Beatitudes
35
No other light ever has shone or ever will shine upon fallen man
save that which emanates from Christ. Jesus, the Saviour, is the only
light that can illuminate the darkness of a world lying in sin. Of Christ
it is written, “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
John
1:4
. It was by receiving of His life that His disciples could become
light bearers. The life of Christ in the soul, His love revealed in the
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character, would make them the light of the world.
Humanity has in itself no light. Apart from Christ we are like an
unkindled taper, like the moon when her face is turned away from the
sun; we have not a single ray of brightness to shed into the darkness
of the world. But when we turn toward the Sun of Righteousness,
when we come in touch with Christ, the whole soul is aglow with the
brightness of the divine presence.
Christ’s followers are to be more than a light in the midst of men.
They are the light of the world. Jesus says to all who have named
His name, You have given yourselves to Me, and I have given you to
the world as My representatives. As the Father had sent Him into the
world, so, He declares, “have I also sent them into the world.”
John
17:18
. As Christ is the channel for the revelation of the Father, so we
are to be the channel for the revelation of Christ. While our Saviour
is the great source of illumination, forget not, O Christian, that He
is revealed through humanity. God’s blessings are bestowed through
human instrumentality. Christ Himself came to the world as the Son of
man. Humanity, united to the divine nature, must touch humanity. The
church of Christ, every individual disciple of the Master, is heaven’s
appointed channel for the revelation of God to men. Angels of glory
wait to communicate through you heaven’s light and power to souls
that are ready to perish. Shall the human agent fail of accomplishing
his appointed work? Oh, then to that degree is the world robbed of the
promised influence of the Holy Spirit!
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But Jesus did not bid the disciples, “Strive to make your light
shine;” He said, “Let it shine.” If Christ is dwelling in the heart, it is
impossible to conceal the light of His presence. If those who profess
to be followers of Christ are not the light of the world, it is because the
vital power has left them; if they have no light to give, it is because
they have no connection with the Source of light.
In all ages the “Spirit of Christ which was in them” (
1 Peter 1:11
)
has made God’s true children the light of the people of their generation.