Jesus: The Light of the World
Now that the Advent season of celebration is behind us, it’s utterly important to remember that our life mission consists of sharing the knowledge of Jesus to a lost world.
Jesus Himself reminds us of this mission in John 12:46.
46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me would not remain in darkness.
The first observation I make here is Jesus’ admission that all people who believe not in Him are living “in darkness”. And as long as unbelievers chose not to believe in Jesus, He says that they will “remain in darkness”.
What does this mean? What does it mean to be in or to persist in a place of or realm of “darkness”. After all, according to Jesus, the only way out of this “darkness” is by coming to believe on Him.
Contextually, from John 12:31-36, we have some clues as to the meaning of being “in darkness”. Jesus, in v.31, talks about a coming judgment against “this world” and against the “ruler of this world”. That judgment Jesus speaks of, is a judgment against Satan as the “ruler of this world” and against his evil “world” system that has enslaved everyone under the death curse of Adam’s original sin, plunging them into Satan’s realm of “darkness”. This has rendered them both helpless and hopeless. The realm of “darkness” in which all shall “remain” (v.46) is nothing less and nothing more than the curse of Adam’s original sin that has rendered all people spiritually dead; it has rendered all people totally depraved (Romans 3:9-10,18). As sure as Adam ate from the forbidden tree…he experienced spiritual death (Gen. 2:17). He was separated from the life and light of God that he was created to live in and experience daily (Gen. 3:8). He was separated from the place and presence of God and was forced outside the realm of Eden (Gen. 3:23-24). And there in Genesis chapter 3, we are introduced to the promise of God’s final redemption from that curse of spiritual death in the person of Jesus Christ (Gen. 3:15). This is why Jesus Christ can assure all people who come to Him in saving faith that they assuredly “would not remain in darkness” (Jn 12:46).
Paul the Apostle says it like this in Colossians 1:13, “He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.” And the reason Paul says it like this, is because Jesus said it to him just like that at his conversion as recounted in Acts 26:12-18. Listen to what Paul tells King Agrippa concerning his conversion and gospel commission…this quoted section (v.17b-18) is Jesus speaking to Paul,
v.17b-18 “I now send you to them to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that by faith in Me they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified.”
Clearly we see here that unbelievers live in “darkness” and that “the power of Satan” is equated to that realm. And as we see in John 12:46, it’s for this very purpose that Jesus has come into the world as “the light of the world, so that everyone who believes in [Him] would not remain in darkness.”
We first saw this truth about Jesus in chapter 1 of John’s gospel...
John 1:4-5 "Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it."
And most specifically in John chapter 8...
John 8:12 "I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life."
Here we see how following Jesus and believing in Jesus are synonymous terms.
And in John chapter 9...
John 9:5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
One more in John chapter 12...
John 12:36 "While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become sons of light."
So...what does it mean that Jesus is the LIGHT OF THE WORLD? When Jesus came into the world, His teaching, His life, His ministry, HIS PURPOSE...according to John 4:34...was "to finish" the Father's WORK!
Which we know from John 4:23 was to “seek for people to be His worshipers.”
The reason Christ came into this world as light was to see lost sinners saved by the vastness of God’s amazing grace...thereby making them true worshipers of God.
And in the process of being THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD...His life and teaching and ministry exposed the darkness of the world for what it truly is...satanic...and eventually, those who love darkness, had Him crucified.
Now...look at v.46 again...
46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me would not remain in darkness.
Question: Have you believed in Him?
Remember, people who do NOT believe in Jesus live perpetually in darkness in Satan’s domain...apart from the life of God, apart from the wisdom of God, apart from the favor of God...and they live instead for their own passions and lusts that are according to this world’s system…catering to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life (1 John 2:15-17).
And such were all of us prior to our conversion (1 Cor. 6:11).
But to KNOW Jesus...is to understand the CENTRAL FACT of life.
That Jesus came into the world as LIGHT...seeking to SAVE!
Which is why Jesus tells His disciples in John 4:35...
John 4:35 "Don't you say, 'There are still four more months, then comes the harvest'? Listen to what I'm telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest."
And Jesus says the same, through this Word, to His disciples even today. "Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest.”
As Christ’s disciples, can we honestly say that one of our main priorities in life is the glory of God through the redemption of sinners?
Is there a hunger in our soul to see sinners SAVED through the power of the gospel? It was for this reason that Jesus came into the world as “the light of the world”. Let’s share HIS light!
A couple of easy ways to share the LIGHT of CHRIST in 2024:
invite people to church
give them a solid theological tract that explains the gospel (there are some in the foyer)
learn the Navigator’s Bridge illustration
pray every morning for opportunities with non-believers
read your Bible and pray each day so that you are a nourished believer who has something to give to others