Who Is Jesus? The 7 I Am Statements of ChristSample

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Light is essential to life on Earth. Sunlight is needed for plant growth, heat, and warmth. Today we have complex navigational systems, but in the old days, boats and ships used light to find their way safely to shore. The English expression “light at the end of the tunnel” is an expression of hope that a current situation (mostly a negative one) is coming to an end. No matter how small, light has a purpose. Like the small nightlight that keeps you from stubbing your toe as you walk around in the dark, or the bright red light we see at the top of high-rise buildings which informs aircraft of its presence. All light has a purpose!

John 1:4 shows that Jesus is the light and life of all men and not just a bringer of illumination. He came into the world to illuminate the sin in the heart of man and by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, bring us to repentance. When we fully surrender ourselves to Him, we allow His light to pierce every corner of our lives until we are fully transformed into His image. This is hard because seeing our sin brought to light can stir shame and anger. We make excuses to avoid dealing with our issues. Remember that God does not illuminate to shame, but to redeem. The key is surrender! Our world is filled with darkness and sin and we do not belong to the dark, we are children of the light.

We are also called to be light in our world today by shining the light of God brightly for all to see. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus declares we are the light of the world and warns against hiding our light. Without Jesus, we do not have light but with Him, we can penetrate the world and shine His love and compassion to everyone around us while sharing the gospel of truth.

So like plants drawn to light in a dark room, we must continually seek Jesus and allow Him to lead, direct, and grow us in every way. Don’t fight the light, embrace it.

It is easy to see why Jesus would describe Himself as the light of the world. Is anyone more important for our growth, safety, direction, and vision than Him? In John 8, Jesus makes this declaration right after rescuing the adulteress from stoning and before healing the blind man (John 9: 1-6). During this period, the Pharisees questioned Him continuously about His identity and refused to believe His teachings or miracles. They went as far as to excommunicate the blind man after his healing because they did not think he was initially blind. Jesus shone light into the lives of all these individuals illuminating sin and blindness, both physical and spiritual. To the woman and the blind man, He shone forgiveness, compassion, and love. But the Pharisees' hearts were hard, they refused to believe and remained spiritually blind.