Light of the World
A Thrill of Hope • Sermon • Submitted
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Light can be a funny thing: even the smallest amount of light can make a huge difference...
The flickering flame of a candle can be detected by human eyes from 1.7 miles away!
Lucas woke up one night because of the Christmas lights on our house.
When it’s dark, it doesn’t take a whole lot of light to make a whole lot of difference.
Maybe that’s why we use it as a symbol for: hope, clarity, awakening, dawning.
Maybe that’s why one of the greatest promises in Scripture, made through the prophet Isaiah, was about a “great light”:
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
a light has dawned
on those living in the land of darkness.
“Long lay the world, in sin and error pining” - in darkness. But light was coming!
Wait for what God will do!
Maybe that’s why the wise men travelled over 3,000 miles in pursuit of a special star:
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”
By the light of the star they hope for a king. The light had come!
Let’s go see what God has done!
But, what if that was not necessarily the “light to come” that Isaiah wrote about?
There was a radiance that was greater, though maybe not as obvious, as the star that led them on the journey.
It did not shine in the sky, but out of a stable:
In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
The light of that star paled in comparison to the Light of the World that was lying in a manger. It signaled the way not simply to a King, but to God himself!
Come and see God!
When it’s dark, it doesn’t take a whole lot of light to make a whole lot of difference.
Maybe that’s why John began his gospel by saying:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
Tonight and tomorrow, we celebrate the Light of the World that dawned in Bethlehem.
We celebrate the invitation not only to come and see what God has done but to come and see God himself, and to receive light and life from him.