“The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”
John 1:9
We live in a darkened world today. It seems that wherever we go darkness is invading our nation and our world. Whether it is violence, hatred, verbal abuse, greed, lying or stealing, evil is all too obvious and pervasive nowadays. Furthermore, what once was called evil is now called good. What once was considered sinful is now being paraded around as virtue. And all the while Biblical truth and Christianity are being blamed for many of our societal problems. Satan certainly appears to be having his way in the world today!
However, we must first recognize that the world began in darkness (Genesis 1:2) and there was no light until God created it (Genesis 1:3). Our world was created by God from nothing and all that exists was created by Him. The physical light in our world comes from the sun, and as the world revolves around the sun we have alternate periods of light and darkness. In reality, though, darkness is the absence of light. And anyone who has been to a remote area understands how dark it gets when there are no lights around. We stumble around at night in our homes until we can turn a light on. Many people fear the dark because we can’t see what’s around us that might harm us.
But there is also spiritual darkness. Before Christ came to earth, a spiritual darkness existed in the world. Since Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sinned, the world had become a place of darkness and evil. There was murder, human sacrifices, sexual sin, violence, robbery and a host of other evil behaviors. Even God’s people rebelled against Him over and over again. When the Roman empire began oppressing the Hebrew people, the only hope left was the coming Messiah who had been prophesied in the Old Testament (“For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the governments will be on his shoulders.” – Isaiah 9:6).
And when Jesus was born in the little town of Bethlehem just outside Jerusalem, the promised Messiah (Savior) had come! It was not a glorious beginning with lots of fanfare and celebration, but a humble birth in a cattle stall. And the first people to proclaim his arrival were not prominent or famous people of the day, but actually lowly shepherds. But it was certainly a world changing event! God had become a man and entered our world to save us from darkness and sin. Jesus was born to bring spiritual light to the earth! The Light has come!
1 John 1:5 says that “God is light, in him there is no darkness at all.” So, in order to combat our spiritual darkness, it was necessary for God to send His own Son Jesus into the world to bring that light to us. And that is true for all humanity, not just those who believe in Jesus. Sadly, however, there are still so many people who have rejected that light and have chosen darkness and evil instead. And most of them aren’t even aware they have done so! The Apostle John wrote in John 3:19-20, that “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” Throughout the past 2,000 years, people who reject Jesus and His message of salvation for everyone continue to live in darkness instead of the light and therefore prefer evil over good.
Paul wrote to the church in Rome and told them to “be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil” (Romans 16:19) We must be discerning as well today about what is evil and what is good in our nation and in our world. Paul also said in Romans 12:9 that we should “hate evil and cling to what is good.” In other words, turn away from the evil that you see around you and instead run to what is good. We should heed Paul’s advice in Romans 12:21 that says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
So, with Christmas fast approaching, how should we as Christians respond to this growing darkness in our world today? How can Christmas help us to bring light into our darkened world?
Well, first of all, we should not despair or lose hope because the Light has already come and is still here! Jesus lives and reigns in our world whether or not other people think so. We know it and should live as people of hope. As Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:9, we are a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that (we) may declare the praises of Him who called (us) out of darkness into His wonderful light.” Christmas is the perfect time to remind people that the Light has already come!
Secondly, if we have the light of Christ, we should be able see the evil and darkness around us. That will help us to discern what is truly evil (not of God) and what is truly good. We need to be able to see things as they really are in order to be able to discern whether or not they are good and of God. In our world today there are very clever people who make virtuous sounding arguments that are in fact harmful to us if we pursue or follow them. The best weapon we have to stand against this evil is God’s Word. The Bible must become our armor to withstand Satan’s attacks (Ephesians 6:10-17)! Knowing God’s Word will help us recognize evil and avoid it. Reminding others of the true meaning behind Christmas can draw them to God’s Word as well.
Finally, we must accept God’s call to share this Light with others so they too can come out of the darkness and into the Light! Christmas is a wonderful time to do that as we celebrate the child who is the Light! We cannot just sit back and wait for pastors, ministry workers or others to share the gospel. Every Christian is a minister (1 Peter 2:9) and every Christian is a missionary (Matthew 28:19-20)! We must all continue to proclaim the gospel and the truth of God’s Word to a world in darkness! Christmas is a time where we can share God’s Word through the Christmas carols that we sing and the reading of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem from the Bible.
As we celebrate Christmas and the birth of Jesus this year, “let us not become weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9) Let us overcome the evil in our world with God’s goodness that is found in a little baby named Jesus!
Merry Christmas, everyone!!