Light of the World

               By: Brendan Anderson

The Bible is filled with metaphors that illuminate the divine nature of Christ and His mission on earth, but perhaps one of the most profound and enduring is His title, “Light of the World.” This phrase, drawn from the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, is more than just a poetic expression—it is a call to spiritual awakening, guidance, and hope.

Jesus’ Heart:

            In John 8:12, Jesus declares, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” This declares that Jesus is an example of exemplary character and goodness that believers need to follow. We often walk through life with the mentality that going to church, Bible study, or anything of that nature will lead us closer to Christ, but not always. Getting the knowledge and love confused with each other in a Christian’s life is often one of the biggest problems that we ever face. This is to say we might know the Bible front to cover and remember all the Bible stories, but we never actually had a relationship with Christ. Having that relationship with him with create something that no wisdom or knowledge could ever give to you and that is permanence. In 1 Corinthians 13:8 the Bible says, “Lover never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.” You might know everything about a person. Their likes, dislikes, fears, joys, who they are and where they’ve been, but that doesn’t mean you know the heart of that person. Ask yourself the question, how well do you know Jesus’ heart?

            How do I know Jesus’s Heart:

Jesus gives a great many examples over his time that he spent on earth and one of the greatest examples of scripture to learn from is the ‘Beatitudes.’ This section helps us learn about many of the components of how we need to live out our lives as followers of Christ and the law. Matthew 5:43 says, “You have heard that it was said, love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven.” This is a small part of where scripture shows us how to follow Jesus’ heart because we see that we must do something so difficult as to forgive our enemies. This is always easier said than done in any capacity. Remember the last time you got into an argument with someone? Whether it ended well or not, it was still hard to admit you were wrong or to be told you were right because why would you want to fight another person. I say this because it would be much harder to humbly accept that the other person is right and avoid the argument altogether. A pastor I know once said that as a world we think that responding with mercy and grace makes us look weak but it actually takes more strength, but the posture is completely different (Tevin Lucas). Being able to put aside one’s own selfish desires and thoughts is a complete transformation of our heart. This is what it’s like to know Jesus. To not just know the law but live it out. The more we live out the law the closer we come to Jesus. This is all God ever wants is a relationship with us.

Building a Relationship with Christ:

            How are you going to start to build your relationship with Christ today? Maybe it starts with simply walking outside and finding someone to talk to and brightening their day because if you can make someone else happy then maybe they’ll see something special in you. All it takes is for us as believers to show the light that Jesus has put within us so that we can show it to others because once we show his love to others, we can start to make this world a better place.

            In next week’s blog, we’ll be covering a topic called “You who are called by name.” When you are called by name it means you serve a higher purpose and have a higher mission to work for. This is what gives our life meaning. By the way we got about 10 reads on our last blog and that is super great. My hope is that we can get even more on this blog and the next one.

Until next time God bless you and have a great day…