Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

August 23
Friday


THE GIFT
OF LIGHT

READ:
John 8:12-20
______________________________________________________________________________________

I am teh light of the
world. He who follows
Me shall not walk in
darkness, but have the
light of life.
__John. 8:12
________________________________________________________________________________________

Sir Christopher Wren designed and built more than 50 church buildings in London during the late 1600's. His design style had two prominent features__teh firs tof which was sturdy, tall steeples. Teh second, however, was more profound. Wren was convinced that all of the windows in his churches must use clear glass as opposed to the stained glass so popular in churches of that era. In part, his reason for the clear glass is found in words attributed to home: "God's greatest gift to man is light." Allowing light to bathe people as they worshiped was, to Wren, a celebration of that gift.

In the Genesis account, on the first day of creation God made light (1:3). The light God created is even more than just a means by which to see. It's a picture of what Christ brought when He entered this darkened world. In John 8:12, our Lord said, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. To the follower of Christ, light is one of the great reminders of teh character of our Savior and the quality of the life He has given us through His sacrifice on the cross.

Wren was right. God's greatest gift to man is light__Jesus Christ, the Light of the world! __Bill Crowder

```````````````````Creator God, I thank You that You spoke light into````````````````````
`````````````````teh darkness of the universe, and I thank You that You```````````````````
```````````````````brought light into the darkness of my heart through```````````````````
```````````````````````````````Your Son, Jesus Christ.```````````````````````````````
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Jesus came to give light to a dark world.

*********************Today's Bible Reading __ John 8:12-20***********************

12 Then Jesus spoke to
them again, saying, "I am
the light of the world. He
who follows Me shall not
walk in darknes, but have
the light of life.


13 The Pharisees therefore
said to Him, You bear
witness of Yourself; Your
witness is not true.

14 Jesus answered and said
to them, "Even if I bear
witness of Myself, My
witness is true, for I know
where I came from and
where I am going; but you
do not know where I come
from and where I am going.

15 You judge according to
the flesh; I judge no one.

16 And yet if I do judge, My
judgment is true; for I am
not alone, but I am with the
Father who sent Me. 17 It is
also written in your law that
the testimony of two men is
true 18 I am One who bears
witness of Myself, and the
Father who sent Me bears
witness of Me."

19 Then they said to Him,
"Where is Your Father?

Jesus answered,
You know neither Me nor my
Father, If you had known
Me, you would have known
My Father also," 20 These
words Jesus spoke in the
treasury, as He taught in the
temple; and no one laid
hands on Him, for His hour
had not yet come.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

LIght was the first of God's creation (Gen. 1:3), the very first good
gift God gave to man (1:4). This light does not refer to the sun or
the stars as these were created on the fourth day (v.14). While we
may be unsure what that light is exactly, in the rest of Scripture
"light" and "darkness" are metaphors for good and evil (Eph. 5,;
1 Thes. 5:5, 1 John 1:6-7). Gos is light (1 John 1:5); Rev. 22:5), Jesus
is teh light (John 8:12; 9:5). And Christians are the light of the world
(Matt. 5:14; Phil. 2:15).