I Saw The Light

Introduction – More Than a Song

“I saw the light.”

That’s more than just the title of an old gospel tune. Some of you might remember Hank Williams writing and singing it back in the 1940s.

Over the years, that song has been carried on the voices of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and even church choirs around the world. It’s been sung in little country chapels and it’s been sung in stadiums before thousands. Why? Because those four words aren’t just lyrics. They’re a testimony.

“I saw the light” is what someone says when they’ve been in darkness, in confusion, in despair — and suddenly, hope breaks through. Anyone who has stumbled in the dark and then suddenly stepped into the light knows what those words mean.

Let me share a story.

It was a dark, dark night. A man walked home from work through a cemetery. It was his shortcut, and he had taken it many times before. But that evening, he didn’t notice a fresh grave dug right in his path. Suddenly, he fell into a hole seven feet deep.

He clawed. He jumped. He tried every way he could to get out. After an hour, exhausted, he gave up. He sank into a corner of the grave.

An hour later, a farmer out hunting possum came through the cemetery. He, too, fell into that same hole. He scrambled. He jumped. He clawed at the sides. He fought with all his strength to get out. What he didn’t know was that he wasn’t alone. From the corner, a voice whispered: “You’ll never get out of here.” And you know what? He did.

That’s what darkness does. It blinds. It confuses. It traps. And it whispers lies that there’s no way out.

But into that kind of darkness, Jesus speaks:

> “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

That’s the message today: the Light of Christ shining into our darkness.

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Point 1: The Darkness We Live In

The Bible doesn’t sugarcoat the reality of darkness. Genesis 1:2 describes the pre-creation world this way:

> “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.”

No shape. No life. No light. Just emptiness and confusion. That’s the picture of chaos. And that’s exactly what sin does to us. It drags us back into that state:

Without form — our lives lose direction.

Void — our hearts feel empty.

Darkness — we stumble without hope.

Proverbs 4:19 says:

> “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.”

Have you ever tried walking through your house at night without a light?

You know the couch is there, but your shin finds it anyway. You know the Lego is somewhere on the floor — and sure enough, your bare foot discovers it. That’s what sin does to life: it turns everything into stumbling in the dark.

Samson’s life paints the picture in flesh and blood. Once chosen to shine as God’s man, he played with shadows until the Philistines captured him. Judges 16:21 says:

> “They gouged out his eyes and set him to grinding grain in the prison.”

Sin blinds before it binds. And if we’re honest, all of us have known that darkness.

Shame we try to hide.

Guilt we can’t erase.

Emptiness we can’t fill.

Some of us know what it’s like to smile in public but cry in private. Some of us know what it’s like to put on the mask of strength while inside our hearts feel hollow.

That’s the darkness. And into that darkness Jesus steps and says: “I am the light of the world.”

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Point 2: The Light Jesus Brings

From the very beginning, God has never been content to leave His creation in the dark. Genesis tells us that His very first spoken command was this:

> “Let there be light.” And there was light.

The first word that broke the silence of chaos was the word light.

And John picks up that theme in his gospel. In John 1:4–5 he writes:

> “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Later in John 8:12, Jesus says plainly:

> “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

And Paul explains it this way in 2 Corinthians 4:6:

> “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”