Jesus Christ - Light Of The World

John 8: 12 “Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

I honestly am trying to understand all that is going on in the body of Christ around where I live; too many backslidden believers who are angry at God and feel very justified. It is not new for people to “backslide” (synonym for returning to one’s previous unbelieving state which was exchanged for a life Christ); maybe it has become worrisome to me because now because it is getting really close to home. People I love very much are falling victim. There are times in life when believers live below God’s expressed expectation and I get that, I have been there and am by no means suggesting that it is acceptable; but to actually denounce this faith and refer to your life in Christ as “times spent in darkness”, is on another level. Could these be the persons the writer of Hebrews referred to when he said such persons could no longer be restored? Is it possible to have had a true encounter with Jesus Christ and turn away? Or could it be that they never had a true encounter with Jesus Christ and as such never built a relationship with Him so that their relationships where either with the church or with their leaders/Pastors.  

Hebrews 6: 4 – 6 “For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened-those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come-and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.”

It is easier for me to believe that these persons didn’t have a true encounter with God so that they still have a chance to get it right. In truth though, I discovered that a number of us struggle with a relationship with Christ because we don’t have an experiential knowledge of Him which is really a nice way of saying we may not be truly saved. This also probably explains why anyone would say, like my beloved friend, that the years spent living for Christ were years in darkness and enslavement and having turned their backs on Christ, they are now free indeed. The more I think on what he said, the more I realize that he was right, he was indeed in darkness. He never enjoyed the liberty we have in Christ. Instead of living to please God, he lived to please men and invested too much resources into to creating an impression or look a part; that life is truly tough. It is costly to keep up appearances especially when you can’t reasonably afford the appearance. He was not really walking in Christ and as such, could not have enjoyed “liberty”. Sadly, there are many like my friend, who claim to be born again and walking in the light yet the light they walk in is not Christ but the light of several different men which at the end of the day, is darkness. Every such person will have to meet with Jesus Christ who is The True light for them to actually walk in The Light.

1 John 1: 5 – 6 “This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing truth,”

Romans 14: 17 “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

Many people in the church are sad and disappointed today. Some claim they have been deceived by the leaders or pastors whilst others allude to the fact that God has failed to keep promises He made to them. So, they are disappointed and want to seek other means of bringing the promises and their heart’s desire to pass. This is all so sad. Every groom in love, expects his bride to reciprocate the love. One thing is certain Jesus Christ is coming back for the bride He loves enough to have died for her; the least He should have is a bride ready, expectant and full of rejoicing at the coming of the groom. The church is instead, full of murmurers and complainers; a people in pain who insist on holding on to the pain, a selfish generation who think only about ”what is in it for them” and nothing of true love. We need to encounter The True Light and begin to enjoy a relationship with Him. It is time for our leaders to present Christ alone and teach us how to enter and build a relationship with Him instead of a relationship with the leaders or the church. I guess, one can only present the Christ they know and sadly, people have crept into church leadership who know not Jesus Christ, the Light of the world – wolf in sheep’s clothing.

2 Peter 2: 17, 19 – 21 “These people are useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind…They promise freedom but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get entangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life.”