Jesus Christ – The World’s Lighthouse to Salvation

What did Jesus mean when He said that He was the light of the world? Are believers the light of the world also? The first analogy that comes to my mind is the lighthouse. The lighthouse is the perfect metaphor for describing the Christian life. The lighthouse is a tall tower built on a strong foundation with a beam of light that assist with the navigation of ships to the shoreline or harbor mouth. The same purpose in the erection of a lighthouse is in close comparison to the purpose of the believer’s life through Jesus Christ.

The lighthouse is a tall tower that is usually built on an island or cliff. They are built near the sea; but, placed on a strong foundation above sea level. The lighthouse is used as a refuge to lost ships for guidance and safety purposes. The attributes of the lighthouse are similar to the hope we have in our Savior. Jesus Christ came as refuge to a dying, sin-sick world. We receive salvation by calling on the name of Jesus Christ. This is the only name in which anyone can be saved from an eternal death. His very name is a strong tower because the righteous can always rest in the safety of His love and strength (Psalm 61:3). We have to keep our eyes above our circumstances and stay focus on our faith in Him. Our God is truth. He is our Rock that is incapable of change. We have a strong foundation in God through Jesus Christ which gives us the assurance of everlasting life (1 John 5:11-12).

The lighthouse has a leading beam of light that rotates across the water in a unique pattern that allows ships to stay focused on their destination and avoid hazards near the shoreline. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. Once we accept Him as Lord and Savior in our lives we have that same “light” within us. We have been sanctified or set apart for His good works to a lost world. Because of the “light” that is now in us, we have become a peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9). Our pattern of living should be based on the life Jesus Christ exemplified when he lived on the Earth. We are to live our lives in such a way that the unbeliever will be drawn to the “light” in us and seek salvation through Jesus Christ. When we allow our light to shine, it helps others from continually stumbling in the darkness of this world. Our lives should illuminate the eternal hope we have in serving a loving God and deter a dying world from the hazard of being eternally separated from Him.

The lighthouse is in operation twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. It is important that it is constant operation to be a guiding light to the ships out to sea. It is imperative that the ships have a constant guide to the shoreline and be able to avoid the hazards near the harbor mouth. Jesus Christ is our guiding light. He illuminates the pathway to our heavenly Father and has given us that same “light” to shine before mankind. In everything we do; such as our speech, actions, and circumstances, we have to let the good works of Jesus Christ illuminate through our lives to the darkness of this world. Jesus is the light of this world; and as His disciples, we are the light of the world also. We should always exemplify the “light” inherited through Jesus Christ. The Lord is the light of our salvation and is the world’s only escape from eternal darkness and the pathway to our heaven Father (Psalm 27:1).