Transferred from Darkness: You Are the Light of the World
If there’s one thing our culture understands, it the concept of light and darkness. We know that most of the time, light is a good thing. We want light in our lives. But darkness is usually a bad thing. Even in our movies and television shows, we see people fighting for light and goodness. And those that are filled with darkness are generally evil or have villain-like tendencies. The Bible describes light and darkness as well, and it does so in a similar fashion. The enemy’s kingdom is known as the “dominion of darkness,” while Jesus is known as being the “Light of the world.” But did you know that you are the light of the world as well?
In Christ, you have been given a divine purpose… to share the light of Jesus with the world.
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The kingdom of darkness once reigned…
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son. – Colossians 1:13
Before Jesus, the kingdom of darkness reigned on this earth. This kingdom came complete with spiritual blindness, slavery, and ultimately death. The enemy ruled this world. In His defeat of sin and death, Jesus made a way for us to be transferred out of Satan’s domain of darkness and into His Kingdom of light. (And this is why they call it “Good News”!)
Jesus established a new Kingdom…
…Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” – Mark 1:14-15
When being questioned before His crucifixion, Jesus claimed that His Kingdom was not of this world. While many of the Jewish people were expecting the Messiah to come and establish a physical earthly kingdom by going to war with and defeating the Romans, Jesus had different plans. Mankind didn’t necessarily need freedom from earthly kingdoms, rather we needed spiritual freedom so much more!
You are the light of the world…
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden… Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:14, 16
When Jesus came into the world, it was an invasion of light. The first chapter of John’s Gospel tells us that in Jesus there is light and His light is the life of men. Life is often equated with light in God’s Word. The two are intertwined. One who is alive in Christ carries His light with them wherever they go.
While we know that first and foremost Jesus is the light of the world, we are also referred to as the light of the world in Him. Jesus himself referred to us as light and warned us not to hide our light from the world around us. “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden…” He wanted us to boldly share His light so that the world would see Jesus in us. In other words, He didn’t want us to hide our new identity from those around us.
You are light in Christ, so shine brightly for all to see.
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” – John 8:12
You are the light of the world, and God has called you to shine brightly for the world to see.
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*Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
**Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
