Discover Jesus: I AM The Light Of The World

John 14:7 (NLT) If you had really known Me, you would know who My Father is. 

John 8:12 (NLT) Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world.” 

Three rituals of the Feast of Tabernacles:

1.  Temporary shelters

2.  Water pouring ceremony

John 7:37 (AMP) Now on the last and most important day of the feast, Jesus stood and called out [in a loud voice], “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink!” 

3.  Lighting of the lamps

Isaiah 42:6-7 (NKJV) “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, 7 To open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house.”

1.  He is God in the flesh 

Acts 26:18 (NLT) to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.  

Darkness is associated with…

• sin and rebellion

• confusion and ignorance

• bondage and deception

• separation from God  

Galatians 5:19-21 (NLT) When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear:  sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. 

Light is associated with…

• truth and integrity 

• purity and honesty

• safety and freedom

• forgiveness and peace

• understanding and direction 

Ephesians 5:3-14 (NLT) Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you.  Such sins have no place among God’s people. 4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you.  Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. 5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God.  For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey Him. 7 Don’t participate in the things these people do. 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord.  So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. 10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. 11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. 12 It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. 13 But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, 14 for the light makes everything visible.  This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” 

John 8:2-12 (NLT) …the next morning He was back again at the Temple.  A crowd soon gathered, and He sat down and taught them. 3 As He was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.  They put her in front of the crowd. 4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her.  What do you say?” 6 They were trying to trap Him into saying something they could use against Him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with His finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so He stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then He stooped down again and wrote in the dust. 9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers?  Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” 11 “No, Lord,” she said.  And Jesus said, “Neither do I.  Go and sin no more.” 12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world.”

“Conviction is uncomfortable!” 

2.  He came to expose darkness

Colossians 1:12-14 (NLT) He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light. 13 For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

3.  He came to set us free

John 3:19-20 (NLT) And the judgment is based on this fact:  God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 

John 8:12 (NLT) Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “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.” 

The Greek word for follow means “to stay close, to accompany them intentionally, and to align your life with theirs.”  It implies an ongoing, deliberate decision to walk in step with Jesus.  In this context, it’s the language of discipleship—not just being a fan or casual observer. 

”The man who would truly know God must give time to Him.  We travel in spiritual darkness when we live apart from the light.”  —A.W. Tozer

“To follow Jesus is to walk in the light, for He is the light.  Anything less is to walk in the shadows—safe, perhaps, but not transformed.”  —Dietrich Bonhoeffer

4.  He came to help us walk in the light

John 9:1-7 (NLT) As Jesus was walking along, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 “Rabbi,” His disciples asked Him, “why was this man born blind?  Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” 3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered.  “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. 4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us.  The night is coming, and then no one can work. 5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Then He spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. 7 He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”).   So the man went and washed and came back seeing!

• He helps us see truth.

• He helps us see ourselves.

• He helps us see others.

• He helps us see the path forward.

• He helps us see what matters most.

• He helps us see how to actually live.  

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen:  not because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”  —C.S. Lewis

Palm 119:105 (NLT) Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. 

• He is God in the flesh.

• He came to expose darkness.

• He came to set people free.

• He came to help us walk in the light. 

5.  He came to shine His light through us

1 Peter 2:9 (NLT) But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people.  You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession.  As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. 

Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT) “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket.  Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

Are we walking in the light?