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YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
Biblical Ref.: Mt.5:14-16 - 14“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Ref.: Gen.1:3-5 - God said, “LET THERE BE LIGHT” and there was light.
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, the very first thing God created was LIGHT. This shows the importance of light in our lives. In Gen.1:2, we read, The earth was formless, empty and darkness was over the deep, etc. Today, what do I see all around me? The world is in disorder, empty of peace, joy and wellbeing, in contrast to the paradise that God created for Adam and Eve. The world seems to be in darkness of all sorts. Here, Jesus is not asking you to be the light of the world. Rather, The Lord is declaring you and me to be a light to the world…to be His light to your own family, neighborhood, community, workplace, church etc. If I am a doctor, I can be a light to my patients, nurses, fellow doctors and all other medical fraternity. If I am a teacher, I can be the light to my students, parents and fellow teachers. How can I be the Light of the World? Here are few ways that I found in the scriptures.
1. Ref.: Jn.8:12 - Jesus said, “I am the Light of the World”.
Ref.: Jn.1:4 - In Him was life and the life was the light of all people.
If you want to be the light of the world, you should allow Jesus, the Light into your life. He should increase and you must decrease day by day. As the intensity of Jesus’ Light increases in you, you become light to more and more people. In fact, Jesus will shine through you. Jesus says in Mt.5:16, LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE OTHERS….SO THAT THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS AND GIVE GLORY TO YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.
Let’s examine,
Are you like a candle giving light to a room only?
Are you like Mercury light that lights up the entire street?
Or are you like a light house that gives light to entire city and guiding big ships to reach their destination?
2. Word of God is the Light
Ref.: Ps.119:105 - “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”.
When you read, meditate, visualize and practice the Word of God every day you can be a light to the world. In Jn.15:7-8, Jesus says, “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this that you bear much fruit and become my disciples”. Just see the parallel to this in Mt.5:16, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven”. Bearing much fruit and being His disciple = letting your light shine before others = Glorifying the Father in Heaven. Therefore Letting the WORD (JESUS) to abide in our hearts makes us Light of the World. That’s it. Praise God!
3. Anointing of the Holy Spirit
Ref.: Acts 2:3 - They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
When the Holy Spirit came, there were tongues of fire. When the fire comes, there is light. Be filled with the Holy Spirit fire. Jesus said to His disciples that when the Spirit of Truth comes He will guide you into all Truth - Jn.16:13. Spirit of Truth dispels all darkness that is within us, so that the Light of Christ can shine through us and that the Father is glorified.
In Jn. 5:35, Jesus testified about John the Baptist being the burning and shining lamp. Now Jesus calls you and me to be a burning and shining Light for the glory of the Father.
Ref.: Jn. 5:35 - John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.
BE A BURNING BUSH FOR THE MOSESES OF OUR TIME:
Ref.: Ex. 3:1-12: 1Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 4When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. 7The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey - the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” 11But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
Moses had well settled in his father-in-law, Jethro’s house and was busy looking after his affairs. A burning bush attracted him to hear the voice of the Lord. At first, he was attracted to the burning bush because of its bright light. God used the burning bush to get the attention of Moses, for God, had greater plans for Moses. He was calling him to deliver the Nation of Israel from the bondages and oppression of Pharaoh in Egypt. Moses did obey the voice of God and the rest is history. There is many a Moses in our times, well settled in the comfort of their father-in-law’s house looking after their affairs. Can we become a burning bush for such people to show them their Call of God and purpose of Life, by letting the divine light within us shine forth for the world?
Ref.: 2 Cor.4:6 - “For God who commanded the Light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the Knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus our Messiah”.
“YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD” IMPLIES THE PEOPLE OF GOD AS HOPE FOR THIS DARK WORLD.
It is Jesus’ disciples, as a source of hope to a dark world that Jesus had in mind with this statement. Consider what the light does:
1. Eliminates darkness: just put on a light in a dark room. Automatically the darkness disappears.
2. Exposes the darkness and that which darkness hides.
Ref.: Eph.5:13 - But everything exposed by the light becomes visible - and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.
Ref.: Jn. 3:20 - Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
3. Exposes the cause of the darkness - the evil: when we shine as a light, evil will be exposed and will be seen for what it truly is.
4. Light shows the way out of darkness: One in sin needs someone to turn on the light. One in confusion needs someone to point them in the right direction. We function as light, when the words and actions of our lives show forth the light of Good. Jesus said, that you can’t hide a city set on a hill and no one lights a lamp and then covers it up. Light can do one thing that is, SHINE.
5. If we are to be the light of the world two things must happen.
a. Our own lives must be illuminated by God’s Light, JESUS CHRIST
b. We must live as people who are in the light of God.
Ref.: Eph.5:8 - For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light
Ref.: 1Jn.1:7 - 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[a] sin.
Ref.: Mt.5:16 - In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
6. Note that the purpose of shining as light is twofold, so that,
(a) others will see your good works and be inspired.
(b) others will glorify God. They also will receive the light and become lights themselves.
CONCLUSION: When Jesus makes this powerful statement, “YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD”, He is indeed challenging us, as this statement is summarising all that God is and is doing in the world. You will understand the challenge as you read the following scriptures:
Ref.: 1Jn.1:5-7 - 5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7But 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.
Ref.: Jn. 8:12 - 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.”
Ref.: Mt. 5:14 - “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Ref.: Phil. 2:14-15 - 14Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky
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