1.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly
Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen. The message from God’s Word
this glorious Christmas morning is taken from John 1:4-5 and is entitled, “The Life in the Light,” dear brothers
and sisters in Christ.
2.
A blessed Christmas Day! The whole Christian Church on
earth is celebrating the birth of Jesus, born in a stable, in the little town
of Bethlehem, the city of David. Even though his birth was over 2000 years ago,
after all these centuries we continue to celebrate, because Jesus is the light
shining into the darkness of the world, the light that brings life, and the life in this light is eternal.
3.
Christmas lights have been used since the 18th
century when Christians in Germany would use candles to decorate their trees
with the light of Jesus. By the late 19th century, light bulbs were
beginning to be strung on Christmas trees to replace the more dangerous candles.
One Christmas light has an interesting history. It was purchased by Edward and
Lydelle Decker, from Evansville, Illinois, just 2 days after they were married
on Thanksgiving Day in 1946. Out of a package of four, one bulb has continued
to light up for over 70 years as it’s been placed on all those years of
Christmas trees, as well as on indoor and outdoor decorations. An ever-present
light in their lives during the many Christmas seasons! Amazing it’s lasted all
these years!
4.
Once, for a shorter time on earth, there was a light
that was supposed to burn forever, not only during a brief season each year but
every second. This light was the life that began with the creation of Adam and
Eve. At their creation, they knew nothing but the holy life and light God had
created and placed in and around them. A life and light that continued for them
until Satan lured them with temptation and lies, convincing them there was a
better life. With sin, the light of life was extinguished, snuffed out.
5.
Isn’t it interesting the way we mix that metaphor? Life,
we say, is extinguished, snuffed out. But extinguishing, snuffing, actually has
to do with light. You extinguish a fire. You snuff out a candle, the way
the acolyte does at the end of the service. So, when life ends, the light goes
out. We get the picture, don’t we!
6.
Now sin had been born in the world, and with it came the
darkness of death, lives snuffed out. Death for Adam and Eve, death for their
children . . . and for theirs . . . and for theirs . . . and for us. A vicious
cycle, as the darkness of sin continued with each new life that would be born.
7.
Unfortunately, we often find ourselves needing to be
convinced of this truth today. Each of us can come up with various excuses for
our sinful thoughts, words, and actions. We want to be the creators of our own
lives, regardless of the inevitable outcome of forfeiting our life with God and
being “people who walked in darkness”
(Is 9:2). Wasn’t this Adam and Eve’s situation after they sinned? Wasn’t this
Israel’s situation after they sinned and rejected God after entering the
Promised Land? Isn’t this our situation in our sinful nature? Walking, sitting,
living under the cover of darkness (Is 60:2), content and oblivious to the life
in the light?
8.
But in God’s faithfulness to Adam and Eve, to Israel,
and to us, a new life was brought forth into this world. A baby in the likeness
of all other babies, so meek and mild. From his appearance, it seemed the
darkness would extinguish his life too. But, this was no ordinary child. It was
Jesus, the one who would save his people from their sins, bringing them life
out of the cover of darkness. As John declares in our text, “In him was life, and the life was the light
of men” (v 4).
9.
Jesus, true God from the beginning, was born of man to
become man for the purpose of bringing you life and salvation. What was born on
that night in Bethlehem wasn’t just any ordinary life. It was the life that
would overcome the death of the world. Sin, death, and darkness wanted to snuff
out His life too, but they weren’t able. Death wanted to swallow up His life
from His birth all the way to His cross, yet Jesus is the life in us, born to
crush the head of death, born to destroy the shadow of darkness, and born to
remove the curse of sin. Born to bring hope and salvation, through faith, that
we would become the children of our heavenly Father. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”
(v 5).
10.
In Leviticus 23, the Lord gave instructions to Moses for
the Israelites to celebrate His appointed feasts at specific times and
according to His detailed instructions. The last of those feasts was called the
Feast of Booths. It was also called the Feast of Tabernacles. In celebration,
the Israelites would build booths, or small huts, outside their homes, where
they were to live and eat during the 8 days of the Feast, reminding them and
teaching the next generations how the Lord had the Israelites live in such
temporary shelters as they traveled through the wilderness to the Promised
Land.
11.
At the end of the first day, there would be a ceremony
called the Illumination of the Temple,
which involved the priest going into the Court of Women, where there were 4
golden oil-fed candelabras, or menorahs, standing 75 feet tall. After the
ritual lighting, the lamps would remind the people of the pillar of fire the
Lord used to guide them on their journey. All night the light would shine, giving
light to the entire city. This ceremony was a reminder that God promised to
send a light, the Light, to a sin-darkened world.
12.
It may surprise some, but Jesus kept the Feast of Booths
as well. Just imagine Jesus standing at the base of one of those huge
candelabras and saying those comforting words in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever
follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Jesus is the light piercing the darkness, giving light not just to a city but
the whole world, bringing the lost out of the darkness and into his marvelous
light.
13.
We rejoice today as we celebrate the light coming into
the world, piercing the darkness of night with the angelic announcement of His
arrival to the shepherds as a baby lying in a manger. We also rejoice with the
women who went 33 years later to His tomb early in the morning, while it was
still dark, just 3 days after He was crucified. Those women believed they were
going to a closed tomb with their dearly loved Jesus dead and lying inside. The
light of their hopes had been extinguished on the cross, but upon their arrival
they were greatly surprised by the shining presence of more angels, lights that
cancelled the darkness of death. Again, the angels announced the life in the
light as they said in Luke 24:5-6, “Why
do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” Jesus, is the life and the light illuminating
the whole world! The grave can’t hold Him. Darkness can’t cover Him. Even
though death gripped Him, it couldn’t snuff Him out.
14.
There’s an interesting effect that this light generates,
through the power of the Holy Spirit, in the life of a Christian. It’s called
faith, faith that trusts in the forgiveness of sins. Faith that comforts us in
our daily lives as we face the constant attacks of sin and darkness in this
world. Faith that assures us in knowing Jesus is still with us and will come
again in the brightness of His glory to take us to our heavenly home. And so we
faithfully rejoice in our life’s struggles just as Paul and Silas did as they
were locked up in jail and singing hymns in faith, or as Stephen did when he
was being stoned for his faith, rejoicing in the vision of his Savior, Jesus,
welcoming Him home.
15.
Yes, in faith, we rejoice. We celebrate that God loved
us so much that He sent his light into the world to be born as a human, to be
the long-awaited Messiah, to be the Suffering Savior, to be the conqueror of
darkness, to be our life and light, our sure defense over sin and death.
16.
As I think of Edward and Lydelle’s Christmas light, I
wonder just how long that light will continue to shine. It’s quite impressive
that it’s burned during the Christmas seasons of more than 70 years. The
celebration of the Illumination of the
Temple was also quite impressive as those 4 huge menorahs lit up not only
the temple but the whole city of Jerusalem.
17.
As remarkable as those lights have been, we know they
will burn out. By contrast, the light of Jesus will never burn out, for it is
the light that needs no electricity or oil to burn. It will never be snuffed,
extinguished, because Jesus is the light of God’s love, full of grace and
truth. He’s the life in the light that brightly shines God’s loving forgiveness
for all eternity, lighting up the darkest fears and sins in our lives with
mercy and peace. He’s the life in the light of Christmas, shining continuously
in this world until the new dawn comes and we meet Him face-to-face. Amen.
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