Light of the World

Jesus is the only true light in the World, one that shines all the brighter in the darkness and reveals life for men and women. "Life” is found in the “Word,” and that life is the “Light of men.” It is “shining in the darkness,” and the darkness “cannot seize” it. This same “Word” or Logos became “flesh,” the Living Word of God manifested in the man, Jesus of Nazareth, in whom the Life of the God who created all things is manifested for all men to see.

With the manifestation of His “Light,” the darkness is passing away, “and the True Light is shining.” This must be so since “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” – (1 John 1:5, 2:8).

Lighthouse and stars - Photo by Evgeni Tcherkasski on Unsplash
[Photo by Evgeni Tcherkasski on Unsplash]

His disciples are summoned to “testify” of this “Light.”
There are many competitors clamoring for humanity’s attention, each one claiming to be the true light. Political ideologies, philosophies, religions, economic theories, and messianic figures all claim to be the way, humanity’s best hope for peace and prosperity and bulwarks against the forces of chaos that threaten to overwhelm civilization.

All such claims are false, and their idolatrous lies are exposed whenever the true “Light of God” radiates brightly in the world. Each supposed “solution” to our plight fails time and again. There is only one source of the Light that “illuminates every man who is coming into the world,” Jesus Christ.

It began with John the Baptist, the “man sent from God” who bore witness of the “Light” so that men might see and “believe.” That “Light” came in fullness in the Nazarene. All men who believe see the “Glory as of the only born of the Father, full of Grace and Truth,” and his disciples become “lights in the world” sent to let their “light shine before men so they may glorify their Father in heaven” – (John 1:1-14).

Thus, Jesus alone is the “Light of the world,” and there is no other source of true “Life.” His disciples are the “City on a Hill” whenever they let HIS Light shine through their lives. They are called to be a “Kingdom of Priests” mediating his Light, Life, and Truth to all men.

In the Gospel of John, the Baptist declares to all generations that the Son of God is the “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” John testified before Israel that Jesus was the Son of God, the only one in whom the Light, Life, “Grace and Truth” of God were found. – (John 1:29-34).

John’s Gospel opens by declaring that God created all things by His “Word,” the “Logos.” God gave living form to this “Word,” the same Logos through which He made the Heavens and the Earth. Thus, Jesus was and is the full expression of the Living God “in flesh” – (John 12:44-50).

In his first epistle, John summarizes this proposition by employing several of the terms and themes found in the Prologue of his Gospel:

  • That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life. And the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare unto you the everlasting life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us. Indeed, our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ” – (1 John 1:1-3).

Jesus is the “Word of Life” manifested in the world, therefore the “darkness is passing away, and the true light already is shining,” and the darkness retreats wherever this “Light” shines, especially as his disciples bear witness of the Light – (1 John 1:1-3, 2:8).

As Jesus declared, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.” No one comes to God “except through me.” Therefore, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” The true nature of the Father is found in Jesus and nowhere else.



RELATED POSTS:
God has Spoken! - (God is speaking His definitive word in His Son. All previous words spoken by the prophets were preparatory, promissory, and partial)
Grace and Truth - (The fullness, grace, and truth of God are found only in the Word made Flesh, namely, Jesus of Nazareth – John 1:14-18)
His Mysteries Revealed - (The mysteries of God previously hidden are revealed in Jesus of Nazareth, and especially in his death and resurrection)


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