Light and Life
Isaiah 9:2,6a
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of death-darkness a light has dawned…
For to us a child is born… (Is 9:2,6a)
Many people look forward to Christmas because they are anticipating the presents that they’ll give and receive. Others look forward to being with family and friends. Those are good things. But, when you come to a Christmas Eve service, you’ll almost certainly hear a pastor like me saying, “As good as those things might be, they are nothing compared to what Christmas really should be about. It should really be about Jesus.”
And, those who are honest might say back to me, “But things like presents and dinner with my family are what I really want.”
And a pastor like me would insist, “Those are good things – but not the best thing! Those things don’t last – or they let you down - -or you’ll find they’re flawed. Jesus alone gives life that lasts. Jesus is the only one who never lets you down. And only Jesus is perfect. Jesus is what you need at Christmas!”
And, I imagine, some of you would probably want to end this conversation by saying, “That’s why you’re a pastor!”
So, what is the difference between making Jesus the main focus of your life this Christmas rather than something like getting a new bicycle or eating a meal with your family? Some of the earliest Christians answered this question. They said that focusing on Jesus is the main thing at Christmas because, in their words, Jesus brings light into our dark world. One of the Bible texts that the first Christians referred to was a prophecy made by a man named Isaiah 700 years before Jesus. Isaiah said, “People walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of death-darkness a light has dawned (Is 9:2).
This prophecy of Isaiah never ceases to touch people all over the world and at all times. It moves us because it speaks of the deep reality of what we are. “Walking”: We’re people who walk, and all around us – and within us as well – there is what feels like a lot of darkness. We look all around our world and see people longing to live well but doing things that only mess up not only their own lives but also the lives of others around them. Even terrorists seem to think that their destructive and evil acts are somehow furthering good. We walk in darkness! Those who are wise sense that something is missing – that, on our own, we’re just not able to see something that is essential to life.
“Seeing”: The Bible says that, with the coming of Jesus into the world, we finally have light to see how our Maker has meant for us to walk.
Did you notice Isaiah’s word for how we live if we do not know God through faith in Jesus? He said we live in “death-darkness” – that’s literally what he said in his Hebrew language. The Jewish people had a firm conviction that light is essential to human life. In Genesis 1, God created light on the first day of creation -- even before he created the sun – because light was viewed as essential to all else God would create.
Several years ago, Holly Otterbein published an article in Popular Science entitled “If the Sun Went Out”. Based on work done by Cal Tech professor of Planetary Science, David Stevenson, Otterbein said that, if the sun somehow went out, the following would happen:
- Within a week, the average global surface temperature of the earth would drop below 0°F. In a year, it would dip to –100°F. Many years after that, our planet would stabilize at –400°F.
- Photosynthesis would halt immediately, and most plants would die in a few weeks. With the food chain's bottom tier knocked out, most animals would die off quickly though scavengers picking over the dead remains might last until the cold killed them
- Human beings might live for a while in submarines in the deepest and warmest parts of the ocean, or we might design nuclear- or geothermal-powered habitats. Of course, that would be hopeless because the sun doesn't merely heat the Earth; it also keeps the planet in orbit. If it somehow were gone, the planet would fly off, like a ball swung on a string and suddenly let go.
All this is to say that the light of the sun is essential to our biological lives. And, the point of the Bible is that Jesus, the Son of God, is essential to your spiritual life. Time does not permit me to say as much as I would like to say about this so let me simply say this: Do you ever think that there simply has to be more to life than what you’re now experiencing? Jesus came to give light to your eyes so that you can see that you have been made to know God and live in his light. You must only confess to God that you know there is darkness in your life that needs to be forgiven. Then, ask him to forgive you. He will because God is merciful. Tell him that you believe in Jesus and that you want to walk in the light.
Or, maybe the best thing I can do is let you hear Jesus’ own words about this: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (i.e., Jesus), so that whoever believes in him shall not perish (which is the same as walking in death-darkness) but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (Jn 3:16-17).
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of death-darkness a light has dawned…
For to us a child is born… (Is 9:2,6a)