The Light of Christmas
When I was a kid, my parents used to take our family around driving in a car to see Christmas lights. It was wonderful to see all the houses lit up. And we had lights on the tree. Light and Christmas often go together. There is something about light which fills us with hope and excitement. So I am going to share with you about “The True Light of Christmas.” And no, it’s not the latest and greatest LED light invention.
As we go through the Scriptures we will see:
A. His Light Was Prophesied
B. Satan Failed to Extinguish the Light
C. His Light Shines To All
D. We Should Shine His Light This Christmas (and always)
His Light Was Prophesied
Genesis 1:31 – God saw all that He had made and behold it was very good.
When God created the world everything was good. It was perfect. There was no darkness, no evil. But it didn’t take long for things to change. Only a few chapters later after Adam and Eve rebelled against Him we read this:
Genesis 6:5-6 – The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
The darkness of sin had fully infected and corrupted the human race. God looked down at people and what He saw saddened Him. But the good news for us is that God did not abandon us or reject us. He did not say, “Forget it. I am done with you.” Instead He had a plan. He planned to save us. He planned to send a light to shine in the dark.
Genesis 12:3 – I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
This is God’s promise to Abraham. He plans to bless the families of the world through Abraham. We know that this a reference to the eventual Messiah who would be born as a descendant of Abraham and bring peace to the world as Nate shared two weeks ago.
Isaiah 9:2,6- – The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
For to us a child is born,
to us son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 49:6 – he says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
The people who walked in darkness, have seen a great light. All of us here today have something in common. We all walked in darkness. We were blind. We were blind in our sin. We didn’t understand the truth. We didn’t know the meaning of life. We didn’t know our purpose. At some point you saw a great light, the light of Jesus. Just take a moment right now to think about that day when you came to the light for the first time, when Jesus opened your eyes. Say a word of thanks to God right now. That is what we are celebrating at Christmas. We are celebrating this Great Light who came into the world.
Now we can look back and we can all see the light of Christ. But this was not always the case. In Isaiah and throughout the whole Old Testament, they had not seen the light yet. But it was prophesied. It was predicted and planned out long before. The people who lived prior to the coming of Christ looked forward to His appearing.
Soon after Jesus was born his parents took him to the temple. There Simeon prophesied that Jesus was indeed this very same light spoken of in the Old Testament.
Luke 2:32,34 – a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed
Now we look back. His birth, His life, His death, His resurrection. These events are the center of world history.
Application: If Jesus’ coming is the center of world history, should it not be the center of your Christmas traditions? I think most of us like traditions. They make us warm and nostalgic. Perhaps you can start a new tradition this year. On Christmas Eve share testimonies with each other of how God has filled your life with light. How has God shined the light to you this year?
Satan failed to extinguish/block the light
Do you know who invented the light bulb? We are going to have a little pop quiz. Turn to your neighbor and on the count of three tell each other who you think invented the light bulb. Ready? 1, 2 ,3.
If your partner answered Thomas Edison give them a high five. You are clearly a bunch of history buffs.
Have any of you ever thought about how to be a really good terrorist? If so its probably better not to admit it. Or get someone to pray for you. But seriously, the most effective terrorist is one who stops or destroys something before it can even happen. If a terrorist stopped Thomas Edison BEFORE he invented the light the world would have looked very different.
Well Satan is like that. He is the ultimate terrorist.
God is not the only one with a plan. From the earliest parts of Scripture we can see Satan actively working to oppose God. He attempts to stop God’s plan before it can ever happen. He tries to corrupt the goodness in God’s creation. He tries to destroy the line of Christ to even prevent Jesus’ birth. Satan is the ultimate terrorist, trying to undo and destroy all of God’s work.
A. Corrupt the human race
In Genesis 2 Satan tempts Eve and people fall into sin and rebellion. God’s plan of redemption was foreshadowed in Genesis 3:15:
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
A descendant of Eve would crush the serpent’s head, signifying God’s ultimate victory over Satan. But instead of giving up, Satan fights all the harder. Like a snake he continues striking and fighting.
B. Tried to extinguish the nation Israel
Egypt
Exodus 1:15 – and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”
Is this just a coincidence, the random acts of a despot king? It is deeper than this. In Ephesians 6 it says that our battle is against spiritual forces. There is and always has been a spiritual battle going on behind the scenes. Satan was using this king to attempt to wipe out the nation of Israel and with it any chances for God’s prophesies about the Savior Messiah to come true.
What happened? The evil plan failed. The midwives did not obey the pharaoh and God delivered his people by the hand of Moses.
Haman
Many years later another plot is formed, this time by Haman, a descendant of the Agag, the Amalekite.
Esther 3:6
And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.
Esther 3:13
And the letters were sent by couriers to each of the royal provinces with the order to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—and to plunder their possessions on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month.
Once again a plot is hatched to kill all the Jews. It was signed into a law by the most powerful empire in the world, the Persian Empire. It was now legal for the Jews to be murdered in a mass genocide. A farmer could go into the home of a local baker and legally kill the whole family, children and all, and then take all the possessions for himself. Where does such a wicked idea come from? It came from Satan. If he could successfully wipe out the Jews, he could break the line of Christ and extinguish the light before it could ever come. Once again, his plan failed. God preserved His people and turned the table on His enemies.
Herod
Matthew 2:16 – When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.
Satan’s attempts to extinguish the light did not work. Jesus was born exactly as prophesied, in the same place, in the same way. But did Satan give up? No. One more desperate attempt was launched to stop Jesus from fulfilling His mission. Herod sent soldiers to kill all the baby boys two years old and under in Jerusalem.
Do you feel nervous? Have you ever sat through a movie where the bad guys seem moments from victory? Almost every movie is like that, right? Do you get nervous? You should know by now that in movies the good guys win. The director has a plan for how its going to plan out and no matter how close the star seems to death you know he was never in any danger.
God’s plan is like that too. He is the master director producing His story of redemption.
Matthew 2:13-14 – When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.” So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt
Once again, God won the day. He warned Joseph who fled and the baby Jesus was saved so that He could save us.
But did Satan quit and give up? No. He still kept trying to extinguish the light. We saw His attempts to try to snuff out the light before He came. But he also tried to corrupt the Light.
The temptation of Jesus –
Because of time, we will not read all of the verses. Three times Satan tried to tempt Jesus. If he could just make Jesus sin one time, then he could thwart God’s plan.
1 Peter 1:18-19 – you were redeemed …but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.
Only a perfect sacrifice could take away our sins. If Jesus had any sin, He could no longer be an effective sacrifice. If Jesus gave into temptation and sinned, then the light would be corrupted and God’s plan of salvation would be stopped dead in its tracks.
Do you feel nervous? Let me relieve your anxiety. Jesus did not sin. Nor was he in any danger to. Although it may look like it at certain moments, God’s plan has never been threatened.
We have seen that Satan has tried to extinguish the light. But he has failed every time.
From the beginning of Scripture to the end we see that the light from God will never be extinguished.
It will shine for all eternity:
Revelation 21:23 – And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
When the sun has burned out and the moon is gone, the light of Jesus will still be shining.
Application: God’s plans will not fail. Do you like to win? I like to win. I was in a basketball tournament. We did pretty well and made it to the final four teams. Then we faced an opponent that was better than us. Almost every player on their team was taller than the corresponding player on our team. They were taller, faster, stronger, and more skillful. Guess what happened? We lost. I came home and told my wife it would be nice to play on a stronger team! But I already do. I am on God’s team and His team is destined for victory.
God can bring you success. He can bring you victory. He can help you overcome temptation. So what is the application? Do not worry! Do not be stressed. Do not be afraid. God is in control and He has a perfect plan for you.
His Light shines to all.
The sun shines on every nation on earth. The poor, the rich, the wicked, the less wicked: all wake up and can see the light. In a similar manner, Jesus’ light is available to all.
When I was thinking of what to share about for Christmas this year, I almost picked Matthew 1:1-17. It is not preached on very often. It is Jesus’ genealogy traced all the way back to Abraham. You might think, “Oh, that would be very boring.” But this passage reveals to us some amazing truths. If you read through this passage, you will find that only four women are mentioned prior to Mary.
Matthew 1:3 – and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar
Matthew 1:5 – and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse
Matthew 1:6 – And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah
All of these women have something in common. They all either have some sin or flaw that would have made them scorned or unacceptable to those around them. Several of them deserved death according to Old Testament law.
Tamar committed adultery with her father-in-law in order to get pregnant with Perez.
Rahab was a prostitute from Jericho. But she turned to the Lord and received salvation.
Ruth was a Moabite, a nation who was enemies to the Jews and not even allowed to go in to the temple.
Bathsheba committed adultery with David.
Why would God choose such people to as ancestors of the Messiah? And even if such people were the Messiah’s ancestors, why would they be highlighted? Wouldn’t Matthew want to show Jesus’ pure lienage and perhaps gloss over some of the unsavory details? Why wasn’t Rebekah highlighted or Leah or another woman?
I believe God wants us to get something important here. He can use anybody. He does use anybody. He can save anybody. He does save anybody. Jesus came to save sinners. He came to save the unpopular. He came to save the rejected. He came to save the scorned. He used these ladies, warts and all, to help bring about His plan of redemption for the world.
As we go forward in the story, we see this same principle keep playing out.
Shepherds (Poor Jews) –
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
When Jesus was born, God sent a holy orchestra of angels to announce the birth of His Son.
Out of all the people in the world that God could have chosen to give this message to, He chose to give it to shepherds. These shepherds were poor Jews. But we can see that they responded. They got up right away and went to see the Savior.
-Magi (Rich Gentiles)
Matthew 2:1-2, 11 – Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
But the Light is not only for the Jews. We already read in Isaiah 9:2 that it was a Light for the Gentiles as well. The magi were Gentiles who came from far away to see Jesus. They were led step by step by the light of the star. And they were not just ordinary Gentiles either. They were rich! They gave Jesus extravagant gifts and they worshiped Him.
His light shines to all without discrimination. To Jews. To Gentiles. To rich. To poor. To sinner.
Application:
A. His light shines to you. Perhaps you think you are not good enough or you are not worthy for Him. That is true. None of us are good enough. But God does not reject you because of your sin. He still wants a relationship with you. Come to the light today.
B. He can use you no matter what you have done in the past. He used Rahab and Ruth. He wants to use you to accomplish a part of His glorious plan. If you are willing to be used by God, then tell Him now, pray in your heart and tell God, “I want you to use me for your plan.”
C. If you are rich like the magi, then thank God. He has put great resources in your hands. And he wants you to use those resources for Him. Did you ever wonder where the gifts Jesus received went? While we don’t know for sure, it is very likely that they used these gifts to help finance their escape to Egypt and their life there. God provided to them just what they needed when they needed it. Ask your neighbor, “Are you rich?” A person once said if you don’t know the answer to the question then you are rich. Most of us here today are rich. Just being in China means we could afford plane tickets, travel, education. Will you use your resources for Him?
Shine the Light this Christmas. (Shepherds)
Luke 2:16-20 –
And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
The shepherds had a great blessing. Of the billions of people in world history, they were chosen to receive the announcement of Jesus’ birth and to see him as a baby lying in the manger. Earlier in the Bible reading we heard they received “good news of great joy.” And we can learn from the shepherds two lessons which we can also apply.
A. The shepherds told others what they had seen and heard – As they left the manger, they didn’t keep the news to themselves. They had witnessed something amazing, world-changing, life-transforming, history-altering. What would you do if you heard news like that? What would you do if you heard about the cure for cancer (and it checked out)? Would you keep that news to yourself?
When we were growing up, there was one day when my parents were gone for a few hours with me and my siblings at home. We went out and checked the mail. In the mailbox was a letter. YOU ARE A WINNER OF A 100 MILLION DOLLAR GRAND PRIZE!! We were ecstatic. We were running wild around the neighborhood telling our neighbors that we were millionaires. When our mom can home we ran out of the house screaming, “We are millionaires!! We are rich!” This is what you do when you hear good news, right?
Well, we weren’t actually winners. There was some fine print somewhere in there saying that we had the chance to be the winner. But this story illustrates a basic human reaction. When we hear good news, we like to tell others.
We have the best good news of all. We have seen the light. Our job is simple. Tell others. Who are you going to tell about Jesus? Note that the shepherds didn’t have all the answers. They didn’t know a lot about Jesus. They couldn’t answer everyone’s questions. They told others what they knew. What you know, tell. The shepherds were not seminary graduates. They were not pastors. They were not linguistic experts or scholars. They were just normal people with a story. You have a story tell. Tell others what God has done for you.
B. The shepherds glorified and praised God – The chief end of man is to glorify God. I believe that like the shepherds, God has done something amazing in your life. He has chosen you. He has revealed Himself to you. He has taught you about His character. He has forgiven you. Maybe He has even sent angels on your behalf. Praise Him. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Amen?
What does this mean for us?
A. The Light is prophesied – God is in absolute control of history. History is His Story. Jesus is the center of everything. Make a new tradition with Christ as the center.
B. Satan cannot extinguish the light – God gives victory. He has a perfect plan for you. Do not be worried or stressed when opposition comes. Let your faith be built on the fact that you are on the winning team.
C. His light shines to all – Thank God that He has saved you, warts and all. He not only saved you, but He wants to use you. What resources do you have you can use for Him?
D. Shine His Light This Christmas – Is there a brother or sister you can reach out to bring joy into their lives this Christmas? Is there a testimony or a story you can share? Is there a person you can share the good news with?
As we wrap up our theme this year “shining the light” let us read together this verse about Jesus’ light. Please stand as we read:
John 1:4-5 – His light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.
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