Christmas 23
“The Light Jesus Came to Bring”
Is. 9:2 “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”
This prophecy from Isaiah is about the coming of Jesus Christ into the world.
The Prophet describes Him as a LIGHT.
And the “land of deep darkness” he was born into represents the spiritual darkness of our world.
The Apostle John also called Jesus a LIGHT:
John 1:4,9 “In Him (Jesus) was life, and the life was the light of men…He was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.”
—The dictionary simply describes light as “something that makes vision possible.”
In other words, LIGHT brings SIGHT.
And it’s also a well known fact that an absence of sunlight causes blindness.
Animals who live out their lives in a complete absence of light often become blind, even eyeless.
Mules kept in underground mines become blind.
Those who live in dungeons, cellars, prisons, mines, and similar places that are denied sunlight lose some or all of their sight.
—And when people reject the light of Jesus Christ they too become blind in the spiritual sense!
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The kind of light Jesus brought is spiritual light.
It is the light that helps us see things the way they really are.
It brings us the awareness of our true spiritual condition, that we are lost and desperately need a Savior.
Jesus’s light helps us to see moral, ethical, and spiritual truth without the dark lens sin places over our eyes.
The light of Jesus gives us a brand new lens to see the world through.
Sin blinds our eyes to truth—it renders us incapable of seeing things like God sees them!
Romans 1:21 paints a vivid picture of this spiritual blindness:
“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
“Darkened” means in their understanding—their wisdom was taken away, their knowledge of God was lost.
Jesus warned in John 12:35, “He who walks in the (spiritual) darkness does not know where he goes.”
He talked of the spiritually “blind leading the blind, and both falling into a ditch” (Matt. 15:14).
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Paul the Apostle describes spiritual darkness and how it happens:
2 Cor. 4:3-4 “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”
But thank God, Jesus came—And His light pierced the darkness in several ways.
Let me point out 3 of them.
First,
I. His light brings understanding
1 John 5:20, “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding.”
Understanding is from two Greek words—diá, “thoroughly, from side-to-side,” and noiéō, “to use the mind.”
So when it says that Jesus has given us an “understanding” it means that He came to restore our ability to thoroughly think through something and reach balanced, godly conclusions.
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Interestingly, when God is pushed out of someone’s mind it results in the opposite—a reprobate mind.
Ro 1:28 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind,”
—A reprobate mind is a mind that can no longer discern between right and wrong,
—a mind destitute of judgment,
—incapable of recognizing what is truly good,
—or of recognizing what is evil;
—a mind that has lost all conscience.
And does this not increasingly describe our society?
Where good is called evil, and evil is called good?
Where right is called wrong, and wrong is called right?
Where moral is called immoral, and immoral is called moral?
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Here’s how we got here:
When Adam and Eve fell, our relationship with God was severed and spiritual darkness rushed in.
Romans 5:12 “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.”
And with sin came darkness, spiritual darkness.
Hence, we lost sight of who we are, where we came from, why we’re here, and where we’re going.
But Jesus came to the world as a light to restore our spiritual sight.
John 12:46, “I have come as light into the world, that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness.”
John 9:39-41, “And Jesus said, ‘…I came into this world, that those who do not see may see.’”
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Then a second result of Jesus’s light is…
II. His Light brought life
In the natural the sun is the source for all life on earth.
Take away the sunlight and all life would quickly perish.
As important as sunlight is for physical life, the Light Jesus brings is the ONLY ROAD to spiritual life.
John said of Jesus, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (1:4).
John 8:12 “Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.’”
Jesus’s light—the light of His love, His truth, His death for us on the Cross—brings true spiritual life!
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If a person doesn’t receive Jesus they will remain in spiritual darkness.
In fact, this is what many choose to do!
John 3:19-20 “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”
So don’t run from the light! Come to the light that is in Jesus!
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So the light Jesus gives brings UNDERSTANDING and LIFE!
And one more result of the light Jesus brings is:
III. Healing of your heart
There is healing in sunlight.
Sunlight therapy has been around a long time.
It’s been proven to be very effective in the treatment of several diseases.
Just stepping out into the sunlight lifts the spirit and chases away the blues.
And where natural light can help heal physical afflictions, the light of Jesus brings healing to your heart.
In the very first sermon Jesus ever preached, He quoted a prophecy from Isaiah that pointed straight to Him:
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted” (Is 61:1).
The words “bind up” pictures a healing bandage applied to the heart’s wounds.
Binding up the heart is for those that are deeply afflicted and distressed.
You may be distressed over your sins,
or hurting from the loss of loved ones or friends.
Jesus came to bring encouragement and consolation to broken hearts, and to give joy and peace in its place.
Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 147:3, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
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Today is Christmas Eve Sunday…
Let’s stand together and thank the Heavenly Father for sending His only begotten Son into the world as a bright and guiding Light that brings understanding, life, and healing!