Light of the World
Jesus is the only true Light of the World, shining all the brighter in the darkness - this Light means Life for the World.
“Life” is found in the
“Word” or ‘Logos,’ and this life is the “Light of men.” It
is “shining in the darkness,” and the darkness “cannot seize” or
suppress it. This same “Word” has become the Living Word of the Father in
Jesus of Nazareth. In him, the glory and life of God are fully manifested -
(John 1:1).
His disciples are summoned to “testify”
of the light in a darkened world. Many competitors are clamoring for our
attention. Each one claims to be the light, the source of illumination, and the
shining city on the hill.
[Photo by Anthony Cantin on Unsplash] |
With the manifestation of God’s “light” in His Son, already, the “darkness is passing away, and the true light is shining.” This must be so since “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” – (1 John 1:5, 2:8).
Political ideologies, philosophies,
religions, economic theories, and messianic figures declare themselves as the
way, humanity’s best hope for peace and life,
supposed bulwarks against the darkness that threatens to overwhelm the world. At best, they are
shadowy counterfeits. They are exposed when the True “Light of God”
radiates brightly on the Earth.
All such claims have failed time and again, and according
to John, there is only one source of the True Light that “illuminates every
man coming into the World,” and the “Light” and “Life” are
inextricably linked by God's chosen vessel, Jesus Christ.
It began with John the Baptist, the forerunner of the
Messiah, the “man sent from God” before the “Light” who bore
witness so that men might “believe.” That “Light” came to
fruition in the man from Nazareth. All men
who believe in him see the “glory
as of the only born of the Father - full of grace and truth.”
His disciples become his “Lights
in the World” summoned to let their “light shine before men so they may
glorify their Father in heaven.” The fullness of His Light and Life
are manifested in His son, and that light is reflected in his followers as they
bear witness about Jesus and follow in his footsteps – (John 1:1-14).
Thus, Jesus is the “Light
of the World,” and there is no other source of “Life” but him. His followers
become the true shining “City on a Hill” because they let his light
shine through them. There is no genuine light or life apart from him, and his Assembly
is called to mediate that true and pure light to all men.
In the Gospel of John, the Baptist declared that Jesus is the “Lamb
of God that takes away the sin of
the World.” Thus, he testified before Israel that
Jesus was the Son of God and the Messiah of Israel – (John 1:29-34).
LIGHT AND LIFE
John’s Gospel begins with the
declaration that God created all things through His “Word,”
the ‘Logos’. “Light” and “Life” are found only in this “Word
made flesh.” In him, the Creator of all things gave concrete and living
expression to the same “Word” by which He made the Heavens and
the Earth.
Jesus is the Light of the World because he is the true and full expression of this Word, the Logos, which is why anyone who believes in him and his words no longer “abides in the darkness” – (John 12:44-50).
In his first epistle, John summarized this truth,
and he employed several terms and themes from the prologue of his Gospel to do
so:
- “That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life. And the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare unto you the everlasting life, which was with the father, and was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us. Indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ” - (1 John 1:1-3).
Jesus of
Nazareth is the “Word of Life” manifested in the world. Because this “Word” has entered the world
through him, the “darkness is passing away, and the true light already is
shining.” The “darkness cannot seize” the Light. Instead, it retreats
wherever the Light shines – (1 John 1:1-3, 2:8).
In a very dark world, Jesus is the bright light that
radiates God’s life, truth, and hope to all men and women, and there is no
other. In him alone, the Fullness of God’s grace and truth are presented for
all men to see.
He declared to his disciples, “I am the way and
the truth and the life.” No one comes to God “except through me,” and,
“He who has seen me has seen the Father.” All competitors that presume
to be the light will fade in the end. Only in Jesus is the nature
and light of God found and manifested, and nowhere else.
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SEE ALSO:
- God is Speaking - (God is speaking His definitive word in His Son. All previous words spoken by the prophets were preparatory, promissory, and partial)
- The Life-Giving Word - (Jesus is the Word made flesh in whom the glory of God is revealed, the same word by which God created all things)
- His Mysteries Revealed - (The mysteries of God previously hidden are revealed in Jesus of Nazareth, and especially in his death and resurrection)
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