The Light of the World, Part 3
John 1v5
12th December 2025
We've been thinking about Jesus, the Light of the World. As John tells us:
John 1v5
In him was life, and that life is the light of men. The light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
Jesus came to be the light of the world, and that light is still shining. The darkness has not and will not overcome it. People have been denying Him, perverting the Bible, and persecuting His people for 2,000 years, but the light will always shine. It will shine brighter and brighter, and:
Isaiah 9v7a
Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.
Jesus brings light. He reveals truth.
Darkness and light, falsehood and truth, sin and righteousness, evil and good, what will you choose? We can all choose to stay in the darkness. Or we can choose to believe in Jesus, the light of the world. There is no third option. We accept Jesus or we reject Him.
You may be old enough to remember a TV programme called "The X Files". It was famous for saying "The truth is out there". It was science fiction but it was right! The truth is out there. Some people talk about "my truth" and "your truth" but that’s baloney. There’s only one truth. They mean "my perception" and "your perception" but our perception is imperfect. Or they mean "what I’d like to believe" and "what you’d like to believe" but just because I’d like to believe something, that doesn’t make it true. I’d like to believe my football team are going to win the Premier League. I’d like to believe I’m 25 years old. There is real, objective truth.
Some ideas are true and other ideas are false. Jesus came to show us what is true, really, objectively true, about all the things that really matter.
God knows everything. God is never mistaken. In Jesus, God came to earth in the form of a man to tell us what is true. The truth is out there. And now the truth in my mind and in my heart. Jesus has shone His light on me, and in me. The darkness in my mind and in my heart were not able to resist God's saving grace. I’m so very grateful to Him, because I never deserved such kindness from Him.
When I think back to the time before Jesus shone His light into my heart, I’m amazed at how much He’s taught me. There was a time when I didn’t know if there was a God or not. I had no idea that Jesus is God. I didn’t know that God sent Jesus to die in my place, to pay the just penalty for my sins so I could be forgiven. I didn't know that if I would put my trust in Jesus and in the effectiveness of His sacrifice of His own life for mine, God would forgive me, clean me up, put His Holy Spirit in me, adopt me as His child and guarantee me eternal life. I didn't know right from wrong, good from bad. I believed what my parents, teachers and friends told me. Now I listen to God and believe what He says. God’s always right.
His mercy and grace towards me have been amazing. I now know that God loves me, and has an eternal plan for me. His Holy Spirit assures me that I’m truly saved from sin and death, for eternity.
Before Jesus shone His light on me, I couldn’t understand the Bible. I tried to read it occasionally but I found it the most boring book in the world. Jesus has shone His light on the Bible for me, and now I find it the most exciting book in the world. It teaches me so much.
I now know, because Jesus has shown me through the Bible, that there are two kingdoms in this universe. There's a kingdom of darkness, ruled by the devil. Those who live in it are destined for destruction and eternal punishment. There's a kingdom of light, ruled by God. Those who live in it are destined for eternal life in glory with Jesus. There is no third kingdom, no third choice. We all live in one or the other. And Jesus came to show us that a person can leave the kingdom of darkness and enter the kingdom of light. And He assures us that, once in the kingdom of light, we will always dwell there.
To enter the kingdom of light, we must trust in Jesus and in His atoning sacrifice, turn away from "my truth" and accept the truth, and live accordingly. The old word for that is "repentance".
I know this because Jesus sent His Spirit to me to convince me that the Bible is reliable. And I know it because that’s my own personal experience. I once lived in darkness, and it was, indeed, very dark. I now live in the light, and it is, indeed, wonderful.
Where will you spend your life, and your eternity? Choose well.