- Thy Word is a Lamp unto My Feet, and a Light unto My Path - Since God’s Word is Truth, and the only Truth, it provides the only hope for escaping from our slavery to sin and the penalty we deserve, which is eternal Hell, and reveals mankind’s only possible hope of eternal life. Since faith (which is a synonym for salvation) “cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God”, (as we read in Rom 10:17), God saves His people through the truth of His Word. We also read in Jam 1:18, “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures”. The word “begat” means to be “brought forth”, or to be spiritually “born from above”. God gives His children a love and a hunger for His Word, as we find in Mat 4:4: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God”. The Bible must be our sole guide for life and godliness as we read in 2 Pet 1:3: “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” and we are to flee to the Bible in all things. This is why Israel was told to bind the Law on their “foreheads”. This symbolized that God’s Word was to be in front of their eyes (on their minds) at all times – in their personal lives, in their marriages, in raising children, in their vocations, in their “spare time” activities, in their use of money, in their social relationships – in every area of their lives. May God give us grace to hunger and thirst after God’s Word for truth.
John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
Psa 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path”
Psa 119:130 “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”
2 Pet 1:3 “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things [the Bible] that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.”
Deu 6:6-9 “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”
Isa 8:20 “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
- I [Jesus Christ] am the Light of the World - One of the most marvelous truths of Scripture is the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The word “incarnation” means “in the flesh”. We read about this in John 1:1 and 14: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth”. After all, would we expect anything less from the One Who proclaimed Himself to be “… the way, the truth, and the life…” according to John 14:6? In John 3:19-21: “that light is come into the world”, is a dual reference to Christ, Who is the Light of the world, as well as to His Word, the Bible. These verses also illustrates man’s sinfulness – as he hates the light. Man, who hates the light and loves darkness, is spiritually dead. Because he loves sin and his deeds are evil, he absolutely does not want to consult the Bible, which alone exposes his sin and reveals the God of Light and Salvation. Thus, one of the main functions of God the Holy Spirit is to use the Scriptures to “reprove”, or convict, the people of the world of their sins and the judgment to come, as we read in John 16:8, “… reprove the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment”.
John 1:1-5, 9 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 9That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
John 3:19-21 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”
John 12:46 “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. 47And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
Luke 1:78-79 “Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, 79To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
John 8:12 “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.”
- Ambassadors for Christ - Sent to Bear Witness of that Light - The “darkness” and “power of Satan” underlies an unsaved person’s life. Prior to salvation everyone is spiritually blind and under Satan’s authority, as 2 Cor 4:4 indicates: “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds ... lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ ... should shine unto them”. Salvation occurs when God shines the light of the true Gospel into the souls of those He came to save and dispels the spiritual darkness. The believer recognizes that God has saved him to serve – that is, to be a witness to those around him who remain prisoners in Satan’s kingdom. God saved and commissioned Paul, as an “ambassador for Christ”, to be the apostle to the Gentiles, as we see from Acts 13 and Acts 26: “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God”. God has not only commissioned Paul but every believer and commands to “go ye into all the world”, to the lost by being a witness, or an “ambassadors for Christ” and proclaiming the “Gospel of Christ” or nurturing them spiritually. Born-again Christians, as recipients of the Holy Spirit, would be qualified to be ambassadors for Christ in accordance with God’s plan to evangelize the world. May God also use each one of His children as humble ambassadors of His glorious Gospel. May God grant us His grace to uphold the truth of the Bible in these last days of great apostasy!
2 Cor 4:4, 6 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 6For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
John 1:6-8 “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.”
Acts 26:17-18 “Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee [Paul], 18To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”
2 Cor 5:18-20 “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”
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