Today’s newspapers and news broadcasts, this week’s (any week’s) issues of Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report, all have one thing in common. They tell of national and international problems and evil individual actions that are the result of spiritual darkness. Our Lord said, “This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).
But for this situation, dark though it may be, God has provided the remedy, set forth in the words of our Lord himself: “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
The sun that shines in the heavens gives light and heat, thereby sustaining physical life. America is blanketed with corporations that bear as part of their name the words “light” and “power” and these giant companies provide great physical comfort for us.
Just as surely as physical light and warmth have been provided, the Son of God came into the world to give spiritual light, life, and power. Why, then, is this spiritual light rejected, or at best neglected?
Considering themselves wiser than God, men look to philosophy, reason, science, organizations, and even formal religion for light, and then wonder why they cannot find their way. Ignoring the words of the psalmist; “In thy light we do see light,” and of Christ himself; “He who follows me will not walk in darkness,” they continue to plod on in the dark, stumbling over situations and relationships in every area of life.
The Apostle Paul’s words to the Christians in Rome hold good today: “Claiming to be wise, they became fools … because they changed the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator …” (Rom. 1:22, 25).
In thinking about the world situation today I am reminded of the times I have moved a large rock or piece of lumber that had lain flat on the ground for a long time. There was no vegetation underneath, for vegetation needs light: but darkness-loving insects scurried in every direction, trying to find a place where they could hide from the light.
How symbolic of that coming day when everything in this world will be exposed to the presence of the Lord of Glory, Jesus Christ. We read: “Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the generals and the rich and the strong, and every one, slave and free, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand before it?’ ” (Rev. 6:15–17).
Jesus, the light of the world, either redeems or sears. Like wax and clay, men are either melted or hardened by the light.
I recently searched through four hymn books before I could find the old hymn, “The Light of the World Is Jesus.” Can it be that we have become so impressed with scientific achievements, so overwhelmed with the wisdom of the world, that, like some insects, we love darkness rather than light and are content to live in spiritual darkness?
Rest assured of this: A day is coming when everything will be revealed in its true nature by the brightness of his coming—and there will be no hiding place for those who have willfully rejected the light.
To receive the spiritual light Christ offers means that we no longer live in spiritual ignorance. We recognize him as the way, the truth, and the life. We no longer grope in doubt. Like the apostles of old we can say, “I know,” because we know him.
This spiritual light enables one to see the heavenly way and the narrow road, and to be warned of any deviation from the way. It gives assurance to the heart to know where one is going, and to have the burning light of the Holy Spirit’s presence all the way. And it gives us a love for our fellow men that impels and compels us to share with them the best news in all the world.
Although the world’s outlook is somber, we have the assurance of God’s presence. James Russell Lowell beautifully expressed this thought:
Though the cause of evil prosper,
Yet ’tis truth alone is strong;
Though her portion be the scaffold
And upon the throne be wrong,
Yet the scaffold sways the future,
And behind the dim unknown
Standeth God within the shadow
Keeping watch above his own.
Spiritual light pierces the shadows and reveals the ever-present Heavenly Father.
The lights of this world go out in the valley of the shadow of death, but the light Christ gives to the human heart shines on into eternity.
Just as Jesus offers living water and the living bread, so he offers living light that is independent of time and place and is not affected by sickness or death. It is light for the mind, the heart, and the conscience; light for the daily grind and on to the end of life, and then for eternity.
The light he gives enables one to choose between the fleeting pleasures of a sin-sick world and the brightness of his glory; to have a clear view of the relative importance of this world and eternity. And we have the assurance that the light will never fail. As soon-to-come supersonic planes will be able to fly West, always under the sun, so the Christian always lives under God’s light.
Our Lord’s affirmation that he is the light of the world assumes man’s desperate need of moral and spiritual light. It is a bold statement that only God could make. It is a loving promise to all, offering deliverance from darkness, possession of light, and the gift of spiritual perception.
Let no one stumble over the word “follow.” It involves faith, obedience, and understanding, and in that order. When Jesus healed the man born blind, he said “Go, wash,” and we read, “He went and washed and came back seeing” (John 9:7). Here was faith, obedience, and realization, and that is God’s sequence for you and me.
To sum up: Anyone willing to look honestly at the world must realize that it is bogged down in the mire of sin. Apart from Jesus Christ there is no solution. In him there is light and life, hope for now and for eternity. In him there is the light necessary to witness as followers of his, and by the light and power of his Spirit that witnessing becomes effective.
Lord Grey’s somber words as World War I broke out—“The lights are going out all over Europe, and they will not be lighted again in our time”—have not yet seen the end of their fulfillment. But the darkness of war and greed, of hate and prejudice and pride, is dispelled wherever man turns to the Son of God and sees in him the Light of the World. Christ lights the way—and it is a sure way.
