“I am the Light of the World”

This year for Christmas I want a new car so I started to do some research. I found a guy who designed a wooden car. It’s got a wooden engine, wooden doors, wooden seats, wooden wheels, and even a wooden key. It did have a problem though…it wooden start.

If you liked that joke, then you’ll love this one:

A little girl wanted a kitten for Christmas so her dad went out to find an inexpensive cat. He gets to the pet shop and asks:

“Have you got any kittens going cheap?”

“No, sir,” replied the pet shop owner. “All our kittens go, ‘Meow.’”

John 8:12 HB:ERV

12 Later, Jesus talked to the people again. He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never live in Darkness. They will have the light that gives life.”

Christmas is all about Jesus. The God who created the universe became part of His creation as a flesh and blood man. He came and lived a life among His creation. It was for a reason. He came to redeem what had been lost, and to bring hope to the world.

He came to bring change.

Physically speaking Christ changed things for those that saw and heard from Him in the flesh. We know that the multitudes followed Him because they had never heard a man teach the way Jesus taught. The authority He spoke with was completely new.

When Jesus would enter the synagogue and start teaching the people were astonished.

Mark 1:22 ESV

And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

The teaching brought people to Him but I think that the healings is what really got people interested in Jesus. It was a clue that this man was not just another good teacher, but He might be the long awaited Messiah.

If you read down a bit through Mark 1 you see that after Jesus was done teaching that He cast a demon out of a man!

Mark 1:27 ESV

And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

Jesus was becoming a big deal because, physically, He was changing things that seemed unchangeable. The news spread like wild fire and Jesus became something of a celebrity.

Mark 1:28 ESV

And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

When Jesus came to this world as a man He came as a light that physically affected the world, but we know that was not His primary purpose to come as a man don’t we?

Jesus had a much more important goal in mind for humanity that went beyond being a teacher with authority or a healer that could cast demons out of bodies.

Christ came to be a spiritual light to a dark world. He wanted people to know that if they trusted that He was the Son of God that they would not need to walk in spiritual darkness anymore.

John 8:12 HB:ERV

12 Later, Jesus talked to the people again. He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never live in Darkness. They will have the light that gives life.”

When Jesus said, whoever follows me, He meant whoever believes and obeys Him.

Jesus was speaking about salvation!

Coming to Christ for salvation results in a different kind of life.

A true believer will not want to live in darkness anymore. They want to live in the light.

1 John 1:6–7 HB:ERV

So if we say that we share in life with God, but we continue living in darkness, we are liars, who don’t follow the truth. We should live in the light, where God is. If we live in the light, we have fellowship with each other, and the blood sacrifice of Jesus, God’s Son, washes away every sin and makes us clean.

This is very important to understand. When Jesus says that we do not need to walk in the dark anymore part of what I believe He is saying is that we need to STOP looking like we are still in the dark!

Repentance is more than feeling guilty for sins—it is turning from them.

A true follower of Christ does not remain in the realm of evil and ignorance because he has Christ as his Light and salvation!

We know that Christ came as a light physically and spiritually for our sake. There are a few specific points I want to make that I think will help you when you think about the Light that God has provided to those who follow Christ. You see, we have been set free from certain things. Things that the enemy would love to use to trip you up. To get you back into the darkness.

Today, I am here to tell you, that you don’t have to live in darkness anymore. God’s light will keep you from certain things as you trust in Him to guide you.

Jesus will Change our Mind

I am convinced some of our biggest battles are fought in our own minds. Really, it’s kind of hard to turn off our minds isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a switch that you could flip that you don’t think about any of the issue you face? That challenges would just disappear?

Well, I’m here to tell you that there is no such switch, but there is help. The light of life, Jesus Himself, has provided for us the opportunity to have a renewed mind. We don’t need to always go down the path of mental darkness.

What do I mean by metal darkness? Well, it’s actually a few things.

sinful thoughts

strife

worry

fear

envy

Just to name a few. Really it’s anything that is more tied to our carnal way of thinking.

The enemy would love for us to stay in mental darkness.

His battles are won there when we allow the seeds of doubt to grow because when we choose to stay in metal darkness we are not walking in faith.

I like what Romans 12:2 says because it reminds us that yes, we are in this world, but we don’t have to be conformed to the world.

Paul is letting us know the implications of a believer offering his life to God as a sacrifice. This offering represents a complete change in lifestyle, involving both a negative and a positive aspect.

First, Paul commanded, Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world. Living according to the lifestyle of “the present evil Age” must now be put aside.

Then Paul commanded, But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The Greek verb translated “transformed” is seen in the English word “metamorphosis,” a total change from inside out.

The key to this change is the mind, the control center of our attitudes, thoughts, feelings, and actions.

So, how does God keep us from the path of mental darkness?

Our mind is made new by the spiritual input of God’s Word, prayer, and Christian fellowship.

The light of light has come so that we can be transformed from the inside out.

John 1:5 HB:ERV

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not defeated it.

Remember that when your mind tries to go to a dark place. That Jesus has come to shine a light on your situation. He has come to overcome that darkness.

Jesus will Change our Moral Darkness

What is moral darkness? Moral darkness is when a person does not care about what’s right or wrong. They are completely and totally self absorbed. It’s the idea that everything centers around “self”.

I like Black Friday shopping. One year I was at Walmart because I wanted to get one of those pancake griddles. You know the kind I’m talking about right? The one that plugs into the wall, you can set the perfect temperature, and make gorgeous pancakes. Well, can tell you, I have never paid more than $9 for one of those griddles because I know that it ALWAYS an item that is on sale every black Friday.

Well, as I stood there at Walmart around this cardboard wrapped pallet of pancake griddles the mood was getting tense. Everyone was looking at each other just waiting for someone to come by at the right time and open the pallet for our frenzied delight.

I can remember it like it was yesterday, someone decided that those cardboard wrapped pallets weren’t going to stop them from getting their griddle. She walked up and ripped open the box. You would have thought a bomb went off. It was like dominos falling all over that store. People went nuts and the workers where over taken.

All over a pancake griddle. You might be asking…did I get one? No, I sure didn’t, I got two!

All that to say, morality is absolutely tied to what’s right and wrong, but it’s also tied to some sort of standard. In our culture there is a moral standard. We make laws, rules, and even teach ethics. When someone breaks those laws or rules we can become offended because they are not a good and moral person. Like the lady who broke the rules at the Walmart black Friday!

As followers of Christ, God’s Light, we are called to a higher standard. His light want to shine on the moral darkness in our lives.

Colossians 1:9–14 HB:ERV

Since the day we heard these things about you, we have continued praying for you. This is what we pray: that God will make you completely sure of what he wants by giving you all the wisdom and spiritual understanding you need; that this will help you live in a way that brings honor to the Lord and pleases him in every way; that your life will produce good works of every kind and that you will grow in your knowledge of God ; that God will strengthen you with his own great power, so that you will be patient and not give up when troubles come. Then you will be happy and give thanks to the Father. He has made you able to have what he has promised to give all his Holy People, who live in the Light. God made us free from the power of Darkness. And he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son. The Son paid the price to make us free. In him we have forgiveness of our sins.

True morality comes from God alone. How can we expect to understand what’s right and wrong if we don’t God inspired wisdom?

God gives believers complete knowledge, spiritual wisdom, and understanding.

A genuine knowledge of Christ reveals itself in transformed character of each believer.

That new character is our moral enlightenment that will inevitably produce fruit in our lives.

I believe what people are looking for in life is the feelings of joy and peace, but they will never find it apart from the morality that is found when the light of life invades the darkness.

We are being transformed people who live in the light! We no longer live as this world does with some warped understanding of character and morality. We have been rescued from that darkness and have been transferred in the Kingdom of Jesus who is the light of life!

We are called out of the alley of moral darkness. We are called to stand in the streets as the example of moral light that comes from God.

Jesus will Change our Spiritual Vision

We’ve talked about how God keeps us from mental darkness, from moral darkness, and now I want to talk about maybe the most important thing today - spiritual darkness.

Matthew 6:22–23 ESV

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

The lost world thinks it is enlightened and that Christians are in the dark when it is the world that is in the dark and the Christians who have the light. When we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, our darkness was replaced by light and much of the so-called light in the world proved to be darkness.

Outlook always determines outcome.

Eve looked at the forbidden tree, desired the fruit, ate it, shared it with her husband, and with Adam was punished by the Lord (Gen. 3:1–7).

Lot looked at the plains of Jordan, chose them for his home, and ended up losing everything (Gen. 13:10; 19).

King David looked lustfully upon his neighbor’s wife and paid dearly for the sins that followed (2 Sam. 11–12).

The eyes see, the mind imagines, the heart desires, and the will acts.

James 1:12–18 pictures temptation and sin as a kind of pregnancy. To give birth to sin day after day is a sad way to live.

The world looks at believers and says that we are “in the dark” or “living in the dark ages”; but actually it is the unbelievers who are “in the dark.”

Spiritually minded believers see things as they really are. God’s people who have healthy spiritual vision do not attempt to look two ways at the same time, serving two masters (Matt. 6:24) and being double-minded (James 1:6–8; 4:7–10).

A divided eye gives you a twisted view of life, while the single (healthy) eye enables you to see matters as they really are.

Ephesians 1:18 ESV

having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

If you are walking with the Lord, you can depend on “the eyes of your heart” to show you the truth.

When it comes to spiritual things, unconverted people see darkness, but God’s children see the light of the Lord and His truth.

We must be careful though. Jesus warned against double vision. He knew the tendency of people to want more of what the world has to offer while at the same time trying to keep their eyes on Jesus.

We are so influenced by our current culture that we measure success by how much we earn and own rather than how much we have grown in the Lord.

Let me tell you something…nothing this world has to offer will matter one little bit when we are standing in the presence of God himself.

When you stay focused on the light you will be kept from the low road of spiritual darkness. Jesus is the answer to everything we face right now.

He can keep you from mental darkness, moral darkness, and spiritual darkness if you look to Him today. It’s time to develop healthy habits. Lay aside each weight and sin. (Hebrews 12:1)

Let this season be the season that you are transformed from the inside out. Let’s be so changed that the world has no choice but to acknowledge Christ is the Lord of our lives.