Focus: A Wonderful Life (Pt.6)

Text: Gal.2:20

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

A wonderful life shines. It sparkles. It glows. It is appealing, not appalling. The Lord Jesus Christ says of John that he was "a burning and a shining light…" A wonderful life is indeed a shining life. 

John's life was a beacon of light for others. In John 1, we read, "In him was life; and the life was the light of men…" The life of the Incarnate Word was the light of men. The Lord Jesus Christ lived a wonderful life. The light of His life shone so brightly for all men to see. He emitted through His life the light of God's glory. John tells us, "And we beheld his glory." No one could come close to Jesus Christ without seeing about him what life was originally intended to be like.

A shining life is an exemplary life, a life of contagious goodness, and a life of sweet influence on others.

Jesus Christ says to His hearers, "I am the light of the world," and to His disciples, He says, "You are the light of the world." People see through the light of your life. Your life of purity, integrity and power glows for others to see. Your life is a message to others. A wonderful life is beautiful and brilliant. 

Paul says, "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light" (Eph.5:8). Believers in Christ are the children of light, and as the children of light, we are called to walk in the light. Christ says to us, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid," and He commands, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Mt.5:14,16). 

Peter tells us that we have been called out of darkness into his marvelous light, and in Acts, the Lord commissions Paul: "I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth." Again, the Lord commands him "to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light…" (Acts.13:47; 26:18). 

Those who carry light are mandated to convey it to others. By our light we dispel darkness, and by our good deeds and wonderful life we let our light shine for others to see.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter