Keynote: Jesus declared “I am the light of the world”. Naturally speaking, Jesus did not qualify to call Himself the light of the world because of His humanity but He was so bold to call Himself the Light of the world, the Bread of life and the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus was bold to declare His identity because He knew who He was and so must we. We must be bold about who we are otherwise the world will make us what we are not. In Matt. 5:14, Jesus said to his disciples "ye are the light of the world". He has left us in the world to shine His light. As Christians, God has called us to do the following.

(Isaiah 60: 1 – 7)

1. To dispel darkness: God wants us to overthrow and dispel the darkness in the world. We need to pray that the light of God will shine all over the world. The Bible says “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not”(John 1:5 KJV). As we cry to God in prayer, He will shine His light to every area of our dark world and His power will disperse every darkness.

2. To provide illumination: Acts 13:47 say “I have set thee to be the light of the Gentiles”. True Christianity gives light to those in darkness. As we continue to pray to God to dispel the darkness in our world, we also need to know that we have the responsibility of providing illumination to our world. Jesus is the Light of the world but when He went back to heaven, He gave us the mandate to provide illumination to the world. He transferred the anointing to be the light of the world to us. What this means is that wherever we are, as long as we are God’s children we must shine His light.   

3. Light dominates: As the light of the world, God expects us to dominate the powers of darkness. He made us for dominion. The Bible said “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26-27 KJV)”. It is clear from this scripture that God made us for dominion and as long as we are the light of the world, we must dominate the world.  

4. Light is for visibility: Visibility refers to the ability to see clearly. As the light of the world, we should be able to see clearly and know the mind of God for now and even the future. We should be able to discern good from evil and know the will of God for every situation. 

5. Light burns: Another characteristic of light is that it burns. As the light of the world, we must have a zeal for God and there must be no ambiguity. We must stand for God and serve Him with passion. We cannot afford to be double minded because a double-minded person cannot please God.             

6. Light is for distinction: As the light of the world, we are made for distinction. Isaiah 60:1-3 says “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising”.God has called us to arise and shine His light to the point where Gentiles will come to the light and kings to the brightness of our rising. The light of God in us should distinguish us from the darkness that is in the world. As we make up our mind to arise and shine His light, we will be a blessing to the dark world around us.