“Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the
world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,
but will have the light
of life.’” - John 8:12
The story
is told of an atheist professor who tried to convince his students that the
existence of evil proves that God Himself is evil. A quick-thinking student
asked, “Professor, does darkness exist?” The professor responded, “Of course it
exists.” But the student disagreed: “Darkness does not exist. Darkness is in
reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. 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 that correct? Darkness is a term used by man to
describe what happens when there is no light present.”
The student
continued: “Evil does not exist either, or at least it does not exist unto
itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness, a word
that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil.
Evil is not like faith, or love that exists just as light does. Evil is the
result of what happens when man does not have God’s love in his heart. It’s
like the darkness that comes when there is no light.”
Great food
for thought! Just as it would be ridiculous for us to turn off the lights in
our home and then proceed to blame them for the darkness, it is silly to blame
God for the prevalence of evil after having removed Him from our schools, our
homes and our government. The Old Testament records the history of the
Israelites who repeatedly removed God’s light from their nation. And the
results were disastrous. But in fulfillment of His promise, God sent into the
world the brightest light imaginable—His Son, Jesus Christ.
At the
start of his gospel account, the Apostle John introduces Jesus Christ in an
amazing way: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were
made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and
that life was the light of men.” On that very first Christmas Day, Jesus Christ
left the physical darkness of his mother’s womb and entered the spiritual
darkness of this fallen world. He came as the embodiment of God’s Word and as
the light of this dark world.
Thirty
years later, Jesus stood in the temple courts during the Feast of Tabernacles
and proclaimed, “I am the light of the world.” This revelation was particularly
powerful considering the fact that the Feast of Tabernacles commemorated God’s
guidance of Israel ’s
ancestors during their forty-year journey from slavery in Egypt Jerusalem
Jesus came
into this dark, sin-cursed world and pierced the moral and spiritual darkness. Every
single human being who has ever walked this earth commits sins. Before Jesus
came onto the scene, everyone on earth was living under the curse of that darkness.
But Jesus’ light broke through the darkness. Jesus’ light broke through the hopelessness,
the hate and the condemnation. His light broke through the racism, the fear,
the pride, the lust and the idolatry. Jesus’ light broke through because Jesus
is the light of the world.
And while
preaching the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus turned to his followers and declared,
“You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). Yes, Jesus is the Light of the
World, but every Jesus follower is also the light of the world because the
Spirit of Jesus Christ dwells within us. He shines in us, and we are commanded
to let his light shine through us. Sadly, most of us who claim to be Christians
have a bad habit of shining our lights brightly in private and dimly in public.
That’s one of the main reasons why Christians have had such limited impact in
our culture in recent years. Let’s face it: Secret agent Christians don’t lead
people to Christ’s salvation. Christians who disguise their faith don’t
transform their families’ or neighbors’ morals. Jesus followers who only shine
their lights within the four walls of the church building don’t penetrate the cultural
darkness with the light of Christ.
We as
Christians MUST shine the light of Christ outside the church building, and this
light shining should be very practical. It involves sharing the Gospel with our
mouths, but it also requires us to share the Gospel with our hands and feet. Christians
who are serious about shining Christ’s light are serious about meeting people’s
practical physical needs in addition to their deeper spiritual needs. Starving
people need a full tummy before they’re ready to hear the Gospel. Injured
people need a Band Aid before they’re ready to hear the message. People who
feel they’ve been mistreated and betrayed by Christians need to experience your love before they can begin to
understand Christ’s love.
Jesus is
the Light of the World, and he has called you and me to shine his light in our
dark world. We must allow Christ’s light to shine in us and through us.
Darkness can only exist wherever Christ’s light is not allowed to shine. So,
let your lights shine, Christians. Let them shine!
Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of
First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information,
visit www.fccvv.com and join us for
worship Sundays at 10 am.
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