The Light That Overcomes The Deepest Darkness

Can it get much worse? We live in a nation in which long-cherished values are eroding at breakneck speed. Marriage has become optional and lately has been redefined. Ending a marriage is no longer the exception. Unspeakable sins are not only defended but glorified. Human life itself has become cheap with murder rates skyrocketing in our streets and unborn children murdered in the womb for convenience and then their body parts harvested for financial gain. Terrorists have left their bloody signatures from the sands of Syria to the streets of Paris to the neighborhoods of America. Christian churches have continued a decades-long march away from the truth of God’s Word in a direction set by their own misguided efforts to be relevant and popular so that most people today do not trust churches are think churches are relevant because they don’t speak the truth. Even our own government, founded on the principle of religious freedom, appears to represent a threat to its citizens to practice their religion in keeping with deeply held beliefs.

Can it get much worse?  We live in a world that has been and continues to fall into the darkness.  It is the thick darkness of sin and despair and rebellion against the Creator.  It is no wonder that things are getting worse and worse.

Then we hear this:

“⁶ And so it was that while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Those words of Luke announce the fulfillment of God’s promises of a Savior since the beginning of time.  Born into a world that is living in darkness, a Light shines brightly to Overcome The Deepest Darkness. These words point to the world’s greatest changing event taking place in the unlikeliest place.  In Bethlehem, in a stable, with Mary & Joseph.  The long-promised Savior made his appearance and began his work to bring light to a sin-darkened world.

That light is still shining brightly in this dark world we live in.  Yes, from our perspective the world is getting worse and worse, but the darker the night, the brighter the light.  Jesus pierces through the smothering darkness of our own sin. Jesus is the light that overcomes the deepest darkness-whether degraded values, marriage, disrespect for human life, and false teachings pouring out from Christian churches.  Yes, even in our lives that all too often reflect a desire for the things of this dark world, Jesus is the light that can bring hopeless hearts from the shadows into the brightness of the presence of God himself. It’s a light that God graciously has made to shine on us and in us. It’s a light first seen on the hills outside of Bethlehem as the glory of the Lord illuminated the dark night, and it’s a light still seen every time the message of the good news of Jesus is preached, proclaimed, heard, and believed.

Tell the story of Daniel and Dawn in the hospital………. God’s got this!

When there is light, darkness flees. So it is with the darkness of sin in this world and the darkness of sin in our own hearts. The light of a newborn Savior shines brightly. The darkness is gone. And with our celebration of the miracle of Christmas again this year, the world can be—and is—a brighter place, because we are filled with the joy of knowing the Savior and strengthened with the hope that he has given us.

As you continue to serve our newborn Savior, may you rejoice that God Gives Heaven’s Best Gift in Earth’s Unlikeliest Place.  May the bright light of his birth give you joy, comfort, hope, and courage.

Jesus Is The Light That Overcomes The Deepest Darkness.  Amen!