In Saint John chapter one there are some astounding statements about Jesus. SaintJohn calls Jesus The Word. We are told that Jesus, The Word, was with God from the beginning and that He also was God. This means that Jesus not only is equal to God but that He also is God. John here states that everything that was made in Heaven and Earth were made by The Word, who is Jesus, and that nothing was made without Jesus

Saint John continued that those who believe in the Light, or Jesus, and who have their sins forgiven because of Jesus and His sacrifice for us would become the children of God. With believing in Jesus we become born of God as God's children. This means that we become adopted into the family of God with all of the rights of a child who is heir to all that the father has. As children of God we have rights to all that God has. We know that God owns the whole universe, and so we therefore have the right to receive everything that we need.

After Jesus began preaching He often told people that He is the Light of the world. In St. John 12:35-36, after people asked Him who was the Son of Man who would be "lifted up", or crucified, Jesus said:

"A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."

Here Jesus indicated that as we believe in Jesus (the Light) we become "sons of light". This means that as children of God we also begin to exhibit the same characteristics that Jesus has. This means that we take on a family resemblance. All of us have inherited characteristics in our natutal bodies that remind us of our parents and grandparents who have passed their genes down to us. After we are adopted into the family of God, God wants us to show our inheritance of His nature which we receive through His power when we believe in Jesus Christ.

In St. Matthew the fifth chapter Jesus said that His followers were to be both salt and light to the world. We know that salt is used for many reasons, to give flavor to food, to preserve food from spoiling, to draw out excess water from food and one type of salt is used to make gun powder which has an explosive effect.

Jesus said, verses 13-16, "You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrwn out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Jesus wants us, as salt and light, like Him, to let the things that salt and light do be evident in our lives. We are to bring "flavor" to the world. That means that we are to live and act like Jesus. Jesus brought hope, love and help into the lives of the people around Him. We are supposed to do the same thing so that people will know that God loves them and that He will help them with the things they need to happen in their lives. We are supposed to love and pray for the people we see during the day so that they may experience the love of God in their lives, just as Jesus did. He was our example in all things.

After Jesus was crucified and then resurrected from the dead His followers went all over the world and began to preach the same message that Jesus had preached. They had the same message of love, forgiveness and hope that Jesus had. If we are followers of Jesus we are supposed to carry that same message.

In Acts 26:15-18 Paul told the story of his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus: "So I said, 'who are you, LORD?' And He said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewesh people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.'"

Jesus indicated here that while we are to bring the truth to people so that they may see the light, or understand the promises and forgivenss of God, everyone may not appreciate this message. There are people who will prefer to remain in darkness. This may be difficult to understand, but to live in the Light means that we listen to God's message and follow His ways. This means that we subject our will to God's will. We turn away from sinful ways which are the ways of selfishness. We are to love and obey God, follow His lifestyle and refrain from doing things that cause damage and pain to other people.

Unfortunately, some of the things that seem to be fun to do end up causing harm to others. If we get drunk we may cause an accident while driving and kill ourselves or others. If we do drugs we may lose control of our behavior and cause accidents or contract terrible diseases that may kill not only ourselves but also other people who may get the disease from us.

It is easy to see why God does not want us to do things that cause harm to ourselves or to others. That is what sin is. Jesus came to Earth to live and to be crucified on the cross so that He could be the sacrifice for our sins. He died in our place. As we believe this and accept His sacrifice for our sins we are forgiven once and for all for those sins that we did in the past. After we are forgiven God wants us to be like salt and light to the world so that we can show God's love to other people.

We are called Christians because we are supposed to act like Christ, our Savior. We cannot act like Christ all by ourselves, but when we believe in Jesus Christ His Spirit comes into our lives and gives us the power to become like Jesus. The things that we like to do changes. It no longer becomes difficult to become a loving and helpful person because the Spirit and power of God take control as we follow Jesus.

2. Jesus wants us to become like Him to be the light of the world. We are supposed to show the same characteristics of love, hope and help that He had.

3. As we allow the Spirit of God into our lives His power helps us to be like Jesus and changes the things that we enjoy doing. We become loving and helpful like Jesus with His help.