MIF 18:4 (July-Aug 1986)
The Light of the World
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).
In the Scriptures darkness is usually associated with evil, while light symbolizes holiness and purity. In the beginning there was only darkness, but God created light to make the world a fit place for man to live. Just as God dispelled the physical darkness by light, so spiritual darkness is dispelled by the light of Christ shed in the heart of the believer by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Since God IS light (1 John 1:5), the light in Christ comes from God and is the basis for life in fellowship with God and man. So we should walk in the light of truth, studying and meditating on God’s Word so that we can discern good from evil. We should walk in the light of holiness in order to grow to Christian maturity and be a living testimony to God’s saving grace. We should walk in the light of wisdom with the help of Him who gives it liberally to all who seek it.
The spirit of darkness and the Spirit of light are in constant conflict in our daily walk. The Lord Jesus told Nicodemus that the only solution for this dilemma is to come to the Light that God sent into the world in the Person of His Son to redeem a world living in spiritual darkness (John 3:19-21).
“For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).
—Arthur F. Wilder