Jesus, the Light of the world:
The Greek word for light is “phos.” It is the idea of shining, brightness, and splendor. The image of light is commonly made use of in all languages, to mean prosperity. When a person or community is said to have a great deal of light, it implies a larger proportion, or degree of joy and prosperity.
Isaiah 60:19, “The LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light,”
Isaiah 30:26, “Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven-fold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach = (heal the wounds) of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.”
A metaphor for light is knowledge,
Isaiah 9:2, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light = (knowledge) shined.”
Matthew 4:16, “The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light = (knowledge) is sprung up.”
The light that comes from heaven gives us the knowledge and understanding of God’s power, His glory, concerning His kingdom.
Psalms 84:11, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield:” He who is as the sun to give light to His people, and is a shield to protect them from the power of darkness.
It is applied in the highest sense to Christ, the true Light.
Malachi 4:2, “The Sun of Righteousness.” He who is in the spiritual, what the natural light is to the natural world, He who is the great Author, not only of illumination and knowledge, but of spiritual life, good health and joy to all men. He is the only source of spiritual and physical light. When Jesus was manifested to the eyes of men, He called Himself the light of the world, promising to give the same light to those that follow him.
In the absence of Christ Jesus, as the personal light of the world, His place is now filled by the Holy Spirit, and the knowledge or light of Scripture which is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths. The word of prophecy is as a light shining in a dark place; as we study by the light of a lamp, so we in our spirit must give our full attention to this light.
The Light which comes from God, is a light unto itself, self-emitting, and self-illuminating. “For God, =(the Father) who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, ”
2 Corinthians 4:6, is a parallel passage to Gen.1:3. The Father, commanded light, (that is the wonderful, glorious, presence of His Son, our Creator) “Let there be light.”
John 1, “In Him was life,” and “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
Proverbs 8:24, speaks of Jesus, “When there were no depths, I was brought forth.”
The physical world corresponds to the spiritual world. Why? Because Jesus is both our light and our sun in the spiritual, as well as the Creator of our natural light. Through Him, all life is sustained.
In Revelation 22:2-5, we read of a new earth, “And there shall be no night there: and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light.”
With God nothing is impossible,
Hebrews 1:3, “Who = (Jesus) being the brightness of His glory, (the Father’s) and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power.”
It is a brilliant light of both splendor, and glory, which surrounds the throne of God, a throne where both the Father and Son dwell.
1 Timothy 6:16, “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light = (this is the glory of the Father) which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. A-men’.”
Only God is eternal. John 5:26, “As the Father has life in Himself, so also has He given to the Son, to have life in Himself.” So God is the inhabiting, unapproachable light, this is the glory of God, His glory, a glory that neither angel or man, can approach.
Moses saw only the trailing end of the God’s Divine presence. In a face to face meeting with God, no man could live. Why, because He is infinite and eternal, therefore incomprehensible, and unapproachable to both the mind and eye of man.
Exodus 33:20-22-23, God said to Moses, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. While my glory passeth by, that I will put thee = (Moses) in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts (Hind, back or fleshly parts of Himself) but my face shall not be seen.”
John 1:18, “No man hath seen God = (the Father) at any time;”
Acts 9:3-5, “As he = (Paul) journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. Verse 5, And he =(Paul) said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, “I am Jesus.”
The Lord chose to astonish and confound Saul and his company, but modified the light of His glory, as to prevent it from striking Paul dead. And from this light, the Lord spoke, and appears to have been understood by Paul alone. This is the great Teacher and Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, who brought life and immortality to light in his Gospel.
A Light to the Gentiles:
Isaiah 42:6, “I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.” Both Jew’s and Gentiles have been called for a righteous purpose.
Isaiah 42:21, “The LORD (the Father) is well pleased for His righteousness’ = (Son’s) sake; He will magnify the law, and make it honorable.”
Romans 3:25-26, “Whom God = (the Father) hath set forth to be a propitiation = (mercy seat) through faith in His = (Jesus) blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. = (the Father) To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness:= (Jesus) that He = (the Father) might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
The True Light, the Messiah, goes forth as the Universal Conqueror of the nations, in righteousness, making war on His enemies.
2 Timothy 1:10, “But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” The light = (salvation through knowledge) is now make manifest, in contrast to its concealment, before this time. This is the eternal purpose of both Father and Son.
Through the light of the gospel, Jesus has taken away the power of death, not only in some particular instances, but in its very essence, being, and idea; this as well as in all of deaths aspects, and consequence. John 11:26, Jesus said, “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”
Luke 2:32, “A light to lighten the gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” To Moses and the prophets, a light of revelation was given to the Jews, in which the Gentiles had no part. Now, by Jesus, and through the apostles, God’s revelations are given to the Gentiles.
But to the true Israelites it shall be a glory, a fulfillment of all the predictions of the prophets, relative to the salvation of a lost world. The Jew received the first offering, = (the light of the world) seeing it in the truth of their own Scriptures.
John 1:4-5-7-9, “In him = (Jesus) was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness = (Kingdom of Satan) comprehended it not. The same = (John) came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, = (Jesus) that all men through him might believe. He = (John) was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
When God spoke, life began. It is a fact, that everything God created, had a principle of life in it, man, animal, and vegetable. The expression, “in Him was life, is not to be understood of life natural, but of life eternal which God revealed to the world in the following ways.
2 Tim.1:10, “But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”
Jesus taught the way,
John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, (Peter) I am the way.”
Jesus then promised to believers,
John 10:28, “And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
Jesus then purchased for us, saying in,
John 6:51-53-54, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 3:19, Jesus said, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
This is a very important statement. Men will perish, not because they came into the world with a sin nature, and not because they lived practicing sin, but because they refused to receive the salvation presented by the living God. Though condemnation is to many the issue of the Lord’s mission, it is not the object of His mission. Jesus office as the Light of the world, is a work purely to seek and to save those who are lost.
John 8:12, “Then spake Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world: he that followers me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
The ancient Israelites said to God, “O LORD of the universe, thou commandest us to light lamps to thee, yet thou art the Light of the world; and with thee the light dwelleth.”
Jesus in these verses, assumes a well known character of the Supreme Being, = (the Light of the world) and with this saying, the Jews were greatly offended.
Those who follow the Lord Jesus shall have the light of life, this light bringing and supporting life. Only by His influence do all things live.
John 12:35-36,46, “Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.”
In answer to the people’s objections, the Lord compares Himself to a light, which was about to disappear for a short time, and afterward, to shine forth with a greater brilliance. Jesus will abide forever, but will not always be visible. The Lord warns us in the same manner He warned His people, Israel. We are now in the time of grace, and in the time of the Gentiles, both will soon end. Yet for a short time we still have the light of the Gospel message with us, we must therefore walk in that light.
John 1:9, “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” Human intellect, is but a ray from His brightness, and our reason springs from this Logos = (word), He being and is, the eternal reason.
Isaiah 60:1, “Arise shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.” This has been understood by many to mean the Messiah, who was to illuminate “every man that cometh into the world.”
Genesis 1:3, “And God said, let there be light; and there was light.” Many of the ancient rabbis understood this to mean, “let a Messiah be provided, and a Messiah was provided.”
Isaiah 9:2, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light:”
The whole nation, both Judah, and Israel, 12 tribes, had walked in the shadow of death, that shadow being, the misery of captivity in Egypt.
The light of the world guides all who chose to follow, it imparts knowledge to those who seek after the truth, and is the only hope for a world condemned.
Phillip LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com