Jesus is Life & Light
John 1:1-5
Carollyn and I spent Thanksgiving this year with our son Tim and his family in Garden Grove, CA. The day after Thanksgiving we traveled in the evening to Riverside, CA to attend the Festival of Lights. The Mission Inn Hotel in Riverside, CA. has sponsored the Festival of Lights for the past 16 years. 50,000 people gathered to hear the Riverside College band play and witness the turning on of 1 million lights decorating the Mission Inn. After the lights were turned on, awe-inspiring fireworks were fired off from the roof of the Hotel.
It’s amazing that 50,000 people sat waiting for over two hours on steps and roadside curbs to see colorful Christmas lights and fireworks displayed.
Ever since God said, “Let there be light and there was light, we have enjoyed the awe and wonder of various shades of light. We never get tired of every year decorating our tree with lights and lighting up our yards with colorful lights at Christmas. Christmas without lights would not be Christmas.
The Apostle John in the fourth Gospel has a lot to say about Jesus being both “Life” and “Light.” John 1:4 “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”
Jesus is Life.
Life is a prominent theme in the Gospel of John. John talks about life being lived to the fullest. John wants all who are living in the darkness of sin to join believers and have life; abundant life now and that life is eternal.
The Bible teaches that people can be physically alive, but spiritually dead in trespasses and sin. Many people are alive, but lacking vitality and vibrancy in their life. They live a selfish, ingrown, and jaded life void of passion or significance.
Years ago I saw the movie I-Robot. The robots had movement and took commands to carry out various tasks. Only one robot seemed to have feeling and some understanding of the heart of humanity. In the end Will Smith conquered the evil robots with the help of the good robot. A robot with feeling makes a good movie, but robots lack human feeling.
When you watch a movie like Wall-E you almost get caught up with the idea that robots do have feelings. Man made machines can work wonders, but they have no God-given breath of life. Only human people have the gift of an eternal soul born with free will to choose their destiny.
Jesus die not come as a robot. Jesus stepped out of heaven and became a human person a human person with emotions, feelings, passion and free will. An incarnation would not have been possible with out pre-existence. “In the beginning was the Word/Jesus and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and dwelt along us. John 1:1,14
Colossians 1:16-17 NLT – “Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see---kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him. He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together.”
For my recent birthday my son, Wendel sent me a DVD movie documentary called “Expelled.” Ben Stein traveled the world talking to scientists about Intelligent Design. He documents the fact that the secular scientists community are closed minded toward any view that goes contrary to the theory of Darwin. Many of them testified that after studying the theory of Darwin they rejected any belief in God and believed Darwin’s theory of evolution and selection is actually a fact of science.
According to Darwinism scientists anyone who believes in a Creator God and Intelligent Design is stupid and irrational.
A number of University professors have been let go because they mentioned in their research paper the possibility that Intelligent Design should at least be looked at. Out of curiosity I typed “Darwinism” in Google and the possibility of 2,400,000 articles came up. I typed “Intelligent Design” and 7,890,000 possible articles were available. For the word “Creationism” there were 3,180,000 articles.
Ben Stein asked one well-known Atheist how the universe began and the Atheist said it probably had a beginning as a cell on the back of a crystal or an intelligent alien in space seeded the earth with a beginning cell. This scientist has sold over 1 million books promoting the truth of Darwinism.
The Apostle Paul would reply to Philosophers and Scientists who are closed minded to any other possible truths: “Don’t let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world and not from Christ. For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, and you are complete through your union with Christ. He is the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe.” Colossians 2:8-10
#A number of years ago a Navy jet fighter plane shot itself down over the deserts of Nevada while testing a new cannon mounted on its wing. The plane was flying at supersonic speeds, but the cannon shells were subsonic. The fighter actually flew into the shells it has fired seconds before. The jet was traveling too fast.
It’s possible to become so preoccupied with life and surviving in our fast paced world that we fail to take time to ask the important questions in life.
People who are high achievers are on their mission in life to make a name for themselves and with worlds to conquer and fortunes to make; never give thought to the Christ of Christmas. They fail to take time to reflect on the important questions in life:
Who am I?
Where am I going?
What does God my Creator want me to do?
Jesus stepped into the deadness of humanity to bring meaning to life. When a person lacks significance that only Jesus can give; the person turns to corruption, deceit, and greed to try to achieve significance. A person without inner peace and significance has no concern for the consequences that his actions will bring pain and grief to others.
Jesus said He came to give life a life that is abundant. Jesus said, “I have come that you might enjoy life and that more abundantly.” John 10:10 b - Jesus wants to give you life, a life overflowing with vitality and meaning.
Jesus is life. To know Jesus personally is to have life eternal and a life worth living now. I John 5:11-12 NLT “And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. So whoever has God’s Son has life; whoever does not have his Son does not have life.”
Jesus is Light
Jesus is not only Life; Jesus is also Light. John in his Gospel contrasts Light with Darkness, God with Satan, Truth with Falsehood, Holiness with Sin and Life with Death.
John understands darkness to stand in direct antithesis to light. According to John, Jesus is the source of life and the source of light. “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” I John 1:5
Isaiah 9:2 – The prophet Isaiah declared, “People who walk in darkness have seen a great light.” Jesus transforms darkness into light. 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness; made Light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
At the birth of Jesus – Light has shown in a world of darkness, and the darkness will not overcome the light. John 1:5
God is light. The speed of light is constant – 186,000 miles a second. God as light reminds us of the attributes of God:
God is Immutable – changeless
God is Infinite – no beginning and no end – beyond human imagination
God is Omniscience – all knowing – beyond human knowledge
God is Omnipresent – everywhere present – beyond human capacity
God is Omnipotent – all - powerful
Jesus came declaring that He is the Light of the world. Jesus gave light to man who was born blind in John 9. When he was asked how he received his sight he said he didn’t know. All he knew was that “He was blind, but now he can see.” John 9:11
Jesus says to every person today who will listen: “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12
Jesus reveals who God is. Jesus reveals that God is love. Jesus gives us sight so we can see the wonderful creations of God.
Darkness conceals. Darkness blinds. Mules that were kept down in dark mines over time went blind. Satan the god of this world is in the business of keeping people blind to spiritual truths. II Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Years ago I traveled with the Central College basketball team from McPherson, KS to Los Angeles. On the way we stopped at the Grand Canyon. It was in the evening and the light revealed various shades of colors in the canyon. As we watched the sun went down and the colorful shades of color turned to gray, dull and finally darkness.
In a world of chaos, confusion, and constant change, Jesus gives us stability and hope. “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” The message of Christmas declares that Jesus arrived to give us hope. We many not know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds tomorrow. We have the promise that Jesus will go with us all the way.
When we celebrate Christmas and the birth of Jesus the Light of the World we tend to forget our differences and focus on the bright side of life rather than the dark side.
History records an interesting event that took place during the civil war. It was during the dark winter of 1864. At Petersburg, Virginia, the Confederate army of Robert E. Lee faced the divisions of General Ulysses S. Grant. The war now three and a half years old and the two sides were in the thick of battle. Late one evening one of Lee’s generals, Major General George Pickett, received word that his wife had given birth to a beautiful baby boy. Up and down the line the Southerners began building huge bonfires in celebration of the event. These fires did not go unnoticed in the Northern camps and soon a nervous Grant sent out a reconnaissance patrol to see what was going on. The scouts returned with the message that Pickett had a newborn son and the fires were celebrating the birth of the boy. Grant knew Pickett fairly well because they had been contemporaries at West Point, so to honor the occasion Grant, ordered that bonfires should be built.
On that particular night for miles on both sides of the lines first burned. No shots were fired. No yelling back and forth. No war was fought that night, only light celebrating the birth of a child. During the night the fires burned out and the fighting started again. The celebration of a newborn baby was short lived.
The celebration of the birth of Jesus has continued for over 2,000 years. Jesus continues to shine forth as the Light of Life. Light is what makes vision possible. When you accept Jesus and live for Him you begin to see Jesus is Creator and Lord of the universe, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Jesus made something out of nothing.
Jesus speaks light into darkness.
Jesus brings order out of chaos.
Jesus breathes his own likeness into a handful of dirt.
Jesus fills loneliness with friendships.
Jesus givens meaning to everything!
Jesus gives life to those who haven’t earned it!
Jesus changes a life of gray to a life of color. Do any of you remember black and white televisions? When color TVs first came out they were not that clear, but eventually you only wanted to watch TV in color and not in black and white. Now we’re not satisfied with color, we want, HD, high definition.
Jesus calls us to walk in the Light and become HD Christians. WE have the promise that “If we walk in the light, as he (Jesus) is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sins.”
This Christmas you are called to live as a HD Christian. With out Jesus a person’s life is dark and lacks vitality and significance. Jesus wants to give you Life. Jesus wants to give you Light. Jesus gives you the invitation this Christmas to step out of the darkness into the Light. Will you step into the Life and Light of Jesus this Christmas?
Invitation
