THE ONLY LIGHT WE NEED

 

John 8:12-20

 

Light is a powerful thing! It has many wonderful qualities that we need here on this earth in order to live a long life. It transfers energy. if it were not for sunlight, the earth would be very, very cold, and there would be no life. (Keeping in mind, there is quite a bit of life in caves, where there isn't any light) Most plants need at least some sunlight to grow, so without light, there would be no plants, and without plants, there would not be oxygen for us to breathe. It transfers information, allowing us to, with our eyes and brain, interpret where things are in relation to other things, and how that's changing. We understand that according to studies, “The sun literally gives our bodies life. In order to survive, we eat plants that eat light, or we eat animals that eat plants that eat light. Our bodies also absorb vital nutrients directly from sunlight and would not be able to survive without the heating effect that this electromagnetic radiance produces.

This is so important because what Jesus says is after the week-long feast. The celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles plays as prime background to our Lord’s teaching, in this chapter and the one before it. Why? This extravagant claim that Jesus makes in this portion of scripture, stands just before the description of the lighting of the four huge lamps in the temple’s court of women and of the enthusiastic celebration that took place under the light. The Mishnah which is the Jewish oral writing says “Men of piety and good works’ danced through the night, holding burning torches in their hands and singing songs and praises. The Levitical orchestras cut loose, and some sources attest that this went on every night of the Feast of Tabernacles, with the light from the temple area shedding its glow all over Jerusalem.”

 

In this context Jesus declares to the people, “I AM the light of the world.” What a prime time to announce this biblical truth, especially in a time where people who were so caught up in false worship and idolatry and sin was running wild in the streets. See! What Jesus said would have raised some eye brows, and cause the people to murmur among festival or the crowd.

What Jesus was implying is that the world, like the Israelites, desperately need this light. Why? Jesus was clearly claiming that He was God, and to be Israel’s Messiah, sent by God as the “Light” to the nations. 

 

What’s amazing about this section of scripture is that………. The sun in our solar system, in spite of its greatness, is not the "Light of the World." the true "Light of the World" is the Son of God. What Jesus is claiming to these people is that He is “The Light” We live in a dark world, a world/generational society eclipsed by the long shadow of sin. Its in this dark world, that mankind desperately tries to search franticly for truth but do not have the faculty to find it. Because of mankind’s spiritual blindness they only stumble deeper into sin’s hopeless trap of more sin. Paul wrote, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Eph 5:11. The Old Testament describes sinners as, “who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,”. Isaiah wrote, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” Isa 5:20

 

Its this darkness that callouses and hardens man’s heart to the light of truth. “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.” Eph 4:18. And the results of darkness “the fool walks in darkness” Eccl 2:14. Those who walk in darkness do not know where they are going. The blackness of man’s sin nature, has clouded them to see the Saviour, to see His glory, and to see His promise of everlasting Light. Remember what John wrote at the beginning of his gospel? “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

The glory and expression of the Godhead was seen in Christ,

which is full of endless grace and truth.

 

 

But what was the reception of such glory by God’s created children? What was the response from the world and the people of Israel? Well, we see the answer to that question right before John explains that this glory came down from heaven to dwell with us. John 1:9-11 says “That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” The world doesn’t know Him or care to find out! The people of Israel wanted nothing to do with Him. The great majority of people don’t understand the value of their own soul. See the darkness of sin and bondage, still hovers over the earth and this darkness still clouds the heart of men and women.

 

We know this true then and today, because people love what? “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” John 3:19-21. This is a sad picture of any age, any culture, any neighborhood, and any country around the world today. The culture still will not except that Jesus is the only true source of life; and that they need this Light; just as they need the sun in our solar system to survive.

 

There are two groups or types of people, Jesus addresses with this heart issue of belief. Group One…… Those who know they need this light and they follow Him by faith. Group Two…... Those who remain ignorant, as they stumble and continue in darkness. “Which group do you fit into?”

THOSE WHO KNOW THEY NEED THIS LIGHT AND FOLLOW HIM BY FAITH. (v12)

 

Look what Jesus says because we see… promise, after promise, for those who trust in this Light with another I’AM statement. (v12) This could be translated, “I AM WHO I AM, the great name that God claimed for Himself in the Old Testament. “Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exo 3:13-14

 

First, what does that look like when Jesus says “I’AM the Light of the world?” Matthew Henry said, “Jesus Christ is the light of the world. The visible light of the world is the sun, and Christ is the Sun of righteousness. One sun enlightens the whole world, so does one Christ, and there needs no more... Christ is the fountain of light, enlightening every man. What a dungeon would the world be without the sun! So would it be without Christ by whom light came into the world,”

 

Without this glorious light we would still be living in darkness!

 

Darkness of deception

Darkness of sin

Darkness of natural wickedness

Darkness of pride and ignorance

Darkness of narcissism

Darkness of bitterness and anger

 

Jesus embodies all that we know spiritual light is and does. He is “the way” and shows us the way to go. He is the embodied, incarnated “radiance of the glory of God” Heb 1:3. Jesus is the “true light” of this world, and He will be the true light of the world to come. By acknowledging that we need this light we see the promise of this statement! Jesus Christ alone brings the light of salvation to a sin-cursed world. Jesus is the light of truth; to the darkness of ignorance and falsehood. Jesus is the light of wisdom; to the darkness of sin. Jesus is the light of holiness; to the darkness of sorrow. Jesus is the light of joy; and to the darkness of death, He is the light of life

 

Jesus says “……..He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." (v12)

 

This light [Jesus Christ] is our only source

of living of all eternity.

This Light is the Divine light that shows us the way to go. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” Psalm 119:105

 

This Light is the Divine light which reveals what’s true about our spiritual surroundings. “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned” Matt 4:16

 

This Light is the Divine light which literally gives us spiritual life. “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” 2 Cor 4:6

 

To follow Christ is to commit ourselves completely to Him as

LEADER, SAVIOUR and LORD of our life.

 

This means we submit to Him in every matter of life both doctrinally and practice. It means following Him and His word, and not this world to find answers to life problems, or your situation in life To follow Christ is to count the cost that it will not lead you to an easy life. To follow Christ might even mean you are the only one who truly follow Him. Submitting, is realizing that Jesus knows what’s best for me because He is my source of living, my source of character, my source of eternal hope. “following” is another word for “believing” As the Israelites followed the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, they trusted in the One who led them without questioning. In our lives, in our Christian Walk, we must do the same; even if He takes us places are uncomfortable, possibly unbearable.

 

This reminds me of the illustration Paris Reidhead gave in His sermon “Ten Shekels and A Shirt” This is what he said to a young Christian man “Before God will do anything for you, you know what you've got to do?" So he said, "What?" I said, "You've got to get out of the car, take the keys around, open up the trunk lid, hand the keys to the Lord Jesus, get inside the trunk, slam the lid down, whisper through the keyhole, 'Lord look, fill'r up with anything you want and you drive, it's up to you from now on'"

 

Our surrendering to His perfect will, is what is called for! That’s what it means to follow the Lord Jesus. It’s the Christian’s responsibility to follow Him to the end with no “buts”, our cleaver devises or “questioning His will for our lives.” To not be left in darkness is to have the blinders of ignorance of self-righteousness removed from our lives. As His children we are not to doubt, or walk with uncertainty; when it comes to the promise of heaven. There are so many religious people and groups who claim they have hope, or worse, don’t know, if they will make it to Heaven or not. This saddens me, because these people are still walking in darkness, because they have not truly tasted the grace that is found in the gospel.

 

In the Old Testament there are many examples of those who professed that they knew they were saved, and where they were going.

 

In Job 19:25-27 Job said "I know..."

 

In Psalm 23:4 David said in the "shadow of death, he had fear no evil"

 

In Psalm 17:13-15 "When I awake I will be satisfied with thy likeness" David was sure of the resurrection and of his salvation.

 

In the New Testament we read! Jesus said these words of assurance “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me…” John 10:27-28

 

The Apostle Paul penned these words of encouragement.  “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess 4:13-18

 

BUT! Sadly, as Jesus said to Nicodemus “men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” John 3:19. This brings me to the second group!

 

THOSE THAT CHOSE TO REMAIN IGNORANT AS THEY STUMBLE IN THE DARKNESS. (v13-v20)

 

These men rejected Jesus by what we see in (v13) because they were challenging His witness. See according to the Hebrew Judicial System, truth had to be verified by two witnesses. These men couldn’t and would not believe His witness because of His own testimony. Do you see by contrast? Those who love and follow Jesus’ trust in Him because He has become the true Light to that person. Here we see when a person neglects His testimony, Jesus becomes darkness to them. It’s a terrifying thing to think that anyone standing before Christ and say “Your testimony is false” Its one thing for someone to say that to me, or you, but to say that His testimony is false while standing before the One who gives us air to breath is absolutely suicidal. Yet this is what the natural man, and woman, is doing everyday; as they love the darkness over the Light, accusing Christ of being a false witness.

 

Jesus answers and defends His testimony by referring to His divine origin and destiny. “For I know where I came from and where I am going” (v14) The disbelief of these men revealed that that where ignorant to His earthly birth place, and His heavenly origin. The darkness these men had, filled their hearts, is the same sort of darkness that keep the Armies of Egypt from attacking the Israelites as God lead them through the Red Sea.

 

 

Exo 14:19-20 says “And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.”

Do you know how hard it is to walk around in a room

without windows when the lights are shut off?

 

It’s difficult! This is the heart of many people today; and those who Jesus is speaking too. It’s that mentality that “I don’t need your help” ; “I can do it on my own thank you very much” In reality what that person is really saying is, “I love my sin more than you; and I don’t need you exposing my life with your light” They refused to believe Jesus’’ testimony, and this is sad and devastating to hear. Why? Because the outcome of this line of thinking is that it leads to everlasting destruction and judgement by a Holy and Just God.

 

What these men cannot see is the mercy and grace of God over

sinners that He testifies before them.

 

See, Jesus desires all people come to faith in Him and God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Listen to what Ezekiel wrote, “For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn and live!" Eze 18:32

 

These men the looked at Jesus as a hindrance to their power, and He became an enemy to them. (v16)

 

Jesus says, “They judged in the flesh” by their sinful nature. This means by “earthly standards; as sinful men in a fallen world. While Jesus judges from the perspective of that place from which He had come, heaven. Everything they thought they knew about Jesus was incorrect and this makes their judgement of Him limited, superficial and wrong. This is why Paul would affirm this truth in his letters, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” 1 Cor 1:21-25

Sadly, because of their disbelief,

these men where the enemy.

 

If you, or a person, does not embrace the truth of the gospel; and believe that Jesus is who He claimed to be, then you are the enemy as well. You are a child of Satan and he is your father, who is the “Father Of Lies” who wants to keep you ignorant, or blind to the truth, as you continue to enjoy swimming in your sin. It’s like the illustration of frog and the kettle. “The way to boil a frog is not to put him in a pot of boiling water. If you drop him in the boiling water, he’ll jump out before he’s boiled. So you put him in a pot of cold water, and he’s perfectly comfortable. Then you put him on the stove, and little by little the water gets warm. It’s very pleasant at first. By the time it gets a little warmer, he is swimming around like he is in a frog jacuzzi. But finally, when it’s boiling, it’s too late. His strength has been gradually sapped, leaving him powerless to hop out. That’s how you boil a frog." The point of the illustration goes as follows. “The boiling frog gives us great insight into how we gradually move into places and attitudes that are dangerous. We don’t dive right in. We slowly wade in. We start at the shallow end of the pool. And slowly we find ourselves getting in deeper and deeper. But it is so slow that we hardly realize it. Finally, we are in over our heads, struggling to find which way is up.”

 

Just like these men that are before Jesus, and like so many today, they are so in love with darkness that they can’t see the light of day until it’s too late. And Jesus confronts their ignorance and darkened hearts. (v19) The very fact that they thought like they did, proves that they did not know the Father. Although they prided themselves on knowing Him, they were being deceived by their very own hearts; and that is still happening today. What does that look like? “A Father went into a toy store to buy his son a gift. The salesman showed him a new educational toy. It came unassembled, but no matter how the child put the pieces together, they wouldn’t fit. You see, the toy was designed to teach the child how to deal with life. Such is the difficulty of a person without God. He is never able to put his life together. A life without Christ is a life of futility, its hopeless and senseless.” Completely ignorant of spiritual reality. Here is the good news! Jesus is the Light of the world, as He continues to save sinners from this present world system. So, the Sunday question is this! Do you truly have Him in your life? Your answer will determine what group you fit into.