He came to bring God's light

“I have come into the world as a light, so that no-one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” John 12:46

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John’s prologue make clear that light and life are closely connected. “In him (Christ), was life, and that life was the light of mankind” (John 1:4). Light is a defining characteristic of God (1 John 1:5) and Jesus came into the world to bring that light into our darkness. But it’s important to see that it’s his divine life which is the source of that illumination.

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He is “the light of the world” because he is "the light of life” (John 8:12). God’s own life, experienced through Jesus, provides the light for our living. The coming of this light was not a single event at the first Christmas. John writes, “The light shines in the darkness” (1:5), using the present tense to show that it’s a continual action.

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Knowing the daily reality of that light – and that life – requires an action on our part too: “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (8:12). In response to this promise we need to ask him each day to guide all our steps. “Now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light... the fruit of light is all that is good and right and true” (Ephesians 5:8-9).