Don't Be Ashamed: Jesus Makes You the Light of the World

Introduction

Some Christians still sleep with the light on. Afraid of mosquitoes, afraid of spiders, afraid of the devil, afraid of the dark. Pastor René OUANDJI opens his message with this blunt observation: we live in a society plunged into darkness, and many children of God tremble instead of shining.

Yet the very first thing God created was light. Two thousand years later, John writes that the Word became flesh, that in him was life, and that life was the light of men. That Word is Jesus Christ. Starting from Genesis 1 and John 1, the preacher invites you to become aware of what you carry within you. You don't have to tremble before the night. The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Message outline

1. God created light before everything else

• Genesis 1 shows us an earth without form and void, with darkness on the surface of the deep. The very first thing God creates, even before trees, animals, and people, is light. He separates it from darkness, calls the light "day" and the darkness "night." The two don't mix.
• If God begins with light, it's no accident. Without light, plants don't grow (photosynthesis depends on it. Without light, your body can't regulate sleep), melatonin isn't released properly. Without light, you stub your toe on the first obstacle in the dark. Light lets you see, find your way, make choices. God knew man could not manage without it.
• Two thousand years later, John 1 announces that this light takes on a face: Jesus Christ. "In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome it." It's the same God who, in the beginning, said "let there be light."
• Without Jesus Christ, your life looks like that earth in the first verse: without form and void. No shape, no meaning, no substance. It doesn't matter what degrees you hold, your age, your bank balance, there is no hope of eternal life as long as you don't know where you're going.

2. Darkness isn't where you think it is

• In our imagination, darkness is the little sorcerer or the woman reading cards, shut up in a dim room. The preacher shakes us: darkness is everywhere. On the subway, at your workplace, in the laws being passed, in the images scrolling past on the internet.
• He quotes Ezekiel 16:49-50: Sodom and Gomorrah lived in pride, abundance, and carelessness. Any nation living in pride, abundance, and carelessness lives in darkness. So does any person, Christian or not, when those three marks take God's place in their life.
• 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 lays out an uncompromising list: the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with men, thieves, the covetous, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners will not inherit the Kingdom of God. The preacher owns it: God doesn't love sin, but he loves the sinner. The Christian's role isn't to judge, it's to proclaim the truth in love.
• The preacher recounts a mission trip to Luxembourg. A 28-year-old coworker, terrified, asks him whether what she practices at night is acceptable before God. She has turned into a fox since the age of ten, initiated by her father, who was himself initiated by his grandmother. Her partner sleeps while she goes out. On the surface? A perfectly normal young woman on the office floor. Darkness, often, wears a white shirt and a tie. It sits in the open-plan office right next to you.
• Workplaces are riddled with freemasons and people involved in cults. The devil disguises himself as an angel of light, the Bible says. He can even say true things to seduce you. Remember the servant girl of Philippi who followed the apostle Paul, crying out that he and his companions were proclaiming the true God, she was telling the truth, and Paul eventually cast out the demon speaking through her mouth.

3. Jesus, the light, drives out everything holding you captive

• Darkness is unbelief, lack of faith, the sin that keeps you enslaved. Jesus says: "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life."
• A born-again Christian cannot be indwelt by an evil spirit, the preacher reminds us, but he can be under influence. Under the influence of alcohol, cigarettes, sex, fear, the subtlest addictions. These influences don't belong to you, they pull you away from God so quietly that you end up mistaking them for your own personality.
• The only way out is to let the light in. "The light has to come in for the darkness to leave. It's that simple." And to receive the light, you must receive the One who is the light: Jesus Christ.
• Faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes from the word of God (Romans 10:17). Then, as Romans 10:9 says, "if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." It isn't complicated. That's the roadmap.
• To those caught up in cults, in freemasonry, in old pacts: nothing is impossible for God. Jesus broke the powers of darkness at the cross. His heel crushed the serpent's head, just as God announced to Adam and Eve back in Genesis 3. The demons tremble at the name of Jesus.

4. You too are the light of the world : dare to shine

• Matthew 5:14-16: "You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can't be hidden. Neither do you light a lamp and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand, and it shines to all who are in the house." Since you accepted the Lord Jesus, you are light. Your Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, is also the Spirit of light.
• The preacher warns about timid, fearful Christians who don't dare open their mouths out of dread, fear, or shame. Jesus warned: "If you are ashamed of me, I will also be ashamed of you." Nobody wants to stand before the Lord on judgment day and hear that.
• He invites you to an exercise: close your eyes, picture yourself standing before Jesus Christ at the hour of judgment. Will he say to you, "well done, good and faithful servant"? Or will he remind you of every time you kept quiet, every time you didn't dare say "I am a Christian, I love God"?
• Shining isn't about wearing a label. It isn't about being "so spiritual." It's letting Jesus himself shine through you. What do people who come near you say about you? That you always stir up trouble? That you pour oil on the fire? Or do they see in you a man, a woman of peace, of listening, of wisdom, of blessing? That's light in concrete form.
• Some shine at high intensity, others at medium intensity, others weakly, because they smother the light within them. The preacher asks: do you want to shine brightly in Jesus Christ? Brightly, and even more brightly?

5. Walking in the light, concretely

• 1 John 1:7: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin." This verse announces two fruits: fellowship with brothers and sisters, and personal cleansing.
• Walking in the light begins with staying attached to the word of God. Watch what you listen to online, the videos you share in the church group chats, those preachers racking up 15 million views whose message is still empty, chaotic, without substance. If you have doubts about a piece of content, don't spread it, send it to your pastor first.
• Walking in the light also means staying in fellowship. You don't grow in Christ alone, at home, in "private mode." It's by rubbing your character against others' that the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience), develops. You learn to listen, to bear with one another, to forgive, to work as a team of three or four without it turning into a battle from the first exchange.
• Your position on major issues must come from the word, not from your emotions or the surrounding culture. The preacher cites the recent end-of-life law and reopens the Bible with you. Psalm 139:13-16: it's God who knows the length of our days, even before any of them existed. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, you no longer belong to yourself. It is not for man to decide when another man should die.
• Newly baptized or long baptized, Isaiah says, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. You are saved by faith, but you must grow. Grow in the knowledge of the Lord, in the fruit of the Spirit, in prayer, in fasting, in evangelism. The light you carry isn't meant to be hidden.

Key takeaways

• Before even the earth and the visible heavens, God created light. Without it, everything is without form and void, that's also the spiritual state of anyone without Christ.
• Darkness doesn't hide only in the visible occult. It lives in the open-plan office, in freemasonry, in laws passed by parliament, in the ordinary addictions you live under.
• A Christian may not be indwelt by an evil spirit and still remain under influence. Deliverance comes when the light enters, that is, when Jesus takes the place.
• You are light. Since your conversion, the Spirit of Christ lives in you. Smothering that light out of shame or fear is denying what Jesus made you to be.
• Walking in the light is concrete: staying attached to the word, living in fellowship, taking positions according to the Bible rather than the culture, letting Christ transform your character.

Personal application

1. What subtle darkness influences your life without you naming it? An addiction, a fear, a compromise with "pride, abundance, and carelessness"?
2. When did you last open your mouth simply to say "I am a Christian, I love Jesus"? What holds you back, fear, shame, weariness?
3. Close your eyes and picture yourself before Jesus at the hour of judgment. What would you want him to say to you? What needs to change in your week to move in that direction?
4. On a social issue troubling you today (end of life, sexuality, money, AI…), what are you basing your position on, the word of God, your emotions, your culture, the people around you?
5. Are you living your faith in "private mode," or in real fellowship where your character is confronted and transformed? What concrete step can you take this week to join others?

Verses cited

• Genesis 1:1-5 · "Let there be light," and there was light... God divided the light from the darkness.
• John 1:1-5 · "In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome it."
• Ezekiel 16:49-50 · The pride, abundance, and carelessness of Sodom.
• 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 · "Don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God's Kingdom?"
• John 8:12 · "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness."
• Matthew 5:14-16 · "You are the light of the world... let your light shine before men."
• Mark 16:17 · "In my name they will cast out demons."
• Romans 10:9 · "If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus... you will be saved."
• Romans 10:17 · "So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."
• Psalm 139:13-16 · "In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them."
• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 · "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit... you are not your own."
• 1 John 1:7 · "If we walk in the light... the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin."
• Galatians 5:22-23 · The fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience...
• Acts 16:16-18 · The servant girl of Philippi who followed Paul, speaking the truth.

FAQ

Can a Christian be possessed by an evil spirit?
The preacher reminds us that a child of God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, cannot be "filled" with an evil spirit, but can still remain under influence. Under the influence of an addiction, a fear, a compromise, an old pact. The way out passes through the word, prayer, fellowship, and if needed, the prayer of brothers and sisters. You don't have to carry this alone.

How do I take a position on the end-of-life law without judging?
By returning to the Bible before your emotions. Psalm 139 reminds us that God knows the length of our lives; he wrote our days before any of them existed. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 reminds us that your body no longer belongs to you, it is the temple of the Holy Spirit. This takes nothing away from compassion for those who are suffering, but gives you a foundation that doesn't shift with the media winds.

What should I do if I discover a loved one practicing freemasonry or the occult?
Don't judge the person (God loves the sinner), but name the truth in love. Pray for them, ask for the gift of discernment, don't associate yourself with their practices. If they're open to it, tell them about Jesus Christ, the only light that can drive out that kind of darkness. Conversion always comes through hearing the word of God and confessing Jesus as Lord.