Jesus: I AM the Light of the World
What happens to you when darkness tries to overpower you?
As the great teacher & theologian Yoda once said: “Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.”
3 Ways the Power of Darkness tries to Overpower Us:
ONE: For some of us, that power of darkness is sin. There are those of us that are struggling deeply with sin. Sin is powerful. It’s addictive. And it’s dark. And this darkness in your life & in your heart is overpowering. It’s ruining your relationships. It’s affecting your work. You’re not happy any more, not really. And you know why. But to admit this sin & the stronghold it has on your life has been to hard for you. But until you confess it, until you acknowledge it, until you bring what it is in the darkness into the light you can’t experience the forgiveness & healing you need.
[Tweet “Until you bring what it is in the darkness into the light you can’t experience forgiveness.”]TWO: For some of us, that power of darkness is sickness. There are those who are struggling with health. That constant struggle against the ancient enemy of physical health is real, present & scary. It has the power to draw you nearer to God than you have ever been before or push you farther away from God than you have ever been before. When we are physically sick & unable to get well quickly or get well at all, we tend to struggle with our faith in God. But it’s in the light of His presence that we find the help we need.
[Tweet “It’s in the light of the presence of God that we find the help we need.”]THREE: For some of us that power of darkness is broken relationships. We’ve made poor choices on who we spend our time with. They say you are who you are with. And you become like the five people you spend the most time with. People have influence over us. It’s hard to admit, but it’s true. It’s as true as gravity. For some of us, those relationships are pulling us down. You had hoped to use your influence to bring them up. But it is much harder to pull someone up than it is to pull them down. Gravity is on their side. But to break those relational ties, even though they are unhealthy, even though they are hurting you, it’s not easy. But to step out of the darkness & into the light means stepping out of those relationships & into new relationships.
[Tweet “It is much harder to pull someone up than it is to pull them down.”]All of us know the power of the darkness.
The Power of Light
So today, if you’re in a struggle with the dark side, if you know someone who is in a struggle with darkness, then I want to remind you… Darkness is powerful but Light is more powerful.
[Tweet “Darkness is powerful but Light is more powerful.”]Some of the first words ever spoken by God were, “Let there be light…” Genesis 1.3
God who in & of Himself is Light thought it important to create light before He created anything else. Think about that for a moment. The first thing God spoke into existence was light. Pure light.
Then, Jesus enters into the world He created. Into the darkness of the world, into the brokenness of people, into the blackness of sin, the depth of despair, & the hurt of creation. In the beginning when Jesus first said the words, “Let there be light,” everything was perfect & good. But when sin entered the picture, everything that was good became broken.
Sin literally broke everything.
Before sin creation worked. There were no earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis or hail storms. Before sin our bodies worked. There was no cancer, no aids, no death, no dying. Before sin relationships worked. There was no divorce, no fighting, no division.
Sin literally broke everything & darkness entered into the world.
[Tweet “Sin literally broke everything & darkness entered into the world.”]But now, the One who said, “Let there be light,” has come into the world. And standing on the planet He once created, speaking to the people He formed & made, surveying the darkness around Him that was never supposed to be, Jesus said these words…
“I am the Light of the world. If you follow me, You won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12
[Tweet “”I am the Light of the world.” – Jesus”]Jesus declares that He, the one who spoke light into world is the Light of the world. And looking right into the eyes of people who claimed to know God, who claimed to be the people of God, He says… follow me. Because IF you FOLLOW me… you can be in the darkness but you won’t have to walk in the darkness. Because you can HAVE, you can possess, you can have the LIGHT that leads to life.
Thinking Differently About Light & Dark
I think we have to think differently about light & dark. What Jesus has said reveals a truth that is significant for us. That you can see where you are but be in total darkness. That you can be in total darkness, completely unable to see the way ahead, yet be consumed by Light.
You don’t have to be able to see to walk in the Light.
[Tweet “You don’t have to be able to see to walk in the Light.”]I know there are those who struggle with physical vision, but there are many of us who are struggling to see the way ahead in life. You’re surrounded by darkness. Real darkness. But Jesus is the Light of the world. It’s who He is. And Jesus says you can HAVE this light.
I know this is possible because I know many of you who are surrounded by darkness right now for whatever reason, because of sickness, because of broken relationships, because of past sin, because of other significant problems, but you HAVE the Light of life inside you right now.
You are walking by faith, not by sight.
You are walking in the LIGHT.
So here’s my encouragement to you:
Keep
walking.
“I am the Light of the world. If you follow me, You won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12
