Jesus said, ‘I am light of the world’. These are encouraging words that we all need to hear as we seem to be living in a dark and ever darkening world. Every day we hear of fatal stabbings, drug-related crime, immorality and domestic abuse to name but a few of the many incidents that occur. There is no denying that the darkness we see all around us could envelop us all, and yet against this backdrop there is hope because God’s Word, the Bible, tell us of good news.
More than 2,000 years ago, God chose the darkness of the night to send a glorious light to shine forth on a hillside outside Bethlehem. Out of this overwhelming light, an angel appeared to shepherds, watching their flocks, to proclaim the birth of Jesus, saying:
‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord’ (Luke 2.10-11).
God in his love sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in human flesh, born of a virgin to be the Saviour the world so much needs. A light had come to break the power of sin and death: ‘to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace’ (Luke 1.79).
We rejoice that a Saviour has come to take the punishment of sin which separates us from a Holy God, so that all who repent and believe on His Son can live in the light of His forgiving love.
No matter how dark it may become in our own lives and in the world around us, Jesus is the light who continues to shine amidst the darkness. His light still breaks through into our lives today when we come to Him in repentance and faith. Everyone who follows Him has the joy of knowing that one day they will receive everlasting life in heaven, where there will be neither death nor darkness.
Certainly, it is good news that Jesus came so that we need not walk in darkness. He is the light of life to all who believe on him.
Jesus said, ‘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).
