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.