Jesus Is the Light of the World - December 24, 2021

I.                    The Prophecy Candle

“Let there be light,” God said on the first day of history and there was light; a glorious, heavenly light which filled a universe that didn’t yet have a sun, moon or stars (Genesis 1:3). But the world that God had filled with light did not remain that way for very long. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit they brought a darkness into the world that all but extinguished the brilliant light of God. Adam and Eve had plunged God’s perfect creation into the darkness of sin, guilt, fear and death. But even in a world filled with the deep darkness of sin, God held out hope. His promise of a Savior who would crush Satan’s head was one small glimmer of light in a big, dark world (Genesis 3:15). And God kept this flame, this promise, burning brightly even though the armies of darkness tried their best to snuff it out. God soon narrowed down the promise – that the Savior would come from the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Through prophets like Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah and Malachi, God revealed even more details about the Savior’s person, work, and birth. And on Christmas, God fulfilled each and every one of these promises and prophecies. And that is good news for us whose hearts and lives are still filled with darkness. We were born into darkness and belonged to darkness, but God has called us out of that darkness into his wonderful light. God kept his promise to send a Savior from sin, and he will keep every other promise he has made to you as well. Keep your eyes on God’s promises – they shine like this one flame in a big, dark room filling our hearts with joy and hope. Join me in reading several of these amazing promises.

II.                  The Bethlehem Candle

1 Corinthians 1 (Read 1st)

The second candle is called the Bethlehem candle. Many people know Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, but not so many people realize the big sermon that little village preaches. When Jesus was born, Bethlehem was so insignificant that Micah needed to add the word Ephrathah to distinguish it from another, more famous Bethlehem in northern Israel (Micah 5:2; Joshua 19:15). While God could have chosen a big, important city like Jerusalem, Rome, or Egypt as the birthplace for his Son, he chose the tiny village of Bethlehem. Why? Paul tells us: God chose foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27). God chose Bethlehem because his policy has always been to raise up the humble and humble the proud. He did that by choosing Mary, by choosing Bethlehem, by coming to earth as a baby – he did that by choosing unworthy sinners like us. He still does this through the lowly means of grace – making saints using nothing more than his Word, water, bread and wine. May the little town of Bethlehem be a warning to us against thinking that we are something great in God’s eyes. Let us never come before God proud of our own goodness, rather, let us come in humility recognizing with Mary that because of our sins, we are nothing and we deserve nothing. That’s why we come here to the manger in lowly Bethlehem, because we need the Savior God sent to this earth to live and die for lowly sinners like us. Let’s join with Mary in her humble hymn of praise…

III.                The Shepherd Candle

Romans 10

The third candle, the pink candle, has traditionally been called the Shepherd candle. It might seem strange that we would focus on such minor characters in the Christmas story, but the shepherds serve as fine examples of faith and action. First, by their confident, unwavering faith. When the angel hosts filled the skies and proclaimed the Savior’s birth, the shepherds were terrified. But when the angel invited them to go to Bethlehem to see the Christ child – they didn’t hesitate. They didn’t say, let’s go see if this thing has happened. They didn’t go back to sleep or back to their jobs thinking “who cares about a baby?” They said, “Let’s go see it, we know this is important for us and we know it has happened because God told us.” May we, too, celebrate Christmas with that kind of confident faith in the Word. May we look into the manger and see a Savior born for us, a baby who has an impact on every day of our lives. May we remember that through faith in this baby our sins are forgiven, we have peace with God, heaven is our eternal home. There’s no if about it. Confident faith is the first key to a joyful Christmas. And then, may we imitate the shepherds in what they did with this good news. When they had seen the Savior lying in a manger, they couldn’t keep it to themselves – they had to go and tell everyone they met what they had heard and seen. Do you know anyone who could use a little Christmas joy? Do you know someone who needs to hear that God’s gift of his Son is for them too? Do you have a friend or relative who needs a Savior, a Friend, the source of light in this dark world? The good news of a Christmas Savior is now your possession, what are you going to do with it? May the example of the shepherds give us confident faith and a willingness to tells others everything we have heard and seen in Bethlehem.

IV.                The Angel Candle

Hebrews 2

The fourth candle is called the angel candle. It reminds us of the angel who proclaimed the Savior’s birth and was then joined by an army of angels who sang the very first Christmas carol: glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward mankind (Luke 2:14). Think about how different that song of praise is from the world’s shallow, meaningless carols about a jolly fat man and reindeer; snow and snowmen. The reason is that this angelic hymn wasn’t intended to entertain, it was to praise God for showing grace and goodwill to mankind by sending a Savior for sinners. As a result of this glorious act, we have peace with God, we have consciences free from guilt, our record of sin has been wiped clean. But what’s really remarkable that this carol came from – of all creatures – angels. The Bible tells us very clearly that Jesus did not come to save angels – for holy angels don’t need a Savior, and the wicked angels are beyond saving. And yet the angels are the first to praise God for his goodness to us. If the holy angels praise God for a Savior, don’t we have even more reason to? Jesus came to this earth for you and for me. He suffered torture and crucifixion for you and me. He endured the wrath of God and the pain of hell for you and for me. He rose again three days later for you and for me. With humble hearts, let us show our thankfulness for God’s Christmas gift of light through Jesus with joyful songs and with our lives of obedience and service, today, tomorrow and forever with the angels in heaven.