Christ the True Light (John 1:4-9 and John 8:12)
About three years ago, I bought a new headlight for my bike; it was perfect—it shone far into the distance.
One Sunday morning, only the second time I had used this light, I left early to begin my ride to the Johnson Space Center. I was on Genoa-Red Bluff and had just crossed over Red Bluff when the headlight stopped working. There was no place to pull over, and I was in the dark. I slowly and carefully made my way to the intersection of Space Center and Genoa-Red Bluff, pulled into a gas station, waited for the sun to rise, and headed back home.
Have you struggled to see in the dark? Maybe you’ve been driving when a headlight went out on your car. Or the lights went out in your house as you were getting ready for work. Do you keep a flashlight prepared for hurricanes? How many of you use the flashlight on your phone to help you see?
The only real solution to darkness is Jesus. John recorded: “Jesus is the light of the world.”
Scripture (John 1:4-9 and John 8:12)
John 1:4-9
verse 4:
The life in Jesus was “the light of men.” Jewish teachers often called the Law of God light: for example, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (119:105). Jesus, the light of the world, is the Word; he is the revelation of the Father.
verse 5:
“The light shines in the darkness.” “Shines” is in the present tense; the light shines even today.
“The darkness has not overcome it.” In the end, Jesus, the light, will have victory over Satan, the darkness.
verses 6-8:
John came as a witness to the light, for God sent him to testify about the light.
verse 9:
Jesus is the true light. The word “true” in Greek can mean genuine or real. The existence of a genuine light implies the existence of a false light: “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14).
John 8:12
Since Jesus “gives light to everyone,” it’s no surprise that Jesus is the light of the world.
The one who follows Jesus “will not walk in darkness.” Therefore, that man walks in the light; thus he will have the “light of life” in himself.
Application
“Jesus is the light of the world.” John said that “Jesus is the light of the world:” “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (Jn 1:9). Jesus said that “Jesus is the light of the world:” “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness” (Jn 8:12).
Therefore, how should you live?
One: See
You first See the light for yourself. As you See Jesus as the light of the world, you See the Father as light. Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9). Jesus “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb 1:3). Thus, Jesus is light because the Father is light.
God as light means that he is perfectly holy: “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” (1 Jn 1:5). To See the light, therefore, you must See God’s perfect character. You thus See that God is love and truthful and compassionate and just and without any sin. Spend time in Scripture to See God’s character, and, if you wish to See God’s character in the flesh, look to Jesus, the true light.
Two: Shadow
Become Jesus’s Shadow as you follow him in the light. Jesus said to follow him in the light: “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12).
You must follow Jesus as the light. “At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Eph 5:8). “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” (1 Jn 1:7). “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 Jn 2:6).
Are you Jesus’s Shadow? Do you, in other words, walk the way Jesus walked? Do you love as he loved? Do you forgive as he forgave? Do you resist temptation as he resisted temptation? Do you show kindness as he showed kindness? Just how much like Jesus are you?
Three: Shine
You must Shine with Jesus’s light. John did: he “came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.” John was able to Shine as a witness to the light.
John could Shine through direct revelation; you Shine through your example:
- “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matt 5:14).
- “You may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Phil 2:15).
How brightly do you Shine for Jesus? Do people see you as light in this world? Do you need to come this morning and Shine?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.