LIGHT OF THE WORLD
Tuesday – March 12, 2019, Adar B 5, 5779
Greetings dear friends and partners of this ministry and The Three Minute Word publication and welcome back to this powerful Bible teaching from the Book of John. Those of you reading this on Facebook please take a moment to hit the “like” and “share” buttons to keep these teachings coming to your news feed and expanding the reach of this ministry. Now let us take a moment and read our primary Bible text aloud and launch into the teaching.
John 8:10-14 (KJV)
10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
13 The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.
14 Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.
As we proceed into verse twelve, we find Jesus making the statement that He is the light of the world and we hear this repeated often today in sermons and songs. Consider the following statement.
John 9:5 (KJV)
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
So, is Jesus the light of the world for some indefinite period of time, or eternally, or for the time of His earthly ministry as a man? And, what about this? What does it mean to be light?
Matthew 5:13-14 (KJV)
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
And, consider the following verse.
Revelation 21:23 (KJV)
23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
The word “light” in John 8:12, John 9:5, Matthew 5:14, and “lighten” in Revelation 21:23 are the same being a general light or widespread light. Notice that the Revelation reference is to the “glory of God” which is Holy Spirit. The word “light” in Revelation 21:23 however is a different Greek word meaning a portable lamp in reference to the Lamb which is Christ Jesus. When Jesus was in the earth, He was a unitary person and each of us who are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit are unitary persons meaning He had and we have a limited exposure in the earth. Now, with todays technology there are a few ministers who have widespread exposure but not entirely global. Now, in the verses above I have to a degree mixed and matched spiritual and physical light. Generally speaking, the light is the Word of God, however, the more Word of God and time in fellowship with God the physical body will experience transfiguration and our faces can shine like that of Moses. By transfiguration I am not talking about a situation like Jesus on the Mount with Moses and Elijah for I don’t think we (human body) could stand that. Jesus could stand that not because His body is of different substance but because He was without sin and the work of the curse was not present in His body. We can, however, due to diligence in the Word with faith in love negate to a great extent the forces of what is called nature, more accurately the curse.
Let’s consider one other additional factor which is that Christ Jesus is the Word. He is the Anointed Voice that first spoke the Word of God, rhema word vs logos word (written). Christ depending on context can mean Messiah, Anointing (Holy Spirit), or Anointed One as in Jesus. When Jesus said He was the light of the world we know that we are talking about Christ Jesus which is the Anointed Jesus, Anointed of Holy Spirit, we know (John 6:63) that His words are spirit and life, they are anointed words. Therefore, because we are also baptized in the Holy Spirit and are thus Anointed ones (not The One) we also when we speak words led of Holy Spirit speak words of life as well. All words are spirit as are all thoughts in their origin (the mind). These words of life, these words of God are the light that illuminates our path and that of others to whom they are spoken, Anointed (Glory of God) words.
The Holy Spirit is everywhere present and all that is led of Him is Anointed and is therefore light. Jesus said that He did not say anything the Father did not say, nor did He do anything He did not see the Father doing, and it was the Father (through Holy Spirit) who did the works. When we walk as Jesus walked, we are the light of the world and the many spread over the earth are light everywhere. The word “world” used in our verses is speaking of that which adorns the earth and conveys the meaning of taking care of that which adorns or is upon the earth. Long story short, the Word of God is the light that shows us how to take care of the earth, this is the original mandate from the Garden of Eden. Kind of interesting don’t you think? One last thing.
Genesis 1:14-18 (KJV)
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
On this the fourth day of creation we see God setting the stars in place. Four is the number of light, authority, and power. God set the physical lights in space but He also gave a prophetic picture of His people to come, you and me, we are the stars to give light upon the earth.
Until our next publication, as a Bible Teacher and Prophetic Voice I speak this blessing over each and every one of you, receive it by faith in Jesus name!
Numbers 6:24-26 (AMP)
24 The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you;
26 The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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