Jesus Christ — Our Light
In the beginning, there was total darkness, then the Creator God spoke: “Let there be light.” And there was light! And with the light, there came life. God is Light! Bright, dazzling, radiant light. The Garden of Eden was a place of light - for whenever & wherever God is present, there is light. Adam and Eve lived in a world of light and walked in the way of light. In Eden, there was no darkness, no evil, so sin, no suffering & pain, no death. Only Light!
The prophet Isaiah talks about people “living in deep darkness.” He’s not talking about the darkness of a cloudy day; he’s talking about a darkness so thick that one cannot see one’s hand 12 inches in front of one’s face. A total absence of light; a darkness so thick that the sun’s rays could not penetrate it at all. The sad thing is, people chose to live there (if one can call it living)! Perhaps, Isaiah was thinking of Sodom & Gomorrah. A community of some 10,000 people, and not one righteous, Godly person could be found there. God’s light could not get through & God’s love could not touch them. Why would anyone want to live in Sodom & Gomorrah???
(1) Satan had cut the lifeline, the power line that connected the people to God.
(2) Satan had convinced the people that living in darkness was “normal” — that lying & deceit, committing crimes, murders, and immoral acts was “normal.”
(3) People’s thoughts and deeds were evil and un-Godly – so they were afraid that any light would expose them for what they were.
(4) The people didn’t know what caused their darkness or how to eradicate the darkness — so they were content to live in the dark.
Isaiah continues: “I see people walking in darkness.” If one cannot see one’s hand in front of one’s face, one will stumble and fall. One will run into objects or people and injure themselves and others; one could get killed. Also, it would be impossible to have any kind of relationship with such deep darkness. Perhaps Isaiah was thinking of Nineveh; the citizens of Nineveh were walking in the darkness of sin. God sent Jonah to preach to the people in Nineveh. “Repent of your sinful ways; turn your back on the darkness and turn towards the Light.” All of Nineveh did repent, did turn their backs on their dark ways, and did turn to God, the Light! Nineveh was saved! Sodom & Gomorrah were destroyed!
Christmas and Epiphany are seasons of LIGHT — times when we celebrate the turning on of God’s Light, when we celebrate the triumph of light over darkness. SO, in a world filled with darkness,
(A) I will continue to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
(B) I will proudly display the symbols of my Christian faith for all to see.
(C) I will continue to love and care about and pray for those who agree with me and for those who disagree with me.
(D) I will be as honest and truthful as I know how to be — I will call a spade a spade, and I will call every immoral and un-Godly act a sin.
AND if any of this offends you, then you have a serious problem, and you will have to find a way to deal with it!
MERRY CHRISTMAS and a BLESSED EPIPHANY !