“When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” John 8:12 (NIV)
As we look at the series, “Who is Jesus?”, we have the blessing of Jesus’ own words recorded in the Bible. We have examined His claims through this series, and found
that the question of who He is demands one of two responses: He is either exactly who He says He is, or He is crazy. I believe that Jesus is who He says He is, and that
makes Him the Light of the world.
We can have the light of life
In John 8:12, Jesus promises that those who follow Him will have the light of life. This is such good news for a dark world. This verse demonstrates a complete change in
someone’s life. They will no longer walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. This life change is emphasized in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” Ephesians 5:8 (NIV)
Complete and total life change - when we truly follow Jesus, there is no other possible result. This is Paul’s story: he goes from a man whose mission is to kill and imprison
those who follow Jesus, who after a single encounter with Jesus has his entire life changed and becomes the follower of Jesus who is imprisoned and eventually killed for
his faith in Christ. It wasn’t an act, it wasn’t about his own effort. When we follow Jesus, we can’t help but be completely changed because it is God that changes us. Without
Jesus, we are darkness. We walk in darkness. We are blind and lost. With Jesus, we are light because Jesus is Light.
Do we live like we are light?
“Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.” Ephesians 5:8b-10 (NIV)
Earlier in this series, we unpacked how Jesus is the Vine and we are branches. For us to be fruitful, we must be connected to Him. That same thought is echoed again here
in Ephesians. Our lives must be connected to the source of Light, Jesus the Lord, if we are to walk in light and produce fruit of the light. “Goodness, righteousness, and
truth” are attributes, fruits, that occur in our lives when we walk with Jesus. When we listen and obey what Jesus says, when we seek Him in prayer, in worship, and in His
Word. Just like the life change one experiences from truly following Jesus, we can’t help but to produce fruits when we are connected to Him as the Light and as the Vine.
The world needs the light that we have in Christ
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 (NIV)
In Jesus, who is the Light of the World, the True Vine, the Way, Truth, and Life, we are changed. We do not have to attain for ourselves our identity in Jesus. God changes
us completely the moment we place our faith in Jesus. Too often, we can hesitate to show the light of Christ because we get stuck believing that we don’t have enough of
it yet, or that we don’t know enough, or haven’t gone long enough without sinning or stumbling. But part of our faith in Jesus is believing that what He said is true:
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” John 8:12 (NIV)
His promise is true. We have the light of life when we follow Jesus. We don’t have to find it or earn it; we can live as though we have it because we do. Jesus desires to
bring the whole world into His Truth and His Kingdom, and when we show His light in this world, we truly follow Jesus on His mission.
