The Light that is in Us

“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light” (Lk 11:33–36).

Jesus just finished teaching that the Son of Man is a sign to this generation as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites in his generation. But what about other generations? What about our generation? In His very next lesson, with light as the object of the lesson, the Teacher exhorted His disciples to be a reflection of the sign of the Son of Man to their generation. The Bible reveals that Jesus Christ is life and light for all people… “In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). The Spirit moved the Apostle John to further identify Jesus as the only true light… “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9). He went on to teach that we are born again when we receive Christ, so the logical result is that the true Light now lives in us. The Holy Spirit inspired Luke to write down every detail of this powerful lesson for earnest disciples in every generation. Today, the Spirit of Truth exhorts us to be productive disciples and to illuminate our generation with the sign of Christ that is revealed by the Light that is in us.

The world is the objective of our light. Receiving Jesus Christ has immediate and eternal blessings for us individually. But receiving Him also brings the responsibility of sharing Him with those around us. If we believe the whole truth of the gospel, we see everyone as either on their way to heaven or hell, based upon whether they have heard and believed the same truth about Christ as we have… “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18). The Spirit moved John to explain that it is the light of Christ that confronts and convicts the hearts of men and women, making their response to His light the deciding difference in where they will spend eternity… “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19). Where might Christ want you to shine His true Light on someone today?

Christ is the origin of our light. While it’s true that the Light of Christ indwells the heart of the true believer, we also struggle with the sin nature and are tempted to fill our hearts with the darkness of the world that surrounds us. Knowing this, Jesus taught His disciples to keep their eyes healthy because the eye is the lamp of your body, or the doorway into your heart. He was so concerned about the power of what we see in the dark world around us to corrupt our heart that He said… “And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell” (Mark 9:47). Jesus wants us to keep our eyes on Him so He can fill us to overflowing with His true Light… “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Are your eyes fixed on the Light of Christ today?

Holiness is the outcome of our light. If our eyes are focused on Christ then His Light fills our hearts and overcomes any hidden darkness… “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). As we walk closely with Jesus through this dark world, His light within us keeps us free from sin and in close fellowship with other true believers… “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Are you growing so close to Christ that others see His light radiating from your heart?

As we grow up into Christ we become a brighter and more powerful reflection of Jesus…

The Light that is in Us.