The Light of the World
After exploring the nature of Christian identity as the salt of the earth, Rev. Sang Ho Bae turned to the exposition of the meaning of Christian identity as the light of the world:
Jesus declared to his disciples:
You are the light of the world (Matt 5:14).
The expression “the light of the world” is truly an astounding statement. He said that they are not the light of a region or of a nation but the light of the world. The Lord gave this astonishing title to the disciples who were from the rural area of Galilee, lacking learning and insignificant socially. This was not because their abilities were outstanding, but because it is the Lord’s way that God takes the weak to shame the strong.
This word is not simple encouragement but a word that defines the identity of the disciples and gives them a mission. In the Greek original, “you" (ὑμεῖς) is used in an emphatic form, containing the meaning, “It is you yourselves who are the light of the world.” Jesus calling the disciples light presupposes that the world is dark. The darkness spoken of here is not physical darkness but moral and spiritual darkness.
Modern civilization brightens the night through the development of science and technology, but the inner being of humans is entering even deeper darkness. The increase of mental and emotional suffering reflects the spiritual emptiness that modern people experience. As C. S. Lewis pointed out in The Abolition of Man, civilization has advanced, but humanity has been weakened. People have come to possess more information, but that information has not become the light that illuminates the direction of life.
The ideologies that dominate today’s world—materialism, secularism, scientism, atheism, and humanism—do not give life to the human soul. Material things give convenience but cannot give satisfaction, and secularism promises that one can live happily without God, but in the end it devastates the soul. Science provides explanations but does not give meaning, and atheism seems to liberate humans from God but ultimately causes them to lose the ground of their existence. The Bible says that behind such spiritual confusion stands the devil, ‘the ruler of the power of the air’ (Eph. 2:2). The moral collapse of modern society is not merely a social problem but a sign of spiritual darkness.
In such darkness, the Christian is light. The first function of light is to reveal. What could not be seen in darkness becomes revealed when light shines. It is the same with the life of the saints. When the life of a believer is different from the world, that difference becomes light that exposes the world’s sin and shame. Different values and different ways of life become illumination that shines upon the conscience of people in the world. A person comes to see his true self only when he faces spiritual light. The widow of Zarephath recalled her sin before Elijah (1 Kgs 17:18), and Peter confessed before Jesus, saying, “I am a sinful man” (Lk 5:8). Light shines without speaking, but it reveals the inner being of the one who stands before it and makes him see himself. Thus the very existence of the saint becomes a sermon.
Light always brings about a twofold response. The believers of the early church received praise because of their light-filled lives, and at the same time they received persecution (Acts 2:47). Pliny the Younger, the Roman governor who ruled the region of Bithynia (AD 111–113), recorded in a report sent to Emperor Trajan that Christians gathered early in the morning to praise Christ as God and “swore among themselves not to commit crimes such as theft, robbery, or adultery, and not to break promises or betray what was entrusted to them.” Such pure lives of these Christians stirred curiosity and a holy fear in the hearts of people. However, to some, their lives became an uncomfortable exposure of their own darkness and thus a reason for persecution. Light becomes enlightenment to some, but to others it brings rejection.
Jesus commanded:
Let your light shine before people (Matt 5:16).
Light is not merely something that exists but something that shines.
Paul says,
The fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth (Eph. 5:9).
The good deeds of the saints naturally become light in the world. As Jesus said, “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden,” a true believer is bound to be revealed wherever he is. Fragrance cannot be concealed, and light cannot be covered. The light-filled life of a Christian becomes a light that quietly reveals the presence of God in the world. In the history of the church, the most powerful evangelism has always been the light-filled life of the saints. Life has greater persuasive power than words.
Check the AI-generated song version of this article here.