Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12 NKJV)

Over the past few days we have been thinking about mentions of light in the Bible around the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Our final light is not to do with His birth but something He said of Himself when He was a Man.  This sentence that He spoke neatly sums up the reason He came into the world: in order to bring all those that believe in Him out of darkness and into light.  It’s a very bold claim but the Bible tells us that we can trust what He says because He is the Son of God and He guarantees us that if we trust in Him we will have the light of life.  The life that He gives us is eternal life.  The Lord Jesus spoke of what those that follow Him will receive from Him: I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand (John 10:28).  There may be many people or philosophies in this world that claim to give enlightenment but there are none that can claim to give us eternal life.  This is what makes the Lord Jesus the true Light and the only One that can bring us out of the darkness of sin.  These words of the Lord Jesus are as true today as they were on the day that He spoke them and you can come into the good of them right now if you trust Him as your Saviour.   As you look at the lights this Christmas remember the One who is the light of the world that gave Himself so we can have life if we trust in Him.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy (Matthew 2:10 NKJV)

We’re thinking this week about lights associated with the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Today’s light is the star that guided the wise men to where the Lord Jesus was.  Yesterday we thought of how through the Lord Jesus, God revealed Himself to not only the Jews but to the Gentiles also (in other words, the whole world) and here is a case in point.  These men had seen the star many miles away (we’re not told exactly where they came from) and had followed it so they could worship the One that was born King of the Jews (which is a title of the Lord Jesus).  They had gone looking for Him in the king’s palace but He wasn’t there.  The Lord Jesus wasn’t born into luxury or splendour but rather he was born into poverty.  He lived a life of humility in an ordinary family with the ultimate purpose of going to the cross to suffer and bleed and die for the sins of the world.  At His first coming He didn’t come as a king (although the Bible says one day He will) but rather He came as a servant to do the will of God.  He once said of Himself that “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many “ (Matthew 20:28).  The star led the wise men to exactly where the Lord Jesus was and we are told that they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.  They had found the Saviour and there is no greater joy than finding the Lord Jesus Christ and putting your trust in Him.

“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”  (Luke 2:29-32 NKJV)

This week we are thinking about mentions of light in the Bible relating to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.  These words from Luke chapter 2 were spoken by a man called Simeon who, when He saw the baby Lord Jesus, praised God because he had seen the One whom God had sent to bring salvation to the world.  Simeon described the Lord Jesus as a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles.  A Gentile is simply someone that isn’t a Jew.  This means the Lord Jesus was a light to bring the knowledge of God to those who did not know Him.  Up until that point in history, the Bible tells us, God had primarily dealt with the people of Israel but now His salvation was open to anyone who would believe.  The Bible describes sinners as being in darkness because they do not know God and so each one of us before we trust Christ as Saviour are in darkness.  The apostle Peter, writing to Christians, encourages them to proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).  God calls to us in the darkness through His word, the Bible, but it’s only if we respond to His call and believe that we will be brought out of the darkness and into the light of knowing Him and our sins are forgiven.  The Bible tells us the only way that we can know God is through the Lord Jesus Christ.   Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians: For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6) .  The Lord Jesus Himself said I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness (John 12:46).

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:9-11 NKJV)

At this time of year we tend to see a lot of lights – we might put them up in our homes and if we go into town or city centres we are bound to see lots of lights decorating the surroundings. They’re usually nice to look at and they can conjure up a sense of celebration and perhaps even excitement. Over the next few days we are going to think about some lights associated with the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and what they tell us about the real meaning of Christmas.

The above verses tell us about the shepherds that were among the first to hear of the birth of the Lord Jesus. An angel of the Lord appeared to them with the news and the glory of the Lord shone around them. This tells us that the message of the Lord Jesus Christ is a message from heaven. It’s perhaps difficult for us to imagine the brightness of that light and how dazzling it would have been but it tells us something of the importance of the message that the angel had for the shepherds. It was the greatest and most glorious message because it was a message about a Saviour and it was from God. The shepherds were understandably afraid but the angel told them not to be afraid because his message was one of good news and great joy and it was for all people. That tells us that this message is for us. The message of the birth of the Lord Jesus isn’t simply a nice story about a baby being born long ago but doesn’t really have any relevance for us today. This message is as important today as it was when the angel appeared to these shepherds because our need of a Saviour is as great as the shepherds’ need. The angel told the shepherds that the baby that had been born was a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. How could this baby be a Saviour? This baby was no ordinary baby; He was the sinless Son of God who was born with the purpose of becoming a Man, so He could die on the cross and take the punishment for sin that is rightfully ours. The message is for us because it is for all people and all have sinned. The Bible says that on the cross He was made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). That is why his birth was heralded in such a spectacular manner because God sending His Son into the world was the ultimate demonstration of His love and allows us to be reconciled to Him if we accept Christ as our Saviour.