Three Manifestations of the Light of the World
Notes
Transcript
The World is full of Darkness
There’s the occult,
Murder, suicide, infidelity, abortion,
Lying, stealing, drugs and many other expressions of evil
Jeremiah 17:9 says describing the heart of man
“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
The world is full of Darkness and Sin
Sun in the Desert on Guard Duty
but just as the sun rises on the horizon
so the Son of God is lifted up as a light
in the midst of Darkness
READ: Turn with me to John 8:12
Let me explain what is going on
set the stage as it were for our passage
Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Celebration of The Feast of Tabernacles
This feast was a reminder of the wilderness wandering as the Israelites had left Egypt
And traveled to the promise land
At least on the First night of this event
The town would turn off any light and a huge Candelabra was placed in the Court of the Women at the temple
Feasts of the Bible Feast of Booths or Tabernacles
Giant golden lampstands were lit in the temple courtyard, and people carrying torches marched around the temple, then set these lights around the walls of the temple, indicating that Messiah would be a light to the Gentiles (
It gave out tremendous light as a reminder
He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Representing how God Guided and Protected his people with a pillar of Fire- Ex. 13:21
The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
This passage shows us three manifestations of the Light of the World
I. Christ’s Glory - I am the light of the world
I. Christ’s Glory - I am the light of the world
Once God created the Heavens and the Earth what did He immediately bring into the darkness?
In Gen 1 we find that God Created Light
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
We don’t know why for sure but I believe it has to do with
His nature is Light
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Jesus, As God, announces
I am the light of the world
The ἐγώ (I) ἐμέ (I Am)
Jesus Came to bring Light
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Men choose to stay in Darkness
“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
We can forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.
Plato
II. Christ’s Guidance - he that followeth Me
II. Christ’s Guidance - he that followeth Me
So how does one follow God
First recognize He is the Only Way to God
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
He must be trusted as the way to heaven
And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Those who belong to Him are guided by Him
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
The man who has met God is not looking for something—he has found it; he is not searching for light—upon him the Light has already shined.9
A. W. Tozer
III. Christ’s Greatness - Shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life
III. Christ’s Greatness - Shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life
Finding your way in the dark
Training exercise where had to find the way in the dark with no moon in the sky
This is how many are trying to find their way through this world and
we know no one who lives gets away unscathed by the world
If you follow Jesus you won't fall in darkness
because Jesus will light your way
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6 This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
7 For there are three that testify:
8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.
9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son.
10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.
11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
Those who preach a different gospel are liars and thieves as mentioned in John 10:10
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Those who are without God have set themselves as enemies to God
4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
As I read at the beginning yet I want to read the next verse...Jeremiah warns us not to follow our hearts but to follow the Word of God
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
The Light of life resides in you from the moment of salvation. It is the light of truth. It is the light of hope. It is the light of peace. It is the light of love. It is the light of joy. It is the light of confidence.
Charles Stanley
