We Need A Little Christmas
“The Night Light is On
John 1:4-8
12/08/19
Opening Story
(TBD: Darkness and need for PEACE)
Series Context and Recap of John 1:1-3
We Need A Little Christmas, this is the journey we are on this season. What we talked about last week that each of us, no matter how we come to and engage the Christmas season all need significance. We need to see and experience a BIGGER season, a bigger Jesus, a bigger encounter with Scripture beyond the events and facts, but to reflect and contemplate the significance of Jesus coming into this world as flesh, and the first chapter of John’s Gospel is our guide.
Last week, we saw that Jesus has a shocking start by being the active agent in all creation. That Jesus has always existed in and for relationship… in creating and recreating all things and all people to be in relationship with himself. If there is one main point from last week I want us to hold before we jump into the text this week, it would come from verse John 1:3 and Colossians 1:15-16.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
John 1:3
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15-16
All things were created by Jesus for Jesus. This includes you. This is why Christmas in many ways is about you and me. It is the time we remember that Jesus is so fond, so in love, so into you and me that he would come to create a way for us back to God. And in that to recreate us into the people we were always intended to be. You and me were created by Jesus and for Jesus.
Peace is the advent theme this week, which brings us to tension… if we were created by Jesus and for Jesus than why is life so heavy, so hard, so dark… so lacking of peace?
Our text today, will address this tension – as we will think about what it means to be created by and for Jesus – and what life looks like with Jesus.
Please stand for the reading of God’s Word.
Text: John 1:4-8
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
Text Overview
We are mainly going to be in verse 4 and 5 today, so let me quickly comment about verses 6-8. , Some commentators would say this is best read as a footnote. To establish authorship, to establish the truth of John’s testimony in history, and to possibly squelch assumptions about John being of divine status. We can simply read this as John inserting both his humanness and his authorship.
What I mainly want you to see from the start see are two major words in the book of John. The words Life and Light, and in some ways the word Darkness as well.
Life is used over 35 times in the book of John.
These words are worth you studying as you read this Gospel. These words take on great meaning and depth, and as we look at them today, I hope you begin to sense why. We will start with the LIFE.
Sermon Body
1. Life is Found in Jesus In him was life… (4a)
In the book of John, there are two major ways life can be understood.
1. Duration (John 3:16), Jesus came to give us eternal life.
2. Quality (John 10:10), Jesus came to shape our human life.
Both meanings connect to this truth: Our deepest longings are only fully satisfied in Jesus. We were created by Jesus for Jesus and thus, life is only found in Jesus. It is who we were created by and for. Which means that Jesus is the only one who can fully satisfy us.
We spend most of life searching and filling with other things and people to fill something that can only be filled by Jesus. Money, Sex, Achievement, a spouse, children, property – all these things are part of the full life that Jesus gives, but they in and of themselves cannot satisfy us.
Story: Friday Morning Family Bummer: point: My children and my wife cannot fully satisfy me. And I cannot for them. I wasn’t made by them and for them. I have only been made by Jesus and for Jesus.
2. Life is Illuminated in Jesus …and that life was the light of all mankind (4b)
There is a truth that is not connected to the main points of the sermon today, that I quickly want to point out… notice OF ALL MANKIND. There is Christmas in this… this gift of Jesus, this life is Jesus, these truths about Jesus are for ALL. This is radical stuff when this was recorded… we have just spent 10 weeks looking the expansion of the Gospel – and here we see from the start John declaring that Jesus brings life to ALL… not just the chosen people, not just Israel, not just the Jewish people – but for ALL. I say Amen and Thank You Jesus.
Now, the point I want to camp out in for a few moments is the progression John makes about life being light. This goes back to the quality, the perspective, the purpose of life being found in Jesus. What does it mean for life to be illuminated, for Jesus to make life lit up?
3 aspects of light (there are more) from a Biblical perspective that can help us:
Light: Brings Order from Chaos
John is so deeply tied to Genesis in this text as we have seen since verse 1. We have to go back to Genesis to see this truth about Light. In Genesis 1:1-4 we read:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:1-4
Prior to light being created, all was formless and that can be described as chaos. When God creates light, he brings order to the chaos. Notice how God speaks “let there be light” – this speaking is the WORD John is speaking of – this is Jesus being the active agent in creation and in this text we see that light brings order… more on that when we get to verse 14 in a couple of weeks.
This means that life illuminated, that life in Jesus is a life in the light – is a life in which Jesus brings order to chaos. Which means, as chaotic and crazy as your life can get, as crazy as life in this world is, Jesus is bringing order in the midst.
Story: Middle School Jeff, point: from Chaos to Order.
Light: Exposes What is Present
Light reveals, light exposes. Life Illuminated is a life in which the truth of who we are is brought out. That truth is found in just how true it is that Jesus is crazy about you. The truth of God and how much he is into you – how much you matter, how much he desires intimacy with you – a life illuminated is one that has been exposed to the reality of how deeply loved, how deeply personal Jesus is about you.
And that same “revealing light’ exposes how complicated we are in. Life illuminated by Jesus shows us how much we need Jesus. The light exposes our sin, exposes the consequences of that sin, the darkness (that we will talk about in a minute), but light exposes not only the truth about how much Jesus loves us, but also the truth about who we really are as broken people living in a broken world.
The text in Isaiah captures these realities well, when the prophet says:
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2
The great light is the light of Jesus, the life found in Jesus. That reality of how crazy Jesus is about us… and that truth is revealed right alongside the clear revelation of us people “walking in darkness” and “living in the land of deep darkness”.
The Light of Jesus exposes the reality and truth of (1) sin and darkness and (2) the reality that Jesus has come into that reality and brought light and where light is, life is.
Light: Guides Forward
The last aspect of light I want to share about is that light guides forward. This is where the title of the sermon makes sense. As a parent of children, night lights are all over our home. They help all of us move forward in the midst of the darkness of the night. They help guide us to places we simply cannot see without them. In this same way, life illuminated, life in Jesus is life that is guided, that is moving toward meaning, toward peace. The light isn’t simply on so that people are intellectually aware that a light is on… it is on for a purpose. Life has a purpose. Jesus didn’t come so you know about a light, he came to give you light… to give and guide you toward purpose. That purpose can be found in John 10:10, when Jesus tells us why he has come to give us life.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10
To the contrary of what some think, Life is not to be endured, it is to be enjoyed…to be experienced to the FULL. For many, and myself at times, this truth can seem like a distant promise than a current reality…
Because of where the text goes next and the next point for today:
3. Darkness IS The light shines in the darkness, …(5a)
Notices the word shines: it is a verb with present action. John could have written this to suggest and communicate that there is no more darkness, but what we can simply see here is that DARKNESS IS. There is present reality of darkness. But hold on, I know there is a second part to this verse, but we move to quickly there sometimes. Hang with me for a minute.
This is where our theology can hurt us – because there is a notion (and some level of truth we will soon see) that because of Jesus – that life is supposed to be void of pain and trauma. Which is why Christians (over history) have a reputation for when hard things happen to minimize them or over spiritualize them. The point here is that Darkness is – there is a reality that runs right alongside all this light and life stuff John is talking about – and that truth is that Darkness IS… it exists.
Darkness IS… why? Here are just a few reasons:
· There is an Enemy,
· There is Sin. The effects of Sin:
o Broken World
o Personal Sin
o Other’s People’s Sin
o (Consider: Posada as illustration)
Without the reality of darkness, what good is the light? Why is light needed?
Which bring us to the final point, as true as it is that darkness is:
4. Darkness CAN’T …and the darkness has not overcome it (5b)
This can be translated, to say – the darkness has not understood, not overpowered the light of Jesus.
As true as Darkness IS, the Light wins. Jesus is brighter. Christmas is about that light, Jesus coming into the world... and that light, Jesus, has not and will not be overcome by the Darkness.
When Jesus died on the cross, remember that the skies turned to night. In the middle of the day, the sun did not shine. Darkness was. The Darkest moment in history, God killed by his own people.
But it does not stay dark forever. Easter morning happened, the night overcame the darkness. The fire of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 fell on the apostles. As dark as dark can be, it will never overcome, overpower, or even understand the light.
This truth is speaking to someone right now. The Darkness is so big in your life, in your world. The diagnosis just came to you, the life-altering news just got to you, you just lost a loved one, there are more bills and income… the reality of your darkness is big.
The reality of some darkness in this room is because of the choices you have made to live in the dark, to give into to temptation, to lies, to the shame of your past – and the truth of today and the truth of Christmas – is that the life and light of Christ burns brighter than the darkness.
Where there is chaos there can be peace!
Where there is shame, there can freedom!
Where the lies win… the lies about how little God thinks of you, there is truth about how wildly crazy God and his love is about you!
Friends, this is not some abstract hope that church folks cling to – that one day it might get better, it might get brighter. The church of Jesus is not filled with people with vague hope,
As I look around at you today, only knowing some of your stories and knowing all of my story –we are people not with simply abstract future hope but people with actual testimony, like John.
Testimony of how Jesus has brought light to the darkness in your life…how Jesus has brought light to the darkness you have faced in your past! The light that comes from the darkness from being in a broken world, and the lives here declare that THIS IS TRUE: The darkness does not win, Jesus has brought life, brought hope, brought peace, brought joy, and brought love into your real lives in real time.
How do we live this way, how to we get back to living in the light and life of Jesus?
I have 3 questions that I pray will help you.
Application
Where does it seem that darkness is winning?
Sin, Shame, and Stress can be louder than truth. Know it in your life, name it, and trust Jesus to be brighter.
Have you found life yet?
Where do you keep searching for satisfaction?
Remember, you were created by Jesus and for Jesus – nothing else can fully satisfy you, nothing else can bring you peace.
Where can your life be illuminated?
I think many of us struggle with apathy – allow Jesus to be your guiding light away from this.
Struggle with sin – allow Jesus to be your revealing light, get exposed so you can live in the light.
Live lives of chaos – allow Jesus to be your ordering light - and experience the peace promised, a peace beyond understanding.
Close
In the Bleak Midwinter: Christina Rosetti wrote this poem in 1872. Was a poem until it was set to music years later, Harold Darke in 1911 gets us to what we know today.
Both in lyric and composition this song communicates deep contrast of Christmas, of Jesus. Whether it be the contrast between the first and second coming of Jesus, the contrast between baby Jesus having an earthly mother and a heavenly father, or the contrast between the humility of Jesus birth alongside the reality of his Kingdom reign…
This song serves us well to also consider the contrast of the text this morning. The contrast of life and death, the contrast of light and darkness…
This contrast is Christmas – and “we need a little Christmas” We need a bigger Jesus right now, as Jeremy sings this song, take the time to reflect, to pray, to ask Jesus for life…To ask Jesus to illuminate your life…to be reminded that the darkness in life can’t drown out, cannot extinguish the light of Jesus… as dark as dark can be.
Join me prayer.