Everything about the birth of Jesus was this incredible prophetic picture of The One who is Light being born into darkness to rescue us from our separation from God. In the midst of the frustration and pain we discover the beauty of God’s plans.
Jesus was born in a barn where animals are born as God declared the Lamb of God has come to the earth as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Jesus, the bread of life, came down from heaven and on the day of his birth his mother placed him in a feeding trough where animals had been fed grain!
John 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” NIV
Jesus came bringing spiritual food to give life to those in darkness.
John 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ESV
The life Jesus shares with those who follow him gives them light.
John 8:12 “…I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ESV
Seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth, the prophet Isaiah spoke of this:
Isaiah 9:1-2 Darkness and despair will not go on forever… 2 The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light; For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. NLT
That light is the child Isaiah tells us about in that same chapter:
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given… NKJV
Jesus has come. Lighting Advent candles for four weeks has become a practice for us as a church as an effort to bring our focus to the deeper reality of Christ during this season.
The candles represent Jesus coming as the light in darkness. We light one candle each week for four weeks until all four candles are lit. As Christmas draws nearer, each candle brings a little more light into the darkness. Our hope is that those living in darkness will be awakened to his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9)
When we receive Christ his divine light streams into our hearts and suddenly, we are awakened to have a living spirit. This light gives sight to the blind soul giving us eternal life providing eternal sight. We become equipped to live in light of eternity.
Jesus is the Light of the world and Christmas is about light that brings hope, peace, joy and love into our fallen, broken world!
The Museum of Childhood is in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is filled with childhood treasures, many more than 500 years old. There are fascinating dolls, teddy bears and puppets that largely belonged to very affluent families that have been preserved and are now displayed in glass case after glass case awakening the imagination of each item’s unique story.
In one corner of this museum there is an individual case with only one doll. The sign says, “Doll belonging to London slum child from 1905.”
An old shoe turned into a dreary doll that can bring tears to your eyes because it is so very pitiful – while somehow being so very beautiful - because some child living in horrendous conditions loved it so much.
A worthless doll loved into beauty. We are that doll. Look at us. Who are we that God should love us so much? There is nothing to validate us in our broken, darkened state. Nothing but the light of God’s love - taking us from the darkness of hopelessness into the presence of God’s love. Jesus is here bringing his light to our hearts, our homes, our lives and our world.
Everywhere we go....
We Bring GP2RL: Create a meaningful memory by lighting a candle tonight in celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.