The Light of the World

     Saint John, Chapter 1:
     1. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
     2. The same was in the beginning with God.
     3. All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made.
     4. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
     5. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

     Like light, Jesus was a mystery. He remains a mystery to us. We can believe in him by faith. Yet, the mystery continues, slowly unfolding itself to us as we walk with him.
     He is the Light that gives us spiritual life. He shines in our darkness and we do not comprehend that Light.
     Why does He seem to keep up guessing? Why does God seem to enjoy testing our faith? Why not just come right out and lay all His cards on the table so we can see the whole picture and the reason for everything?
     I believe the answer is quite simple to our way of understanding (although there are probably multi-purposes from God's perspective, since He usually gets a lot of mileage out of everything). If we already knew all the answers, if the mystery were solved, all the reasons put into our laps, would we be so desperate and needy? Would we need to delve into scripture, search for answers, fall on our knees and compel God?
     Maybe we are supposed to be content with walking in the Light, taking one step at a time. Step by step, as we follow, He shows us more and more. It's when we turn our face to the "darkness" that problems arise.  Not only do we need to stay in the Light, but we need to let the Light shine through us.
     Matthew 5, verse 16 tells us: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (That doesn't mean to go around proclaiming your own goodness, but to give God the glory for whatever you do that's beneficial or helpful.)
  
     Let's continue with John, Chapter 1:
     6.There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
     7. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
     8. He was in the world and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
     11. He came unto his own and his own received him not.
     12. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

     Here we find the famous verse that many of us have seen on Sunday School walls or Gospel tracts, etc. It's famous for being the verse that leads sinners to salvation. The instructions are simple, just "receive" Jesus. In Greek, the word for believe is to "receive" or "drink in".
  
     Recently I was speaking to a dedicated Muslim about salvation and she matter-of-factly told me that she hoped she would suffer for all of her sins while she was on this earth so that Allah would allow her to go to Heaven when she died. She said if there were any sins left over, she'd have to go to hell to be punished for them.
     Yet, for people who cling to that idea, the idea of accepting Jesus as your Saviour is just too easy. They would rather suffer, pay the price in their flesh, have a miserable life and be "holy" while on this earth, in order to enjoy the afterlife! And still, there's no guarantee that they will go to Heaven in the end.
     Thank God that Jesus paid the price for us so that we do not need to suffer for our sins! It's an impossible feat to attempt. For one thing, we don't even know what our sins are. God's perfection is so far beyond ours. Many of our attempts at righteousness turn out to be self-righteousness, which stinks!

     Back to John 1:
     16. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
     14. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

     In these 14 verses, we discover that Jesus is the Word, the Light, the Truth and God. He is God Who was made flesh. He lived among us and even His own people did not receive Him. His half-brothers didn't believe in Him!
     Can you imagine if Jesus were your very own brother, living in your house and the whole time, you thought He was just a regular guy? You argued with Him! You insulted Him and mocked Him. In effect, you just treated him like a brother. Then... to find out that the whole time, he was GOD!