“Ye are the light of the world. A city set on an hill cannot be hid.” Matthew 5:14
It was written of the land of Zabulon, specifically in “Galilee of the Gentiles,”…”The people which sat in darkness saw a great LIGHT and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, LIGHT is sprung up.” (Matt. 4:16) That which is so striking about this picture is that the people of Galilee, though going on about their lives, did not know that they were living in the shadow of death. Yes, they knew that they would die one day, but that which was beyond the grave they did not grasp. Nor did they, because of their blindness, see the greater picture, the great eternal realities that were upon them. The result was tragic, for their end was a death that they did not want to meet, to enter into a realm and reality that they did not want to consider, as they did not know the truth. They were, as the Apostle Paul put it, “…without God and without hope in the world.” This picture would drastically change in one day, for in that day Light did spring up, Christ came. The Lord Jesus would soon declare to them, and to all men, that He was the light of the world, that singular, true light of life, which by HIs saving work and grace would save many. Christ would come to shine the truth of His life, and saving power, in a place where darkness prevailed, and there was no answer or hope beyond the grave. The knowledge of the truth of Christ, and His salvation, coupled with the promise of His power to save, would result in the salvation of many who had no hope, and no manner of escaping their darkness. But what of today? Christ is not walking among us in the same way that He did in those days in Galilee. Is His saving message and power revealed as light to this world today, potentially in every part of it, that there, many will escape the coming night? The answer is yes, for Christ indwells His church, and every member of His body, that through every believer, every disciple of Christ, there should not only be the giving forth of the message of truth, which is light, but the power of that truth, the very life of Christ.
When Christ comes to indwell the heart at the moment of conversion to Christ, which is the new birth by the Spirit, the Spirit of God begins to reveal in and through the life, the very life of Christ. Christ’s life is still the light of the world. The impartation of that life in the believer’s soul is revealed through the life as that believer walks in fellowship with Christ by the Spirit. Not only the fruits of His life are manifest, but when the truth of His Gospel is declared in the demonstration and power of the Spirit, Christ gives light to the soul to believe. The Light shining in the darkness brings a conviction of sin, and a seeking of God in His mercy. Christ never turns away those who will truly seek Him with their whole hearts. By His light He brings the soul to the place of faith, in order to receive cleansing from sin, and the empowering of the Spirit.
What about the message to the world, and its power? The Lord Jesus would tell His disciples that they “ARE the light of the world,” and this by the fact and manifestation of the indwelling Life of Christ. He would go on to reveal to the disciples that a great purpose of the Light to the world, was that it should be SEEN, or manifested. It was not to be hidden by timidity or fear but be put on a candle stick for all to see. Christ’s command would be: “Let your light so shine before men, that they might see your good works,” then to “glorify your Heavenly Father which is in heaven.”
Dear Father, Shine powerfully through us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.