I invite you to open your Bibles with me to the
Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 4, to begin
with, and then to chapter 8, verse 12. John 1,
verse 4, in him, that is, in the word, was life,
and the life was the light of men. And then chapter
8. of the Gospel in verse 12. Our Lord Jesus
Christ speaking, I am the light of the world.
He who follows me shall not walk in the darkness,
but shall have the light of life. In preparation
for a class that I'm taking next month, I've
been doing some reading about the leading philosophies
of our day. that influence the culture that we
live in. These include secularism, pragmatism,
positivism, humanism, pluralism, relativism,
and so on. Each one of these various isms plays
a role in the attitudes and actions that we observe
in our current events and ideas. from Social
Security to abortion rights, from Kevorkian to
Clinton, all of these philosophies find their
place in our culture. Each has a role in the
attitudes and actions that we observe in the
events around us. And we Christians are not immune
to their influence, our own attitudes, decisions.
expectations and choices are affected by these
life philosophies. There's one thing that they
share in common and that is the denial of anything
that is eternal and transcendent. Or at least
they claim that one cannot know if there is something
eternal and transcendent. that all that we can
experience and know is the here and the now,
the world that we live in. All of these philosophies
have another thing in common. They represent
the darkness of the world. They represent human
speculation apart from God. They have little
to give in terms of meaning to life or the providing
of hope. These philosophies cannot guide to genuine
pleasure, nor can they make a better world for
humankind. How, in contrast to all of these philosophies
of man, is the simple statement of the Son of
God who said, I am the light of the world. He
who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but
shall have the light of life. Other religions
and philosophies result from humanity's groping
to find significance and meaning in the midst
of its spiritual darkness. But Jesus Christ delivers
from darkness and brings abundant and eternal
life. The Christ of Bethlehem is the source of
life for all of those who will follow Him. And
besides Him there is no true source of life.
When we speak of Him being the light of life,
what do we mean? Well, I'm saying in the first
place the great darkness has engulfed humanity.
That occurred when sin entered the world. darkness
that is both intellectual, moral, and spiritual
came to be. One of the great German philosophers
whose name many of you would recognize is an
old man who was sitting alone on a park bench.
A policeman passed by and thought he was a vagrant.
He went to this old, shriveled man and said to
him, and who are you? And this German philosopher
who knew only the speculations of man replied
with a sad face, I wish I knew. How tragic to
come to the end of life and not know the meaning
of it all. Jesus Christ came to eliminate darkness
and to redeem humanity to know God and to enjoy
him again. This morning I want us to see that
Jesus Christ as the light of life in the first
place dispels the darkness of ignorance. Humanity
after the fall drifted in its darkness away from
the knowledge of the true God, the Creator. Turn
with me to the book of Romans for a moment to
the first chapter. Let's remind ourselves of
these rather familiar verses. A cycle is here
laid down that has been repeated over and over
again in man's darkness. Humanity can know God
even from the creation of the world. It says
in verse 21, for even though they knew God, they
knew God, they knew God, they did not honor Him
as God. or give thanks. But they became futile
in their speculations and their foolish heart
was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became
fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible
God for an image in the form of corruptible man
and of birds and four -footed animals and crawling
creatures. Here we have the record of man's turning
in darkness away from God and the tragic result
of it. The man today has devised the theory of
evolution and that theory has not only been applied
to biology but to theology. In other words, there
are theologians and others who believe that Just
as man has evolved from some primal state to
his complex current state So theology has evolved
as well They say that we began with animism That
man began to worship trees rocks animals Believing
that these things had spirits in them that they
lived in fear our ancestors The object of their
life was to make peace with the spirits and to
ward off evil powers of these spirits. But man
evolved, man got better, he progressed, they
say, and so he developed polytheism, which is
the idea that there are many gods, so -called,
each with a separate identity. And in history
we see that each great nation had its own pantheon
of these gods that they developed. But evolution
continued, and man got better. The next step
was henotheism, which says that there are many
gods, but each nation has only one god. So instead
of each nation having a pantheon of many gods,
evolution says now each nation developed just
one god. Although, because there were many nations,
there were still many gods. And they say that
the final step is monotheism. That eventually
man developed the idea of one supreme God who
is over all of the nations. And so you see the
idea is that we started out worshiping the trees
and the rocks and the animals and we evolved
finally to the idea where there is one God. who
is supreme. Is that the way it's been? The fact
is, the truth is just the opposite of that. Man
began with the true knowledge of one God and
degenerated from there. That's the truth. The
religion of the tribal peoples today in the world,
most of which is animism, or the religion of
the Aztecs or the Mayans, or the Native Americans
of our own continent. These religions are the
end result of ancient ancestors who abandoned
the true knowledge of God. And as a result of
that they came to believe in many gods and then
to worship spirits and the rocks and the trees.
And now we have the environmentalists who bow
down to these very same things. Fullness of life
is found only in the knowledge of the true God
and Jesus Christ as the light of the world came
to reveal Him to us. Back in chapter 1 of John,
we have that remarkable verse in verse 18 that
says, no man has seen God at any time. That is,
no man has ever looked upon the pure essence
of deity. even though there were some who had
a vision of God. He says, no man has ever looked
upon the essence of deity. But he says, the only
begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father,
he explained him. He is talking about Jesus Christ
as the only begotten God, the unique one. who
is in the closest place of affection to the Father.
He has come as the Word who was made flesh, as
verse 14 says. And in human flesh, so that we
could see Him and hear Him, He explained God
to us. Jesus Christ as the light of life dispels
the darkness of ignorance. Man gropes in his
ignorance, in his darkness, going further and
further away from God. But Jesus Christ, as the
light of the world comes, to tell us again of
the true God that we might know him, so that
no one today has to walk in darkness, the darkness
of ignorance. The knowledge of God can be had
And when it is gained, it will transform the
life from one of darkness to light and from fear
to love. As the light of life, Jesus Christ dispels
the darkness of ignorance. Secondly, as the light
of life, Jesus Christ dispels the darkness of
separation. Now this darkness I'm talking about
involved the forfeiture of the joy that people
can have in fellowship with God. This darkness
came also at the time of the fall into sin. Adam's
fall resulted in separation of Adam and all of
his descendants from God. There was an alienation
that came to be. Since God is the light, to be
estranged from Him is to experience darkness,
moral, intellectual, and spiritual darkness.
After the fall, man was prohibited from coming
back into the garden, where he might have access
to the tree of life. He was no longer able to
commune with God in the garden as he had before.
He was separated from God. Now God in His mercy
made special provision whereby man could come
into His presence. It required sacrifice. It
required the death of an animal in the Old Testament.
all of those deaths, picturing the ultimate sacrifice,
the death of Jesus Christ, by which man could
again gain access to God. And so we see Adam
and Eve coming back to God after being separated
from Him, clothed with the skin of an animal
that had died on their behalf. Its blood was
shed as an atonement for their sin. Abel offered
up sacrifices of blood to God that he might fellowship
with him. Noah did the same. Abram, Isaac, Jacob.
Then, as part of his covenant with Israel, God
instituted a whole year -long series of sacrifices,
bloody sacrifices, that allowed man to deal with
his sin by an atonement so that man could have
access to God again. And then Jesus Christ came
as the light of life. As the light of life, he
came to dispel the darkness of man's separation.
He came to restore all of those who will follow
him to fellowship with God. Man can again experience
the fullness of life. the fullness of fellowship
with God, the fullness of joy, the abundance
of life that comes by knowing God and being in
fellowship with God. Jesus said, I am come that
they might have life and that they might have
it more abundantly. That is, that it may run
over with fullness. And so to follow Jesus Christ,
the light of life. It means to be restored to
union with God. It means to come back to God
and to find one's life source in Him, in Him.
We see seven togethers in the New Testament that
describe this life source in Jesus Christ. They
come from several books of the Bible. You will
recognize them. We've been crucified together
with Christ. We're dead together with Christ.
We are buried together with Christ. We are made
alive together with Christ. We are raised together
with Christ. We are sufferers together with Christ.
And we are glorified together with Christ. All
of those togethers in the New Testament Lay out
for us what it means to be in union with Christ
It means that we have a life source that the
world knows nothing about It means that we have
relationship with God that we have the Holy Spirit
living within us To bring to us joy and abundance
and fullness To bring to us the experience of
light In a world of darkness. So as the light
of life, Jesus Christ dispels the darkness of
separation. Finally, as the light of life, Jesus
Christ dispels the darkness of death. The darkness
of death. Roger Garcia was a teenager. who had
an incurable form of cancer. Knowing that his
life was to be short, he declared his faith openly
to his friends and wanted them to know his Christ.
His witness had such a ring of truth and conviction
about it that one of his boy friends who came
to visit him exclaimed, He talks like a man who's
going to live forever. Well, that's exactly the
point. Roger Garcia died in this world, but he
lives with Christ. He lives forever. You see,
as the light of life, Jesus Christ dispels the
darkness of death. And oh, what a darkness that
is. Death is the penalty for the fall. It all
goes back to that, to man's fall into sin. The
ignorance, the separation, the death. And that
death for Adam and Eve and their descendants
was not only physical death, it was also eternal
death. It was on the one hand loss of a presence
in this world. Physical death is to leave this
world that we know and to go beyond it. It does
not mean to end one's existence. One goes on
to exist, but not in this world. It's a loss
of presence in this world. And spiritual death
is a loss of fellowship with God, resulting in
a loss of meaning to existence. For those who
are in sin, physical death leads to eternal death.
Physical death results in a state of being banished
forever from God. Three times in the Gospel of
Matthew, Jesus warns about being cast out into
the outer darkness. What is he talking about?
Jesus is warning about the darkness of eternal
separation from God in hell. Hell is an awful
place for many different reasons. But one of
the greatest reasons is that there is no light
in hell. It is a place of absolute darkness.
And with that darkness comes loss of meaning.
There is no meaning to one's existence in hell
There is a total loss of identity and purpose
in hell Because one is alienated forever from
God But the light of life Jesus Christ came that
he might destroy death The darkness of death
cannot exist in the presence of Jesus Christ.
It cannot. He is the light of life. The darkness
of death is dispelled in his presence. John chooses
to tell us the story of Lazarus. Only he shares
this story in John chapter 11. His very good
friend Lazarus, who died In fact, Jesus delayed
his going back to Lazarus' home so that Lazarus
would die. Now while that may seem strange, it
was for the glory of God. Jesus made an astounding
claim as he arrived there at Bethany, where Lazarus
lived with Mary and Martha, his sisters, that
little village outside of Jerusalem. Lazarus
had been dead for four days. Martha came running
out to him and said, Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died, verse 21. Even
now, she says, I know that whatever you ask of
God, God will give it you. Jesus said to her,
your brother shall rise again. She said to him,
I know, I know. that he will rise again in the
resurrection on the last day. See, Martha believed
in the resurrection. She saw the resurrection
as an event that was going to take place at the
end of time, in the last day. And Jesus does
not tell her that she was wrong. She's right.
But what she failed to realize, fully, was what
Jesus could do as the light of life. He didn't
rebuke her for what she said, but he went on
to say to her, I am the resurrection and the
life. Martha, you're looking for a day that's
coming in the future. Martha, I want you to know
that I am the resurrection and the life. He who
believes in me shall live even if he dies. That's
what happened to Lazarus. And everyone who lives
and believes in me shall never die in the ultimate
sense. Do you believe this? She said, yes, Lord.
I have believed that you are the Christ, the
Son of God, even he who comes into the world.
Within a few minutes, Jesus stood before that
grave, commanded it to be opened. and spoke the
name of Lazarus and commanded him to come forth.
And shortly thereafter, still in his grave clothes,
Lazarus stood there at the mouth of that tomb
alive again. The darkness of death is dispelled
by the presence of the light of life, even though
believers like Lazarus. may experience physical
death and a loss of presence in this world for
a while. We still live, they still live, with
Christ in heaven. And one day we will again be
in this world in new resurrection bodies as the
light of life, Jesus Christ, dispels the darkness
of death. related this experience, I quote him,
I was down in Texas some time ago and happened
to pick up a newspaper and there they called
me old moody. Honestly, I never got such a shock
from any paper in my life. I had never been called
old before. I went to my hotel and looked in
the mirror. I cannot conceive of getting old.
I have a life that is never going to end. Death
may change my position, but not my condition,
not my standing with Jesus Christ. If you meet
me 10 million years hence, then I will still
be young. Don't call me old. I'm only 62. I've
only begun to live. And so it is with every one
of us who know Jesus Christ. None who follows
Christ Needs ever fear death Either physical
death or spiritual death Jesus himself promised
in John chapter 5 verse 24 Truly truly I say
to you he who hears my word and believes in him
who sent me Has eternal life and does not come
into judgment But has passed notice the tense
Has already passed is the idea out of death into
life Every one of us is born into this world
of darkness to inherit death from grandfather
Adam It is a dark death But Jesus Christ the
light of the world came that he might dispel
the darkness of death and he will dispel it for
you if you will be one of his followers. There
was a Christian man who one time had a secret
dread of passing through the portals of death.
One night he was passing by a graveyard and he
saw a little girl entering the gate. She began
to walk across the graveyard. He questioned her.
Don't you dread crossing the cemetery alone,
especially when it's so dark? Afraid, replied
the little girl. Oh no, I'm not afraid. My home
is right over there on the other side. My friend,
that's true for every one of us who knows Christ.
Our end is not the cemetery, our home is on the
other side of it. The place that Jesus has gone
to prepare for each one of us. He said, if I
go and prepare a place for you, I will come again
and receive you to myself. Where I am, there
you may be also. For some people, Christmas is
a difficult time of year. It is a sentimental
time. It can be a lonely time, especially when
you have lost someone who's dear to you to death.
And that is the case with some who are here this
morning. And it may even be years ago that it's
happened, but somehow at Christmas it seems to
come with fresh hurt a fresh sense of loss. Let's
remind ourselves this morning of those who've
gone before us in Christ, that they're home.
They're on the other side. But like Jesus said,
though they die, they still live. They're still
living. Not in the physical body that they did
in this world, but they're still living. And
one day they'll come back with the Lord. and
receive a new body, as all of us will in that
time of the rapture. Jesus Christ, who is the
light of the world, came that he might dispel
the darkness of death. At this Christmas season,
as you look again into the manger, what do you
see? Had you been there 2 ,000 years ago with
those shepherds and looked at that baby in very
simple swaddling clothes. You would have seen
no extraordinary sight. There would have been
nothing outwardly that would have clued you or
anyone else as to his identity. It had to be
announced, and it was. But we know that incarnated
in that baby, in that small infant, was the light
of the world. In all of his glory, in all of
his power, he was there. And he grew up to be
a man, an adult, and he is the one who stood
before a mass of people like this one this morning
and said, I am the light of the world. He who
follows me shall not walk in darkness, but will
have the light of life. He offers himself to
us today as the light of life if we will follow
him. What does it mean to follow? Well, it's
more than to timidly explore the idea of God.
It's more than to try God as though we're going
to investigate with doubt and some certainty,
in fact, that it's not really going to work.
To follow Jesus Christ means that we understand
who He is, what He did for us, who we are, and
that we are committing ourselves to trust Him
and to obey Him. To follow Him means to give
oneself to Him without any reservation. It means
to give oneself to serve him and to serve him
alone, to follow him. William Henriksen says,
man must follow where the light leads. He is
not permitted to map out his own course through
the desert of this life. To follow him means
that you will follow the light where he leads.
One young African convert many years ago was
In a school where he was visiting and he watched
some girls who were sewing learning how to sew
And he noticed that the the thread that they
were using always went wherever the needle went
and In that simple little task he saw a profound
truth and that night when he had his prayers
he said Lord, you are the needle, I am the thread.
I'll follow you, he was saying, wherever you
go. Those who follow Jesus Christ will enjoy
the knowledge of the true God and will value
learning his ways. They will no longer walk in
the darkness of ignorance. Those who follow Jesus
Christ will enjoy union with God, being accepted
by Him and sharing in His life and His power,
no longer walking in the darkness of separation.
Those who follow Jesus Christ will enjoy freedom
to enter into life's adventure without the fear
of death and with an assurance of an eternal
home in heaven, he will no longer walk in the
darkness of death. Have you followed him? Have
you made that decision that he alone will be
the Lord of your life? If not today, as the light
of life, he offers himself to you and he says,
follow me. Let's pray. The command of our Lord
is to follow Him. His invitation is, come to
me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden. I will
give you rest. If you are heavy with a load of
your sin, weary with the guilt of it all, confused
with the mess of your life, groping in your darkness,
wondering how to make sense out of it, Understand
that Jesus Christ is the light of life and you
may come to Him today and let Him bring His light
into your heart and dispel forever the darkness
that is there. O Spirit of God, may there be
someone here today whom you would draw to the
Savior that he or she might follow Him in faith.
and be saved and walk in light. In Jesus' name
I pray, amen.