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Matt 5:14-16

(14) "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.

(15) Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

(16) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Dearest brothers and sisters, what a striking statement! You are the light of the world!

Jesus did not say “please be the light of the world”, nor he say “You will be the light of the world”... No my brothers and sisters...

This is what Jesus said, “You ARE the LIGHT of the world”.

I was shocked when I reflected upon it. This is a strong statement. But the question that came to my mind is that how can that be, look at me and my life, surely I am not the light of the world. I even feel that I may walk in the dark. I am confused about life, about my reason of living. How can it be then that I am the light of the world?

But this is what Jesus said to his disciples, and we are his disciples aren’t we? This is what Jesus told those who follow him. These words are spoken when he went up to the mountain and taught those who follow him.

Matt 5:1-2 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. (2) And he opened his mouth and taught them...

We, Christian, are those who follow Jesus. And to us, Jesus said, “you are the light of world”. And Jesus truly understands our questions, our doubts, our unbelief, that we are the light of the world. And so Jesus said to His disciples in the Gospel of John:

John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Brothers and sisters, we are the light of the world simply because Jesus is the light of world. We are the CHRIST-ian; we are the people who follow Christ. And to those who follow Him, they will have the light of Life.

This is why we are the light of the world: because we bear Christ within us. We carry Christ, the Light of the World, in our own person, in our own lives.

This is why Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men”. Christ is our light. As we follow Him daily, we have the light of Life. And what we are called to do is to allow the Light of the world to shine before men.

And this is the sign that we carry Christ, this is the sign that we let our light shine before men, “that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven”.

This is the fruit of having Christ. This is the fruit of having the light of the world. This is the fruit of walking not in the darkness but in the light.

The fruit is the good works. But what kind of works is God talking about? It’s the work of Christ as prophesied by Isaiah:

Isa 42:5-7

(5) Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it:

(6) "I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations,

(7) to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

And again...

Isa 61:1

(1) The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

1John 4:16 So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

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