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Title: I Am The Light of the World Text: John 8:12 Introduction: Have you ever paid attention to what happens at sun rise? When day breaks and it begins to get light, it’s like life beginning for the first time; the birds began to move about and begin to sing, squirrels and rabbits and other animals begin to come out, the world begins to move again. The darkness of night brings out the nocturnal predators, but the sun brings an awakening of life, the darkness disappears, the uncertainty and fear of the night give way to the hope and expectancy of the day. Those things which were hidden by the darkness become evident in the light. Light really does bring an awakening of life. John wrote in chapter 1:4 referring to Jesus: In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. In the physical world light can be divided into two basic categories. There is artificial light like light bulbs, flashlights, lanterns and things like that which are powered by a manufactured source. Then there is natural light such as the sun and stars whose light source comes from within. In the spiritual world there are also two categories of light. You could use the same categories artificial and natural but the Bible divides it into true and false. In verse 9 of that first chapter John also wrote: There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. In the spiritual world there is only one true light source and that is Jesus Christ. He is the Light of the World. Through the use of this metaphor Jesus presents a spiritual contrast not only between the light and the darkness but also between boldness and fear; vision and blindness, good and bad, right and wrong, life and death, insight and ignorance, life and death, holiness and sin; godliness and godlessness. Like His teaching on the bread of life, Jesus used a teachable moment. It was at a time when what was going on around Him would relate to and call specific attention to His message and it’s meaning. Jesus spoke these words in the Court of the Women. It was called Court of the Women because women were not allowed to proceed further into the temple area. This was the most public part of the temple. (from Vincent's Word Studies of the New Testament) Within this area stood two, what have been described as, “colossal golden lamp-stands,” on these lamp-stands hung a multitude of lamps, lighted every evening during the feast of Tabernacles. It is said their glow could be seen over all the city. Around this brilliant light the people celebrated with great rejoicing.(from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary) Jesus words would be especially conspicuous and significant at that time when He proclaimed, “I am the light of the world.” Jesus is the true light which dispels all spiritual darkness. I. Jesus dispels the darkness of artificiality We live in a world of artificiality. We drink pop with artificial color, artificial sweetener, artificial flavor. It’s ironic we drink lemonade with artificial lemon and use dish washing detergent made with real lemons. Our clothes are made with synthetic fabric, our tires are synthetic rubber, our hamburgers are not real meat, and we wear synthetic diamonds. Even some of our most well known and often biggest “heros” or idols are those from Hollywood and the world of make-believe. And as if our world isn’t violent enough even after Sept 11th our movies continue to be filled with an over abundance of artificial violence. Of course we’ve all seen in recent months even the wealth and prosperity of some of our biggest companies is artificially inflated. We live in a world of the false the fake and the make believe. The average person often can’t tell what’s real and what’s artificial. We also live in a world that offers many forms of spirituality. Eastern religions, human philosophies, New Age movements and a endless variety of cults that blend various ideas from many different sources offer artificial substitutes for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They offer “light” to the world but it is an artificial man-made light. Many times it is light that provides warmth but no illumination. It is light that does not give life. Jesus Christ brings true light and understanding to life. Have you ever noticed how everything looks different in the brilliance of sun light. True colors are revealed in the sunlight. I find that especially true with blue and black socks. Man made light often alters the color of things because it gives off a different hue according to the dominant wave-length. The incandescent lights in our sanctuary give off a yellow tint, fluorescent lighting gives off a blue tint, if you’ve every tried to take photographs in fluorescent light without a flash you know what I mean. But in the bight white light of the sun colors come alive they are brighter and more vibrant. In a similar way in the true light of a personal relationship with Christ the human soul is made truly alive. Jesus dispels the darkness of artificiality. II. Jesus dispels the darkness of Sin Throughout the Bible sin is equated with darkness. Even in the secular world darkness is often synonymous with the immoral and the evil behavior of humanity. Darkness covers much of the evil, immoral, brutality of humanity. Statistics show that most crime is committed under the cover of darkness. Few people would even think of walking streets that are not well lit, in many places you wouldn’t even think of driving in areas where the streets are not well lit. In Fort Worth, people were even warned about walking and jogging on the seminary campus alone at night. In the Star Wars movies the arch-villain Darth Vader once a Jedi knight is said to have gone over to the dark side. Sin comes to fruition in the spiritual darkness of the human heart. The Bible says without Christ we are not only in the darkness (Rom 2:19), we are darkness (Eph 5:8), and we live in the domain of darkness(Col 1:13) and we participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness (Eph 5:11). There is a great deal of darkness in our world today. Jesus Christ, The Light of the World, has shown into the darkness for the purpose of reclaiming and redeeming those who were lost, those who are in the darkness. He came to condemn sin, but also to redeem sinners Paul wrote in Rom 5:8, God demonstrates His own love toward us,” Who is the us Paul refers to? It is every person who is lost in sin; it is the cold self-righteous hypocrite, the prostitute, the drunk, the adulterer, the homosexual, the thief, the liar, it is the unrepentant sinner who has not called upon the Lord for forgiveness of sin. We are all sinners, the Bible says there is none righteous all have sinned and while we were unrepentant while we were still in darkness, He did not simply condemn us in our unregenerate condition to eternity in hell, no, “while we were yet sinners, the Bible says, “Christ died for us.” He died to dispel the darkness of sin that we might experience the light of eternal life. III. Jesus dispels the darkness of hopelessness Humanity is wandering aimlessly in spiritual darkness searching constantly for the meaning of Life. Post-modernism, a term you have probably seen in newspapers and magazines or heard on the TV or radio describes the culture of the 21st century. It is a culture of relativism, lacking the concept of absolutes, a culture wandering in a wilderness of moral bewilderment. Our society is rapidly changing its ethics, its morals and its values. We have lost the sense of right and wrong. Long held moral beliefs are ridiculed, the institution of marriage and the family which is the core of society is under assault. Hope has to do with the future. If our future is uncertain our hope is uncertain as well. In this world we often build our hope on things we are not sure of. It may be a person such as a spouse, a political leader even a pastor or a football coach; it could be a particular retirement plan, a stock portfolio, a job, a particular degree, even a political ideology. History has shown that all of those things can fail, they can disappoint, they can be destroyed. We are certainly seeing the tragic results of having hope in the corporate world where relativism builds future hopes on a house of cards. Global Crossing, Enron, Author Anderson a few names among many that represented the hopes of thousands if not millions of people. It was a false hope, built on lies and ethical practices that produced hopelessness rather than the hope they promised. Spiritually, without Jesus Christ, hope is also built on a house of cards. We sing a song that says, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.” It goes on to say on Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. We live in a world of despair, a world where teenagers commit suicide in record numbers because they see no hope for the future. They see only a world of the here and now where death is an end to itself. Christians face the worlds troubles just like everyone else but we see them, or we should see them from an eternal perspective. Paul wrote in Rom 8:18: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (NAS) That is hope. The late Presbyterian theologian Albert Barnes said hope is a complex emotion made up of a desire for an something; and an expectation of obtaining it. Where either of these is lacking, there is no hope. Where they are merged in improper proportions, there is no peace. But where the desire of obtaining an something is accompanied with an expectation of obtaining it, in proportion to that desire, there exists that peaceful, happy state of mind which we call Christian hope. The Bible says this hope is A Good Hope (2 Thes 2:16) Good because
nothing shall separate from Christ’s love; A Sure Hope (Heb 6:11-19) Jesus dispels the darkness of hopelessness because He Himself Is Our Hope, and it is a hope that endures, a hope that does not disappoint and hope that is secure even in perilous times. In the midst of difficulty Jesus offers strength to the weak, comfort to those who mourn, hope to those who have lost their way. We don’t always have the experience, the wisdom, or the courage to face the difficulties, trials and tragedies of life. Jesus is the lighthouse that guides us through the darkness dispelling the artificiality, the sin and the hopelessness of this world. Jesus is the light of the world and He can be the light of your life. Will you receive him, will you let him get rid of the sin and allow Him to give you hope? If you have already received Him will you commit your self or recommit yourself to walking everyday in His light allowing that light to guide your heart and mind in every decision and every action. Will you only trust Him? #317 Only Trust Him |