The Light of the World

Who's the light of the World?

It’s an easy answer, right? Jesus is the Light of the world.

• Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12).
• As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world (John 9:5). 

But, there’s more: we are the light of the world!

• Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16, Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Maybe it’s because of my art training, and maybe it’s because I’m a nature lover, but I have always had a fascination with light—with the whole concept of light. It’s how it defines shapes and shows through leaves and alabaster and windows afar off. Light, especially sunlight, lifts one’s mood and provides a sort of happiness. Light in darkness shows the way, illumines a space. Light is always revealing. Light can be divided into colors by simple prisms, be they raindrops that produce rainbows of all the colors in the world, or cut glass or diamonds, refracting colors onto walls.

Without light, we’d be in darkness.

The first thing God made, on the very first day of creation, was light. It’s my favorite verse of the whole creation sequence. (Genesis 1:3)

And God said, Let there be light:

and there was LIGHT.

Can you imagine it? God said it so simply, and it was! The switch was turned on! The beginning! Instead of brooding darkness, there was light! It was His light. It didn’t come from the sun. It was light, illuminating all the universe. Day and night existed before sun, moon, and stars.

It shouldn’t surprise us, then, that Jesus said He is Light. His whole purpose in coming to earth is outlined in John 1:4-5, In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. A couple of verses later, the Bible tells us that John the Baptist came to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

Jesus came so that all men might believe in Him. He is Light. He is the Light.

We get to be lights, too!

Matthew 5:14 says to Christians (Christ’s disciples, here), Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Wow! We get to be co-lights with the Light! The only reason that we can even be lights is that He is in us.

We have the privilege to share Him to the world. Of course, we can either hide it or let it shine. (Luke 8:16; 11:33) 

We can also actually walk in the light—which provides us with sweet fellowship with other Christians and cleansing from sin. (1 John 1:7; 2:10)

So, who is the light of the world?

He is.

We are.

(As a postscript, there’s another biblical concept of light. It’s the gospel. . . . the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4b, 6). The definition of the gospel is found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. You can read my post about the gospel here.)