Jesus Christ who we celebrate during Christmas stated in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
What did Jesus mean that He is the Light of the world?
Jesus of course was giving a word picture, a metaphor; something we can understand to explain something beyond our simple understanding!
What is light? Light is something which illuminates, shines, stands out, visible and makes things visible, and is impacting!
In a scientific/physical way, light is actually energy and a product of energy; a flashlight has a bulb but will not emit energy until the batteries gives it energy. Stars in the universe will not transmit light energy if there was no energy within them; for suns and stars nuclear reactions of explosive chemicals provides the energy. Hhhmmmm… I wonder if scientists ever wonder where those chemicals came from??
Light is a product of energy and light itself is energy which can spread many distances depending on its power and impacts everything it touches! Think of our sun for a moment: our sun is about 93 million miles away, but it illuminates everything during the day and provides warmth for us, but we also need sunglasses and sunscreen to protect us from the harmful electro-magnetic waves of energy the sunlight brings!
Now, the next closest sun to us is called Alpha Centauri; but because it is not very big, we can not see it with our naked eye. However, Sirius, the Dog Star, is twice as far from us than Alpha Centauri (about 8 light years away; a light year is the distance light travels in a year, about 6 trillion miles). 8 light years means the light we see from the Dog Star is actually 8 years old!
Although about 48 trillion miles away, the Dog Star is the brightest star we can see with our naked eye! Both stars, Centauri and Sirius, produce light but one impacts us more that the other, why? Sirius, although farther than Alpha Centauri, Sirius is 20 times bigger than Centauri! The power energy of star Sirius is so much greater that Alpha Centauri.
Now note this, there is a star called Icarus which we can see with our naked eye but it is about 14 billion light years away! We can see Icarus, eventhough billion times further than the brightest star we see because of it’s powerful energy; even more powerful than Sirius! And again, since Icarus is 14 billion light years away, the light we see from Icarus, according to scientists, is 14 billion years old!! Light is powerful!
Here’s my point in all of these stars and light information. God created all the stars and the entire universe! God is beyond the farthest star we know! If people can believe a light that we can see is over 14 billion years old which is like eternity, why can’t they believe in God who is eternal and produces light!
Light is a product of energy and light is energy and it has a tremendous impact on something depending on how powerful the source is and how close the object is to that light!
But let us also note , light energy will also impact an object depending on the characteristics of the object! Ever see a guy who sunbathed and kept his sunglasses on? When he takes off his sunglasses, he ends up looking like a racoon! The guy allowed the sun to impact him but chose to cover the area of his eyes.
Did you know that planet Venus is hotter than Mercury even though Mercury is the closest to the sun? Interesting huh? Google it!! Mercury and Venus are 2 unique planets are responds to the sun differently!
Now, Jesus is the light of the world! What does this mean then? First of all, Jesus can be a physical light for many reasons! We can note many times in the Gospels in which Jesus appeared like a Sun shining bright. And when Saul, who became the apostle Paul, was confronted, Jesus was a bright light which blinded Paul!
But more importantly, Jesus Christ is a spiritual light! Open your Bibles and let us read the passage in John 8…. Read along with me John 8:12-24….
V12: Jesus is the light of the world and whoever follows Him will never walk in darkness and have the light of life! What does this mean since it is a metaphor? Following Jesus gives meaning to life, both physically but more importantly spiritually, which is forever! Let us note that following Jesus is available to anyone! Are we following Jesus? Are we teaching and encouraging people to follow Jesus?
Here’s an analogy of where we are at; if we turned off all the lights and closed all the doors here, we would be in total darkness! We can try and live out our lives by feeling things and talking to people but if we’re stuck in darkness for who knows how long, our lives would really be meaningless!
But imagine if, we are in this total darkness in this building and all of a sudden a door opens and we see light, what would most people do? Sadly, some may just look at the opened door and the light but not go there, instead choose to remain in darkness. Jesus Christ is the Light to the world!
V23-24: Jesus continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins." And so, if a person does not have Jesus Christ and follows Jesus Christ, they will not have the light which is pure eternal energy of God; a non-believer of Jesus Christ will die in their sins to be in eternal darkness!
Jesus Christ is the light of the world but a person must accept and follow Jesus Christ to experience His power and illumination to live and eternal life! Remember how different Venus reacts to the sun in comparison to Mercury? Every person is unique and will respond to Jesus Christ in different ways. But God gives every person, no matter how different, an opportunity to receive eternal life through Jesus Christ! Accepting and following Christ is a personal decision! Do you and I truly believe and follow Jesus Christ the Light?
Who is Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ is God. Everything was created by Jesus Christ and for Himself! Jesus Christ became a human being on earth, that is Christmas! But Jesus is more than Christmas! Jesus became a man who suffered and died for the sins of the world; but Jesus Christ rose from the dead and returned to heaven to be a Mediator for all His Believers. Jesus Christ will return soon to earth to judge all and claim all His Believers to eternal heaven!
If you’re going to believe in Jesus Christ, He is more than Christmas! If you just believe in a baby Jesus in a manger, which most people proclaim, you are not comprehending the fullness of the Light of God!
Let us note again that Jesus Christ is both physical and spiritual light with the almighty power of creating everything and sustaining everything in the light, including people!
And again, light is a product of energy and light is energy and it has a tremendous impact on something depending on how powerful the source is, how close the object is to that light, and how open the object is to that energy!
Jesus Christ is pure holy eternal power who can create life, take life, and bring life back again! Jesus Christ is pure energy and has a tremendous capability of impacting holiness on anything including us people! The question is, how close are we allowing Jesus Christ in our lives? The farther a person is from Jesus Christ, the weaker is that person’s godly power and eventually, a person who never allowed Christ in their lives will end up in eternal darkness!
Have Jesus Christ in your heart and walk with Him everyday! Jesus Christ is more than Christmas! Jesus is our Light, daily and for eternity!
May this Christmas Season be special for each one of us as we live the light of Jesus Christ! Know and remember what it means to live the light of Jesus Christ and live it! Accept and follow Jesus Christ and pray and let the world know that Jesus Christ is the needed light for the world! Jesus is not just the reason for the season, Jesus is the reason for life and eternal life!
Take a moment to quietly ponder of who Jesus Christ is and what He can do for you….. Take a moment to quietly ponder about the Light of the world and pray to Jesus Christ…
