Mat 5:14; Jesus Left You in Charge – Are You Ready?Wednesday May 15th 2024 Idea: Being the light of the world means that you are the same source of the divine revelation as Jesus was.
Awesome gift and responsibility.
Jesus said that He was the light of the world.
God prophesied through Isaiah that the Servant would be a light to the world (42:5; 49:6).
Jesus ascended and now this awesome responsibility is given to each believer.
“You, yes you, are the light of the world…” Emphatic use of the pronoun “You.” (both salt and light).
God designed it this way; that the church would portray the life of the divine. The world suffers darkness when the church does not shine forth the gospel.
Light is the transcendent sphere of the divine.
Jesus is the light, Joh 1:4-5; 8:12; 9:5, “While I am in the world …”
“Faith” will alone pull someone out of the dark (Joh 12:46).
Jesus, the Son of God, will suffer judgment of all sin so that He could destroy the darkness without destroying us in the process. It is here that we find freedom, not in doing anything we want, but actually restriction. Jesus restrained Himself so that could have its perfect result, which gave freedom to us.
Luk 2:32 (quoting Isa 49:6) Jew and Gentile.
Example Paul: Act 26:15-18. (unlawfully jailed, fully known as a Pharisee by the Jews)
Example: all of us: Eph 5:11-13; 1Pe 2:9.
What difference does it make? Application:
If you don’t someone else will. It is not as if people are going to perish because of you. God somehow has it all covered.
If you do not salt the earth and shine the light of Christ you are bottling up and tucking away the greatest gift that God has given to mankind (under a basket).
Which one will have a major impact on you and others around you.
The vision of God is for the church to proclaim the excellencies of Him.
We have to believe that we can change people and change our corner of the world, and that we can do so with grace, joy, and a sense of humor.
We leave the results to God.
The significance is that you become involved in the Master’s work, which is the only eternal work in the world.
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