Into Darkness Came a Great Light
And that light was the Light of Life
Christmas is a time of great Hope.
The birth of Christ shows us that deep darkness and great silence are not the end of the story with our Mighty God. He has not forgotten us.
It had been 400 years since the people of Israel had heard a word from God. That’s generations of people living and dying waiting for the promised Messiah to arrive. Four hundred years is a long time to wait, but 400 years of silence is even longer.
I’ll be honest, for me, several weeks or even months of silence from God is enough to discourage me and cause me to question what He is doing.
But Christ is our Redeemer, and he is able to turn any darkness into light.
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 a 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 9:2, 6 ESV)
When I look at the state of our world today, one word I would use to describe it is dark. The world is full of darkness — which is the absence of light — a truth that most people would acknowledge whether they believe in God or not.
By using the past tense in these verses from Isaiah, we see that the only way to dispel darkness is for light to first shine on it.
- Those who walked in darkness
- Those who dwelt in darkness
- On those whom light has shone
But we’re not talking about turning on a lamp or shining a flashlight. We need a spiritual and eternal light that is powerful enough to dispel the darkness inside of us and inside of our world.
That light is Jesus.
Then Jesus spoke to them again: I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life. (John 8:12, HCSB)
LORD, You light my lamp; my God illuminates my darkness. (Psalm 18:28, HCSB)
The hope of Christmas is that a light has dawned on us — The Light of Christ has come. Darkness and silence were not and are not the end.
The only Son of God entered our world as a baby, lived a perfect life yet experienced the pain and suffering of a dark world; He paid the cost for our sin, depravity, and darkness by dying and shedding his blood on the cross.
Yet again, darkness and silence were not the end of the story. Our perfect Messiah conquered death and rose to new life, atoning for our sins once and for all.
The Light of Life has shone.
