April 21, 1999

FAMILY BIBLE SERIES:
The Light of the World
came to show the way
___ John 8:12-59
___By Thomas Lea
___Southwestern Seminary
___Several weeks ago, I left my house in pre-sunrise darkness. I used our garage door opener to lift the garage door, backed my car out, and pressed the instrument to lower the door. The door came down partially and stopped. When I pressed the instrument again, nothing happened. The electricity was off.
___I stopped my car and returned inside our house. My wife was sitting in the gloom of our den uncertain of what to do. I found a flashlight and used it to illuminate the room. The light revealed, exposed and provided direction.
___Our lesson this week reminds us that Jesus provides light to lead us in paths of liberation and freedom.
___ See the light (John 8:12). Jesus spoke the words of John 8:12 during the season of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles (see John 7:2). During this feast the Jews placed four huge lampstands filled with olive oil in their temple. The wicks of these lampstands were the size of shirt sleeves. Light from the lampstands was so brilliant that courtyards throughout the city received illumination.
___When Jesus identified himself as the Light of the World, he claimed to be a source of spiritual nourishment. He promised to provide direction for his followers.
___As we share the light of Jesus with outsiders, they can learn to escape the darkness and walk in the light.
___ Believe the light (John 8:21-30). Jesus explained that he would return to his Father. His audience could accompany him only if they responded in faith to his message. Because they approached Jesus with a worldly set of ideas, they would likely die in their sins.
___Their unbelief did not merely involve the rejection of facts. They had resisted the revelation God had made in Christ (v. 24).
___Jesus asserted that God had sent him as messenger, redeemer and Messiah (v. 24). Just as it was urgent for Jesus' hearers to respond to this message, it is urgent today for unsaved adults to believe in Jesus.
___ Follow the light (John 8:31-36). The "disciples" of Jesus were those who heard and received his teaching. Obedience marked them as disciples.
___Those who followed Jesus as disciples would learn spiritual truth about him. As they obeyed his message, they would develop a deeper understanding of this truth. What they learned provided freedom from the practice of sin and its impact on their lives.
___Jesus emphasized that sin enslaved by drawing people into increasing disobedience. He contrasted a slave and a son in a household. A slave had no security and could be cast from the house. The son had a permanent place. Jesus warned those who thought they were sons that they were slaves. Only faith in him brought sonship and freedom.
___Jesus frees us from bondage to habits, attitudes and practices which enslave. It is urgent that we look only to him for true deliverance from that which seeks to bind.

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