Light Overcomes Darkness

 

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “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

 

The book of John does not lay out the birth of Christ like the other gospels; there are no details of the actual conception and birth of Jesus. Yet, he has left us with plenty of understanding of the Christ. Especially, he characterizes Jesus as “the Light that shines in the darkness.” In John 1:4-5 he says this, “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.”

Again in verse 9 John restates this truth, “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” In John 8:12 Jesus is quoted using the term Light to describe Himself. Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The truth is that light will always overcome darkness. Our personal sin is a dark spot in our lives but the light of Christ will forgive and remove those spots, bringing us back to the Light.

When I think of Jesus as the Light I remember a facial I once had. The very kind lady doing the facial put a 500 watt light bulb right up next to my face and she found many little “imperfections” on my face that were not visible without that bright light. She played a round of “search and destroy” on those blemishes. It was painful but left my skin better than it had been.

The same thing happened to me when I heard that every person ever born was born a sinner. I asked God to show me if that was true about me. He shined the Light of Truth on my life and I was horrified to find out what a sinner I was.  He did His own version of searching and destroying imperfections in me. Thankfully, He is still at work shining His light on my sin. It is often painful but it is always good. (And I thought that facial was painful!)

This light that Jesus shines is often so that we can more clearly see the character traits we need to improve but also the work He has called us to do. Our sin and the world can pull us in so many directions that we lose track of the most important works. A basic teaching is that all Christians are called to take dominion of the earth – to grow God’s kingdom in our midst. Children are to honor their parents (the young ones must obey them). Wives are to be helpmates for their husbands and parents to be teachers for their children.

Often we mistakenly give up some of these roles to impress the world. This is a light that the Lord chose to shine on my life many years ago. His light on others will reveal their sin or perhaps just what someone needs to give up to serve the Lord better. This revelation and conviction should cause us to become more intentional about the work God has for us.

Sin requires repentance. We cannot just acknowledge that what we have done is wrong but must turn from it and seek God’s forgiveness and direction for the future,

So, this “light of life” that Jesus says we can have when we follow Him is something that can help us be discerning all year long. As we think of the Savior born to us, the One sent to “save us from sin” and to be “God with us,” how can we “follow” Him in such a way that the darkness in our lives is completely exposed to His Light? And, that our lights will shine before men (Matthew 5:16)?