TOPIC:"The Brightness of Christmas"
"In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not" (St. John 1:4, 5).
The book of Malachi forms a bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament. He was the last prophet of the Old Testament. And with Malachi's death, the voice of God's prophets remained silent for four hundred years. There was no word from God. His voice was not heard. The world took a long journey into night. It was a time of great darkness and great despair. A time of hopelessness and blackness.
But into that darkness came a ray of hope. It was a burst of sunlight as Christ came as the Bethlehem Babe. Since that time the world has never been the same. In a time of great darkness God promised through Isaiah the prophet that He would send a Light who would shine on everyone. Hear Isaiah's prophetic words: "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness a light will shine" (Isaiah 9:2, NLT).
The Apostle John refers to Jesus in verse 9 as the "True Light" who shows the way to God and how to walk along the way with God. Later in John chapter 8 verse 12 Jesus referred to Himself this way: "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the Light of life."
Let me now mention three things about the light that shines at Christmas.
For one thing, the light we behold at Christmas is MIRACULOUS. Notice the words of verse 14: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." The New Living Translation renders it: "So the Word became human and made His home among us."
Here in this verse we find the Apostle John speaking of Jesus, the eternal Word, the Creator of the universe, the ultimate revelation of God, who . . .