You Are The Light Of The World!

Listen to this passage of scripture. "You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lamp stand; and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."  (Matt. 5 14-16 NASB)

Here's another one.  "...if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."  (1 John 1:7 NASB)

Hang with me, I'm going somewhere with this.  Here's a good one.  "for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light..."  (Ephesians 5:8 NASB)

Let's just add one more to the mix.  "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."  (2 Cor. 4:4 NASB)

Thanks for sticking with me.  What do all these verses have in common?  They talk about the "light of the world."  And what would that light be?  That light is the Lord Jesus Christ living within you.   You don't "hide the light" so that it cannot be seen; you don't fail to "expose" the light as you fellowship with one another;  even though you used to be in darkness, your light shines brightly for others to witness; and your light is not covered to discount the light of Jesus in your life.  You, as a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ "cannot" hide it, you "cannot" help but expose it, you shine with Christ's love to those around you and you "do not" discount your light in Christ as you share with others.

When Paul was speaking to the servants of Christ in the church at Corinth he said, "Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God."  (1 Cor. 4:5 NASB)

I've taken some verses of scripture that focus specifically on "the light of the world" and I want to make a comparison here.  We do, daily what we do, as Christian men and women because the light of God lives within us and we cannot help ourselves.  Take a moment and think about it.  Has there ever been a time when someone has walked up to you and said, "there's something different about you!"  What is it that makes you smile when the doctor tells you that the news is not good?  Why do you live life like everything is really OK?"  You can't tell me it hasn't happened to you.

Well what it is specifically is the "light" of God being exposed as you live your life.  That's right.  In your everyday, normal traffic pattern of life, God is shining through the pours in your body as He testifies of Himself to the world.  Let me take you to another verse of scripture and see if it makes all of this come together better.

Go all the way back to the beginning.  Look at the first book of the Bible - Genesis.  Look in the first chapter and in the 3rd recorded verse of God's Marvelous Word He declares "Let there be light; and there was light."   Okay, now one more passage and I'm going to tie this all together.  In Genesis 1:14-19 God creates the Sun and Moon.  One to govern by day (the sun) and one to govern the night (the moon).

Okay so you all can count and now you realize that the 3rd verse of the Bible tells us that God turned on the light but He didn't create the light-bearing vehicles until the 4th day.  So we understand that "From God" we receive the light of the world which is different from the light of day.  Well, that's what the other verses above are associated with.  We are the "light of the world" (we expose the darkness) because we walk around illuminating the light of God all the way back from the beginning.  When Jesus says that you are "the light of the world" back in Matthew 5, He's not calling you a lamp or lantern or even a spotlight.  He is telling you that you, as a walking, talking, breathing, born again, believer in Jesus Christ are emitting the "light of God" as you share your life with others. 

SO!  If you are truly what you say you are (a fully-devoted follower of Jesus Christ, otherwise known as a Christian) you are a walking, talking, breathing, born again, believing "light" to a dark and dying world.  You need to see this for what it is because you are truly the light that God intended to use to share Himself to the world with.  And your job is to shine, even though you have no "light-bearing" capability.

I am the light of the world.  That is what I understand the Bible to say to me.  So I want to be guilty of exposing the darkness in every room I enter, every moment of every day of my life.  There is no need to flip a switch.  Sometimes I don't feel "so bright", sometimes I'm rather sickly from all of the things my body experiences however, that is not my concern.  God said I am the light of the world.  So what is my goal?  "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

All of the above verses lead us back to the beginning with God when He says "Let there be light; and there was light!"

Okay, the lights are on...is anybody home?

Dave