The Light of Mankind

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 12th of July, 2026.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

Most of you may not know, but we have a groundhog – or more likely a family of groundhogs – that have set up housekeeping here on our church campus, just on the hillside across from the Fellowship Hall.  Their burrows can be quite amazing and intricate, with upper levels and lower levels, some depressions to catch water to prevent flooding, and many hidden openings to allow for emergency escape.  But once they’re securely at home, they are in absolute, complete darkness.

That’s a condition most humans will seldom if ever experience, for we have lights all around us all the time.  There’s even a name for it: light pollution.  Quite frankly, being in complete darkness freaks me out a little.  I’m just too used to having some form of light in sight.

Of course, we humans aren’t as well equipped for the darkness as some of our animal counterparts.  Our night-vision is poor at best.  We stumble around in the darkness, smack up against walls and door frames, bump our shins on coffee tables, stub our toes on chair legs.  So it’s a good thing God gave us light.

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water.

3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.

--Genesis 1:1-4 (MEV)

That is how Moses described the beginning of all creation, in his Book of Genesis.  God gave life to His creation, speaking the words, “Let there be light.”  The Apostle John realized that the Word, the Logos, was with God all along.  Please listen and follow along to the beautiful opening of John’s Gospel account, as recorded for us in the first 14 verses of the 1st chapter of the book bearing his name, and I’ll be reading from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were created through Him, and without Him nothing was created that was created. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5 The light shines in darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 This man came as a witness in order to testify concerning the Light, that all men through Him might believe. 8 He was not this Light, but was sent in order to testify concerning the Light.

9 The true Light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. 12 Yet to all who received Him, He gave the power to become sons of God, to those who believed in His name, 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

--John 1:1-14 (MEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for calling light into being, giving light to Your creation, bringing order to chaos.  And then, when we were stumbling around in the darkness of sin, You sent Your Light to all mankind, the true light that darkness can never overcome.  Still, though, we have trouble staying in the light.  There are aspects – things - of this world that we refuse to let go of.  But yet You still bless us, You still love us.  Thank You, Father, for having mercy on us.  Please help us be at least a little more deserving of Your love and grace.  Please help us be more like Jesus as we go through each day.  This we pray in the beautiful name of our Lord Jesus.   Amen.

Vision is the act or power of seeing things with our eyes.  Light bounces off an object and into our eyes, where our brains transform the information into an image that we associate with the object.  And there are many easily recognizable objects that we all associate with.  For instance, we all associate this object [*  hold up bible  *] as a book, or more specifically as a bible.  But vision is also the act or power of seeing ideas, of anticipating that which may come to be.

Film producer and writer Bob Logan notes that “vision is the capacity to create a compelling picture of the desired state of affairs that inspires people to respond.  It is that which is desirable, which could be, should be.  It is that which is attainable.  A godly vision is right for the times, right for the church, and right for the people.  A godly vision promotes faith rather than fear.  A godly vision motivates people to action.  A godly vision requires risk-taking.  A godly vision glorifies God, not people.”

Have you ever experienced a vision?  I know there are people who sometimes get a glimpse of what will soon happen.  I think I’ve been shown one or two very brief visions in my life.  Mine, though, were more like warnings, not necessarily glorifying God.

There are a number of incidents in our bible where a person is shown something – usually something quite remarkable - “in a vision”.  Their visions were fairly lengthy and very detailed.  The best example of this is the Apostle John’s Book of Revelation.  The entire sequence of what is to come was shown to John in a vision, when the end times and what follows was revealed.  And all of it is to glorify God as He concludes His plan for His creation.

Sometimes a person will envision what should be done to make this world a better place.  We just need to make sure any such vision glorifies God, and not any segment of His creation.

It should come as no surprise to a believer that John was talking about Jesus in the opening of his Gospel account.  John speaks of the creation of our universe, of the start of our history, of the beginning of time itself.  But Jesus, like God and the Holy Spirit, are outside of time, and have existed… well… forever.

Man, created in God’s image, quickly disobeyed Him, and became more and more rebellious and disobedient as time went by.  To reconcile His creation back to Himself, God gave us light once again.  Jesus became flesh and lived among us for a time, so that we could see His glory, so God could be glorified, so that we could be shown mercy and grace.  He became the light to guide us out of darkness.

In the 8th chapter of his Gospel account, John recorded the incident of the woman caught in the act of adultery being brought before Jesus and Him forgiving her of her sin, telling her to go and sin no more.  Afterwards, He addressed the Pharisees, as John saved for us in verse 12…

12 Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

--John 8:12 (MEV)

A little later, as Jesus prepared to heal a man born blind, He was asked whether the man or his parents had sinned, that he be born blind.  Jesus replied that neither had sinned, but rather the man was born blind so that the works and glory of God could be revealed.  John also recorded what Jesus said next, in chapter 9 verse 5 of his Gospel…

5 “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

--John 9:5 (MEV)

That’s two times in very short order when Jesus said, “I am the light of the world”.  And we know what it means when He repeats Himself, right?  It means that this is important for us to hear and understand.

“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  Of course, Jesus knew He would not be in this world forever, or even very much longer, so He prepared us to take up and share the light.  In chapter 5 verses 14 through 16 of his Gospel account, the Apostle Matthew saved the words Jesus spoke  during His Sermon on the Mount…

14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do men light a candle and put it under a basket, but on a candlestick. And it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

--Matthew 5:14-16 (MEV)

Jesus has passed the torch to us.  He is no longer physically in the world, but the light of truth must still be shown, for the world hides its sins in darkness.  Jesus became flesh to be the Light of mankind, and now we must shine His light.  We must shine His light so that others just might see their way out of the darkness and be saved.  We must testify to the wondrous works of Jesus, attest to the power and authority of God, so that all people might believe.

Share the love of our Lord by shining the light of truth.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for sending Your Son to redeem us.  Even when we were flailing around in the darkness of our sin, when we rebelled against You, You loved us enough to want us to be with You forever.  So You sent Jesus to stand for us and bear our punishment.  Thank You, Father, for so wonderful a gift.  Sadly though, Father, we still at times try to hide in the darkness, holding fast to our favorite sin.  And far too many times we are afraid to share the truth with others.  Please remind us that You allowed Your only Son to suffer a mortal death just so we might be spared eternal death.  Encourage and strengthen us to take up the light of Jesus so that others might see the path to righteousness.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your and our Lord’s commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming into this world, for bringing the light of truth so that all might see.  You have always been with God and the Holy Spirit, but for a time You came in the flesh, as one of us, as the Light of mankind.  Then, when You returned to heaven, You left us with the task of carrying on Your work for You.  We are to shine Your light now, to share Your love, so that the lost may find their way to You.  Lord, You know we struggle to fully separate ourselves from the world.  We have trouble saying no to all the temptations, the nice shiny things Satan offers.  Please help us in this fight.

We also hesitate to approach people and tell them about You and all You have done.  Please help us be a witness of Your mighty deeds and love.  Please help us love as You love, loving selflessly, unconditionally, sacrificially.  Help us show Your love and God’s love as we reach out to others, sharing Your words and Your works, telling them all about You.  Help us carry out the mission You gave us, seeking the lost sheep and leading them to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.