“The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.” (Isaiah 9:2, NASB). The prophet Isaiah wrote those words about 700 years before they came true. He talked about a great light that would shine in the darkness, on all those who lived in darkness.
Who were those people, living in darkness? Well, I want you to put your finger up in the air…and now I want you to point to yourself. That’s right, you are the person who was living in darkness. Without the great light, we all walk in darkness, and without the great light, we will walk in darkness all the days of our life. Let’s break this down a little.
Who is the great light?
To learn this, I’d like to read 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.” (CSB).
The light that shines in the darkness is Jesus Christ. In the gospel of John, John says over and over that Jesus is the light of the world. In John 1:4, John says that Jesus is the Light of men. In John 8:12, Jesus said this of Himself, “I am the Light of the world;”. The light that Isaiah spoke of and foretold almost 3,000 years ago is Jesus Christ.
This verse in 2 Corinthians, “For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.”, tells us that knowledge about Jesus is light. In John 12:46 Jesus said, “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”
The darkness that He shines into is the world, and all the things that are opposite of what God’s ways are. What this means for us is that each and every one of us, since we lived in darkness, lived in all the things that were opposite of God’s ways. The apostle Paul names a few of those in different places in his letters, the ways of darkness are: sexual immorality, greed, drunkenness, obscene and foolish talking, crude joking, idolatry, coveting, lying, witchcraft, astrology, and other things like this. We each have our own dark deeds that we did and sometimes still do, but this is what Jesus shines a light on!
He shines His light, which exposes the dark deeds that we do as things that displease God, as things that grieve God, and separate us from His presence. Knowledge about who Jesus is, about the life He desires for us to have shows us that the darkness we’re living in is wrong! The darkness is devastating for us, because we were created to be in His presence. We were created to walk with Him. He wants us to experience His grace, mercy, love, kindness, forgiveness, peace, hope, joy, and faithfulness. He wants us to walk in righteousness, holiness, and justice. He wants to change our lives for the better!! Remember, Jesus Himself said that He desires that everyone who believes in Him will not remain in darkness! We were not created for darkness, we were created for the Light!
But we must let the light expose the darkness. That’s painful, and messy, and it means letting go of your pride and your ego. It means you have to admit that you’re wrong. It means you have to stop being selfish. It means setting aside what you might think is best for you, and letting Christ do what is actually best for you!
But the other option is living a life that is a half-life, a life that lacks the joy, peace, love, and hope that we were created to have. The other option is a life lived in darkness which leads to an eternity lived in darkness.
Given the choice: with joy, love, hope, peace, kindness, forgiveness, mercy, and grace on one end; or sorrow, hate, hopelessness, chaos, meanness, accusation, blame, and disapproval on the other; to me, the choice is clear!
The great light, Jesus Christ, came to shine a light on your darkness, to free you from the oppression and depression of the darkness, and to give you hope and a life full of meaning.
Jesus tells us that there will be those who love the darkness more than the Light, that they will reject Him. For those who reject Him, what waits is for them to spend all of forever in that darkness, away from God and His love. It will be agony, torture, and full of despair.
So, here’s the simple message: Jesus came all those years ago, born as a humble baby to lowly parents to set you free from the darkness of your life. He came to give you love, peace, hope, joy, and forgiveness. He did not come to condemn you, He came to forgive you and set you free, to give you life and purpose!
What are we to do on this Christmas Eve?
“So Jesus said to them, (and to us!), “For a little while longer the Light (Jesus) is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you;” (John 12:35).
It’s that easy. Walk with Him. Believe in Him. Give your darkness to Him, and let Him change you!