The Light of the World in Jesus Christ!

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:14-16 NIV

Jesus Christ calls us to be the light of Him to the world by doing good deeds. This is because darkness of this world has been overtaking by the power of Satan, the devil (1 John 5:19) who wants to lead us into death at the end of the age. Satan uses worldly materials to lead us astray from God, our heavenly Father (Ephesians 4:6) who was crucified on the Cross as the image of His Son, Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:13-15) and has given us eternal life in Him (John 11:25-26). “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) We know that not believing in Christ Jesus is sin by looking at John 16:8-11, which declares, “When he [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 4:4 declares, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Thus, for this reason, the word of God states,

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. (1 John 2:15-17, Hebrews 11:6)

Second of all, we ought to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, in order to shine the light of Jesus properly (Matthew 5:14-16). This is because the word of God says, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:11-12) In addition to this, the word of God also proclaims, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” (1 John 4:20-21) Loving each other may go easy for us if we are in close relationship of some kind. However, Jesus calls us to love our enemies as well, since God is love (1 John 4:7-8). This is because we are going to be truly blessed children of God if we love our enemies as well (Matthew 5:43-48), for the word of God states, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:8-9) The great example of love is God. This is because although we have sinned against God, He forgave us and sent Himself as Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:15-17) into the world (John 1:14) to crucify Himself for our sins. In addition, He is still willing to forgive our sins if we truly confess them to Him (1 John 1:8-9).

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)