The Light of the World
By I. H. EVANS
JESUS declared, “I am the light of the world.” John wrote of Christ, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” Again, we read of the Saviour that he is “the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” To Christ we owe all we have above the most benighted heathen. All that Christian lands possess in knowledge, civilization, and progress, they owe to the influence of Christianity. Christ has been the light of nations in proportion as the people of those nations receive him as the Son of God. We who live in Christian lands, enjoying the daily blessings of civil and religious liberty, sometimes forget how many of the people of earth do not know Christ. We are complacent when we view the work already accomplished, and forget that at the present time two out of every three of the inhabitants of this earth are still in heathenism, knowing not God nor his Son Jesus Christ. Two out of three of all mankind are dying in sin, without a ray of light to penetrate the darkness that enwraps their souls. In their blindness they bow down to idols made by man; they worship nature in her various forms; they pray and offer sacrifices to the spirit world; but the true God they know not, and of his Son Jesus Christ they have never heard. The truth of Christ’s words, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me,” has been demonstrated in nearly every land today. In Africa, in Asia, among nearly all heathen peoples, there are those who have been drawn to Jesus when he has been lifted up before them, and in their lives has been reflected the image of the Son of God. Wonderful indeed is the transformation which faith in Jesus effects in the hearts of poor heathen. Sins are confessed, wrongs made right, evil habits overcome, and the believer becomes a “new man in Christ Jesus.” The home, in its atmosphere and complexion, becomes changed when Christ is taken into hearts which sin has so long darkened. The family altar is established; at mealtimes grace is said; women are respected; instead of fear, hope dwells in the heart. No longer is the wrath of evil spirits feared, but the true God is worshiped, and Jesus Christ becomes all and in all. It is our privilege to send the heralds of the cross of Christ to these darkened lands. To the church comes the cry, “Send us help.” Men are dying in the darkness of sin and ignorance, waiting for the word of life. Will not the reader be one of many to share in sending the gospel to these benighted millions? I. H. EVANS,
President North American Division.