Called by many scholars the "most profound letter Paul ever wrote," Colossians warrants a careful, faithful study. In this short, but exciting letter, Paul makes the case for the supremacy of Christ in all things.
A fresh approach which not only offers trustworthy exposition, but also provides a book-by-book, chapter-by-chapter tour through the glory of the Bible. This highly readable personal "conversation" with Scripture guides you through each book, helping you reap the rich, life-changing applications on every page. You will be encouraged to develop your own personal Bible reading program and learn the power of meditation on its truth.
Amplified: You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ( Amplified Bible - Lockman) KJV: Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. NLT: You are the light of the world—like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see.
Charles Spurgeon in his sermon on Titus 2:11-14 comments on the two appearings of Christ and how this truth should motivate us to let our light shine before men ....
Not so in ancient Palestine. And if one was traveling at night, he did not have freeway lamps, but was dependent on the glow of the lamp lights in the windows of houses in the cities to help direct him on his journey.
You are the light of the world - Great privilege carries with it great responsibility! "Jesus gives the Christian both a great compliment and a great responsibility when He says that we are the light of the world, because He claimed that title for Himself as He walked this earth ( John 8:12 and John 9:5 )." (Guzik)
One is reminded of the Russian Jewish doctor, Boris Kornfeld, who one night in prison in Siberia sat up with a man who was desperately ill and told him the story of his conversion to Christ, shining forth the light and love of Jesus. That listening man's name? The future Nobel Prize winner, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who later came to saving faith in Christ. In his modern classic The Gulag Archipelago Solzhenitsyn recalls the Dr Kornfeld's light and how it paradoxically shown forth in an almost completely dark room …
A watermark is " a faint design made in some paper during manufacture that is visible when held against the light and typically identifies the maker ." (Concise Oxford English Dictionary 11th ed.) Beloved disciple of Jesus, His "mark" is in us, and becomes visible through us! We are no longer our own but have been bought with a price and belong to Him. We as His disciples are to stand ready to lovingly obey His command to let our life be seen in such a way that they might see His "Watermark," that they might see Him, not us, that they might believe His Gospel and be saved eternally. Play the soul stirring song below by the group Watermark and prayerfully ponder the "Bibliocentric" lyrics which are guaranteed to make you want to stop and praise Him…
W A Criswell explained it this way - "A small problem confronts the interpreter who discovers that Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 5:14, “Ye are the light of the world.”. Yet in John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.”. What appears to be a contradiction is not one at all.