons of the light and sons of the day, we do not belong to the night or to darkness” so in other words all those who follow Jesus are called to be like reflector lights.
Once when Wendy my wife and I were on holiday we went to a place called Hartland Point in North Devon, as you stand on the cliff top and look down, you can see the violent waves and the rocks which years ago caused many a ship to sink, there is a museum there with photos of those past shipping disasters and one mans amazing escape, later there was a lighthouse with a light that shone into the dark and dangerous night. The scriptures of course speak of people sleep walking through life having no time for God not seeing the dangers, but as in the days of Noah eating, drinking, and partying whilst ignoring the signs of the times that Jesus spoke of and becoming more boastful.
In his book reasonable faith, William Lane Craig put it this way: Man writes Loren Eiseley, is the cosmic orphan, he is the only creature in the universe who asks, “Why?” other animals have instincts to guide them, but man has learned to ask questions. “Who am I?” Man asks “why am I here?” Where am I going? Since the enlightenment, when he threw off the shackles of religion, man has tried to answer these questions without reference to God. The answers that came back were not exhilarating, but dark and terrible.” You are an accidental by product of nature, a result of matter plus time plus chance. There is no reason for your existence, all you face is death”
Modern man thought that when he has had gotten rid of God, he had freed himself from all that repressed and stifled him. Instead he discovered that in killing God, he also killed himself. For if there is no God, then mans life becomes absurd.
Friends when we first walk into a darkened room we are uncomfortable the first thing we do is to reach for a light and switch it on. And before Jesus started his ministry, God sent a messenger, John the Baptist, to prepare and proclaim his coming John is described as a witness to the light. But was not the light. Jesus accomplished his mission and now his light is in all Born Again believers as Jesus declared to his followers then and us now, “you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven”.
I’ll finish on the words of a short prayer
“I am a single candle
Burning in the darkness
A light that no man
Can put out because it is Gods light
Shining through me!
Amen
Pastor Terry