The Light Of The World
Names Of Jesus • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
Greetings…
We have been studying through the theme “Names of Jesus” with the hope of drawing closer to our Lord and Savior through understanding him better by way of his names and/or titles.
Today, we are going to be turning our attention to Jesus referring to himself as the “Light Of The World.”
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Biblically speaking there has long been a contrast between “Light & Dark.”
For thousands of years God has used “darkness” as a representation of evil.
God used darkness as a plague against Pharaoh.
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.”
God used darkness to show his displeasure with man while Jesus hung on the cross.
45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
On the other hand, light has been used for thousands of years by God as a representation of good.
God used a pillar of fire as light during the darkness for the Israelites during the exodus.
21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light.
Light is used to demonstrate God keeping us from evil.
28 For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
God even goes so far as to call his nature “light.”
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.
With all this in mind let’s examine our lesson today looking at how Jesus is the “Light Of The World.”
Before we can do that, however, we should be reminded of…
The World Without The Light
The World Without The Light
The Pre-Light Earth.
The Pre-Light Earth.
We have little told us concerning creation prior to light being created.
We know there was an earth without form.
We know there was an earth with water covering it.
We know there was an earth covered in darkness.
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Once God created light, we know…
He considered it “good” and useful for daylight and lesser at night.
4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
Once the universe and all that is in it was created in six days there was a different type of darkness to enter.
You could call this…
The Post-Light Earth.
The Post-Light Earth.
When Adam and Eve sinned a different type of darkness fell on the earth.
Man was separated from God.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
Man, separated from God, became utterly lost and depraved.
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
2 The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net.
Summary
Summary
This was the state of the earth before Jesus came after Adam and Eve sinned.
The all enclosing and deafening of the darkness of sin covered the earth.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
This is why it was so vital for God to send his “Only Begotten Son” to this dark and dying world.
This state of the earth is why Jesus is…
The Light Of The World
The Light Of The World
It Was Prophesied The Light Would Come.
It Was Prophesied The Light Would Come.
Right after the spiritual fall of mankind and the reproving and rebuking Adam and Eve took from God; God turned around and gave them hope.
15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
God continued to remind his creation, throughout the Old Testament, that he was sending “light back into this world” by way of a savior.
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
And thanks be to God that he sent him to this old sinful world but…
The Light Was Not Accepted By The Darkness.
The Light Was Not Accepted By The Darkness.
You would think after all that time and all that anticipation concerning the Messiah that he would have been readily accepted but as you and I know this wasn’t the case.
Because the reality is light and darkness cannot mix and light always exposes the darkness.
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
Thankfully, the Light Of The World overcame the darkness of the world.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Summary
Summary
Jesus, the Light Of The World, overcame all the challenges, difficulties, and attempts laid before him and defeated darkness so that you can I could come out of the darkness and into the light.
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
So, the question all of us that have come out of the darkness and into the light must ask is…
How Do We Stay In The Light?
How Do We Stay In The Light?
Remember That Christ Is The Only Avenue.
Remember That Christ Is The Only Avenue.
Jesus of Nazareth, the Savior of the world, is the only path by which salvation can be found.
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
This means…
Christ Must Then Be Followed.
Christ Must Then Be Followed.
Created man is not to be followed.
Ellen White, or John Smythe, not Martin Luther, or Joel Olsteen, not your local preacher, and certainly not me.
Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of God, and our Lord and Savior is the only voice we should listen to.
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
We can only listen to Jesus’ voice and thus “know him” if we are studying his written word and obeying it.
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:
Thankfully for you and I obeying God’s word will never be a burden.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
Summary
Summary
So, how do we stay in the light of the world?
We do so by listening to the written world of our Lord (1 Corinthians 2:10-16) and obey his will.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, ladies and gentlemen, the church and heaven are not a place wherein darkness resides but where the eternal light of the Lamb stays bright.
23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Thanks be to our Creator that the “Light of the World” came and defeated the darkness of the world and reigns forever and ever.
Not only that but that Light, Jesus, is our personal mediator and advocate between us and the Father securing our salvation, “if” we stay faithful (Galatians 5:4).
Invitation
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
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.