November is a dark month full of short days and long nights; in November there is simply less light. But in December that all changes. In December there is the Nobel Lights Festival, lighted stars appear in windows all over the city, the Christmas lights are switched on and the city feels a little different.
This longing for light is deep within us. Children are rarely scared of the light. People feel safer in the day, they are cautious of what might be hiding in the shadows. Light brings hope, people are drawn to the light. Many faiths and traditions have a festival that looks for the victory of light over darkness so is there anything different about Christians and the light of Christmas?
The difference is not that we hope that one day light will win out over the dark, that love will one day defeat hate, that good will eventually triumph over evil (which we do hope) but that light has come.
God not only creates light but God is light. Heaven is lit by His presence (Revelation 22:5), He lives in unapproachable light (1 Tim 6:16) and is called the Father of lights (James 1:17) and His words are a light to our feet and a lamp to our path (Psalm 119:105). God is love (1 John 4:16) and God is light (1 John 1:5). So when Jesus was born, John said ‘true light has come’ (John 1:9).
Not will come. Has come. Light has shone in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. In celebrating the birth of Jesus we are not simply hoping for better days in the future but we are saying Jesus is the light of the world. God Himself has come and brought us light. He is our light and He is our life.
Yet because light by its very nature shines in the darkness then we can sometimes hide from God because we are ashamed of the darkness that is within us coming out into the light. Yet Jesus comes full of ‘grace and truth’, his light does indeed shine but if we turn to Jesus in faith it brings healing not judgement (Malachi 4:2).
So we can boldly say, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1)
I know I’ve shared this already but in case you missed it – this has been on repeat this past week
Leave a Reply