PRAYER: Holy and Righteous Father, thank you for your Grace that saved me. Please mold me to reflect your character and grace in all that I do so that you may be glorified in all that I say and do. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
If you are a Christian, Jesus is saying that you are the world’s light. What an enormous compliment!
It is said in 1John 1:5 that ‘God is light.’ Then Jesus says, ‘I am the light of the world’ (John 8:12; 9:5). And here, we find that the believer is ‘the light of the world.’ This means that the disciple is what God and Christ are: light. This is not just a compliment. To be identified with God in this way is an enormous responsibility. Because whatever light is and does, a true follower is to be and to do.
TWO QUESTIONS
1. What does it mean to be the light of the world?
2. What does it take to be the light of the world?
Let us consider the first question. What this light means, Jesus defines it in Matthew 5:16 in terms of good works.
"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."
The good works are the works that are done in obedience to the living God. That includes our character, our conduct, our actions, and our spoken testimony.
WALKING AS THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT
1. Ephesians 5:1. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; The Bible tells us that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all (1John 1:5). And Jesus says, ‘You are light.’ When we become a new creatures in Christ, when we are born again, we are called to be light, to be imitators of God who is light.
2. Walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But notice.
3. But do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints;
4. A believer must be morally pure. ‘All these sinful things,’ Paul says, ‘should not even be mentioned in your conversation.’
5. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. We are saved by His grace through our faith.
Salvation is not of works. But it doesn’t mean that the works that you do don’t matter. That it doesn’t matter if you sin. Because the works that you do prove what you are, whether it is darkness or light. And those who do the works of darkness cannot expect to have any inheritance in the kingdom of God.
6. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Let nobody deceive you and tell you that you can cheat, or lie, or rob, and that you are going to be saved because you claim to believe in Jesus. We are dealing with a living God who is a consuming fire, the writer to the Hebrews tells us. You don’t play around with the living God.
7. Therefore do not be partakers with them; Do not get mixed up with those people who are immoral and impure. And then, Paul says that light stands out from the darkness.
8. For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light.
9. For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth.
10. Learn what is pleasing to the Lord. If you let the light of the Lord shine in your life, if you strive to do what is pleasing to God, you will also shine in the world and produce the fruit of the light, i.e., goodness, righteousness, and truth. That is how Paul explains our function as light in the world.
MAY THE LORD'S PEACE BE WITH YOU AND IN YOU FOR ALL OTHERS TO SEE. STAY BLESSED!
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