The Light Of The World

The struggles and hardships of this world are real and raw. So many suffer from the everyday pain of just living, not to mention all the crime, wars, injustice, and physical and emotional abuse that permeates our world. The list of all the hurt we could endure is extensive. Do you have deeply hidden pain from what you have experienced? I believe you do since no one can escape the curse of sin. Thinking of many sorrows and hurts inflicted on your heart only takes a moment. But there is hope for healing through Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, the most significant pains usually come from those who are the closest to you. Your family should be loving and caring, but it often doesn’t work out how God desires. At times, those relationships we considered close ended up in betrayal, abuse, gossip, and slander. The deep pain of such things can stay with us for a lifetime. But today, know that God offers forgiveness and restoration.

Often, you may wonder, is there light at the end of the tunnel? The pain may never seem to end, but keep reading because God sent His son Jesus Christ into the world to be the light of the world and to save those who believe in Him by faith. His greatest desire is to heal your broken heart and to change you from the inside out with His love, mercy, and grace.

The pain and suffering that everyone has to endure can be debilitating. But, as they say, “life goes on,” but it is never the same. Perhaps you have found ways to cover up the pain, bury it, or pretend it doesn’t affect you. But even if you bury or fake it, it never seems to go away; if you turn to Jesus, He will take it away. You may not have heard, but all suffering is due to sin and the wrong we do to each other.

But there is hope for the healing of your pain. There is someone who cares so deeply for you, so much that He was willing to come down and experience all the hurt, pain, and sorrow that you are going through. He paid the ultimate price for the healing of your heart and the saving of your soul.

His name is Jesus Christ, and He is the Son of God, the Light of the World. Yes, He set aside His glory and became a humble man. He lived on this earth for over thirty years and suffered every kind of abuse and pain. He can relate to what you have endured. He can feel your pain and everything that has pierced your heart.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

Again, the reason why all of us suffer such pain and misery in this world is because of sin. It is because we, as the human race, continually break His Laws, the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20) God does not just restrict you to harm you, as many people think. But it is for your good.

Everyone knows lying, hating, stealing, and lusting is wrong. Let alone murder, rape, and commit adultery. However, no one can deny the pain caused by others cheating, slandering, gossiping, attacking, swindling, and doing wicked things against you.

God wrote His Law upon your heart; this is why you feel pain. It is a direct assault on your soul. Each sin causes an increase in suffering. But God did not leave you to suffer for the rest of your life. He offers forgiveness, healing, and restoration back to your innocence. He sent Jesus to repair what was broken and mend what the devil tried to destroy. Turn to Him and cry out for the forgiveness of your sins and for healing, in Jesus’ name.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” John 3:16-18

Jesus loves you so much that He knew there must be a true sacrifice to pay for all your sins. You see, God is completely perfect and holy. He can not tolerate sin and rebellion against His Law. Just like the demand for justice in your heart when you are wronged, there is also a greater demand for justice in His heart when He is wronged.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush Him; He has put Him to grief; when His soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong His days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. Out of the anguish of His soul, He shall see and be satisfied;

by His knowledge shall the righteous one(Jesus), my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the many, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong because He poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet He bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53:10-12

Jesus is the light of the world. He is the one who has brought light and hope to those who dwell in the dark and hopeless. He took the punishment that you deserved for your sins. He was abused, hated, beaten, and hung on the cross for you. He suffered the entire Wrath of God, the exact sentence of death you and I deserve for all our sins.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:9-13

But God did not stop there. Jesus died, but He rose from the grave three days later. Because He is God, death could not hold Him, and He defeated sin and death so that you can be saved. Now, Jesus sits at the right hand of the throne of God the Father and offers to heal you entirely from your sins and the pain you hold in your heart. He desires to change your heart, soul, and mind from stiff, dead, and hurting to alive, healed, and joyful.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song, I give thanks to Him. Psalm 28:7

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. Matthew 13:43

He is calling to you to turn from your life of sin and from hurting each other. He calls you to repentance, which is turning away from sin, and to believe in the name of Jesus Christ as your savior. To follow and obey Him in everything. Give up your life of hate, hurt, and suffering. Give yourself over to Him and be healed so that you may be made new in the glory of the Lord, with joy inexpressible.

He says, “Repent, therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets long ago.” Acts 3:19-21

His offer stands as long as you remain breathing upon this earth. His love for you is so great you could never even imagine. He waits for you to unload your sorrows and pain, laying them at His feet. So cry out to Him today; yes, it is ok to cry, weep, and come to Him with a humble heart. He loves the lowly, hurting, and humble heart.

He longs to pour out on you and give you rebirth through His Spirit. To take away your shame, dress you in His righteousness, and heal you of your pain and suffering. You do not have to suffer any longer. Turn to Jesus today. He is waiting with His arms open.

I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name. I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; Isaiah 65:1-2