Illuminate

Intro

(Have some or all of the lights turned off.)

When we are young, and sometimes when we are old we are sometimes scared of the dark. Is anyone here scared of the dark? don't worry no one can see you raise your hand. I remember as a kid we would sometimes be allowed ot watch TV at night. Back then we only had 2 channels: CTV and CBC. I remember sometimes watching the show unsolved mysteries. Back then it had stories about possible aliens and many other scary things. Me and my brother slept in the same room and we would run to our beds and not want to turn the light off because we where scared after what we just watched. Someone would have to do the whole race to turn the light off and get in bed again as fast as possible trick.

(Light the lamp)

That is why we have a light. We have night lights, other lights to help us feel secure when we fear the dark. In the bible we also learn about darkness and light. The darkness represents evil and sin and the light represents Jesus. Like this lantern in the dark the light of Jesus breaks through the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. We are going to learn exactly what this means. today and what this looks like in our lives.

HBI Jesus is a light in the darkness of the world that offers salvation to all who believe. The darkness will never overcome the light of Jesus. As His followers we must also reflect the light of Jesus to the world around us.

In the Beginning.

Like a good story we start out once upon a time, or in the beginning. We go back to before time began.

John 1:1–2 CSB

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

To learn about what it means for Jesus to be a light in the darkness we first must back up and learn the rest of the story. Who can tell me who is being referred to as the word? Thats right it is Jesus.

But what does this have to do with Light and Dark? Well the book Of John was written by the apostle John and His goal in writing the book was so we could all learn John 20:31 That Jesus is the son of God and so that we may believe in Him and who he says He is.

John 20:31 CSB

31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

So John tells us who Jesus us by calling Him the word, who was with God in the beginning and He is God.

John 1:3 CSB

3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

So knowing this we must also remember what happened at the very beginning in the book of Genesis. Now who can tell me How God created the world? God created the world with His words. God’s very word has power to bring stuff into being.

Jesus being the word of God reminds us of that. Jesus was with God in the beginning, He is God and the world was created through Him.

This is a complicated subject. But to try and put it simply, Jesus is the message of God. What God had to say to us is seen in Jesus, what He said and what He did.

Jesus is God, was in the beginning with God and He is the message of God to us, in the way that He lived and what He taught.

In the Light

We need to know this before we move into the light and the dark. Remember who God is, that He created the world by His very word. Remember that Jesus is God’s message to us, His word to us. We can see who God is and what He wants us to do. Knowing this is who Jesus is we learn about the light.

John 1:4–5 (CSB)

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

Jesus is the message of God to us, and in Jesus we have life. This is what is meant by the light in the darkness. the life that is available to all who believe in Him.

But we are all alive right now aren't we? Why do we need Jesus life if we are already alive? I mean I can go and touch you and know that you are living and breathing. But this life is different. The bible teaches that we are born in Sin and death. that we are all like zombies, just walking around dead. Not physically dead but spiritually dead.

This is what the term darkness refers to, our being dead in sin.

As you get older you sometimes realize that without Jesus, there does not seem to be any purpose to what we do in life. Nothing really brings fulfillment and peace. Jesus teaches that we are all dead in Sin. So we all need life. We are all guilty of sin and in need of life. We are all lost in darkness in need of the light.

I played a game once in a church during youth group when I was a teen called Gorgon. It involved Hiding all the pieces of a flashlight around a building and then shut the lights off. The group has to find it all, put it together in the dark without being tagged by the Gargon, the person that is it. I remember not being able to see a thing, wandering around in the dark bumping into stuff I couldn't see. I was helpless. Then the flashlight is finally put together and it is blinding.

Like this, we spend our lives bumbling around in the darkness trying to make our way, sometimes not even knowing we are lost in the dark, thinking it is normal. Then someone shines the light of Jesus on our lives. We either are drawn to the light after it reveals the darkness to us or we run away.

We might run away because we do not want the light to reveal what we have done.

John 3:19 CSB

19 This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.

God’s message to us is that Jesus is the light of the world. The world is lost in darkness, which is sin. But we can turn to the light of Jesus and receive life! eternal life! He gives life to all those who give their lives to Him.

Two things we get from this that I want you to remember. It starts out by remembering who Jesus is, this is vital to the rest of the message.

Jesus is God’s word to us.

Jesus is the message of God. What God had to say to us is seen in Jesus, what He said and what He did.

Jesus is God, was in the beginning with God and He is the message of God to us, in the way that He lived and what He taught. This needs to be true before we can understand this next par.

Jesus is the light in the Darkness

We spend our lives bumbling around in the darkness trying to make our way, sometimes not even knowing we are lost in the dark, thinking it is normal. Then someone shines the light of Jesus on our lives. We either are drawn to the light after it reveals the darkness to us or we run away.

Jesus is our light in the darkness of the world around us. He will guide us when we go astray, He will give us life. And then we must reflect this light to those around us. Is Jesus yopur guiding light?