The Victory of Light

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”

MATTHEW 2:13

 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. JOHN 1:5

Here is another truth about the light of Christmas that will bless you this Christmas season. It’s found in John 1:5, where the apostle writes, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” I want to talk with you today about the victory of the light. What does John mean when he says that the darkness could not understand or “comprehend” the light? This word has also been rendered “overcome,” “put out,” or “extinguish.” What John is talking about is the victory of light over darkness. 

All of history is really a battle between light and darkness. We see it even at the birth of Jesus in the account of King Herod’s murderous rampage against the baby boys in Bethlehem. The darkness attempted to extinguish God’s light. But who must win this battle? As surely as day follows night, it is clear that darkness has no power against light! As the hymn says, “Jesus shall reign where’er the sun / Does his successive journeys run.” 

If you’re in a dark room and you want to dispel the darkness, would you take the vacuum cleaner and vacuum the darkness out? Would you take a shovel and shovel it out? Of course not. All you have to do to conquer the darkness is turn on the light. When you do that, the darkness flees. It cannot stay. It is totally powerless against the light. 

The energy produced by our sun is beyond what we can imagine. On the brightest moonlit night, the light of the moon is only one-eight hundred thousandth as bright as the sunshine on an ordinary day. If you look directly into the sun, you will burn your eyes. Yet, for all of its incredible power, the sun is at best only a faint illustration of the Son of God in His brightness. No one can overcome or extinguish the Lord’s light! In Him there is victory, at Christmas and every other season of the year. Let’s release the light of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world this Christmas. Let’s bear witness to the Light!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Why Jesus Came

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Hebrews 2:14–15)

This, I think, is my favorite Advent text because I don’t know any other that expresses so clearly the connection between the beginning and the end of Jesus’s earthly life — between the incarnation and crucifixion. These two verses make clear why Jesus came; namely, to die. They would be great to use with an unbelieving friend or family member to walk them step-by-step through your Christian view of Christmas. It might go something like this, a phrase at a time:

“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood . . . ”

The term “children” is taken from the previous verse and refers to the spiritual offspring of Christ, the Messiah (see Isaiah 8:18; 53:10). These are also the “children of God” (John 1:12). In other words, in sending Christ, God has the salvation of his “children” especially in view.

It is true that “God so loved the world, that he gave [Jesus]” (John 3:16). But it is also true that God was especially gathering “the children of God who are scattered abroad” (John 11:52). God’s design was to offer Christ to the world, and to effect the salvation of his “children” (see 1 Timothy 4:10). You may experience adoption by receiving Christ (John 1:12).

“ . . . he himself likewise partook of the same things [flesh and blood] . . . ”

This means that Christ existed before the incarnation. He was spirit. He was the eternal Word. He was with God and was God (John 1:1; Colossians 2:9). But he took on flesh and blood, and clothed his deity with humanity. He became fully man and remained fully God. It is a great mystery in many ways. But it is at the heart of our faith — and what the Bible teaches.

“ . . . that through death . . . ”

The reason he became man was to die. As God pure and simple, he could not die for sinners. But as man he could. His aim was to die. Therefore he had to be born human. He was born to die. Good Friday is the purpose of Christmas. This is what most people today need to hear about the meaning of Christmas.

“ . . . he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil . . . ”

In dying, Christ de-fanged the devil. How? By covering all our sin. This means that Satan has no legitimate grounds to accuse us before God. “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33) — on what grounds does he justify? Through the blood of Jesus (Romans 5:9).

Satan’s ultimate weapon against us is our own sin. If the death of Jesus takes it away, the chief weapon of the devil — the one mortal weapon that he has — is taken out of his hand. He cannot make a case for our death penalty, because the Judge has acquitted us by the death of his Son!

“ . . . and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”

So, we are free from the fear of death. God has justified us. Satan cannot overturn that decree. And God means for our ultimate safety to have an immediate effect on our lives. He means for the happy ending to take away the slavery and fear of the Now.

If we do not need to fear our last and greatest enemy, death, then we do not need to fear anything. We can be free. Free for joy. Free for others.

What a great Christmas present from God to us! And from us to the world!

John Piper 

The Vitality of the Light

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

JOHN 1:4

 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 1 JOHN 5:11

John 1:4 says of Jesus, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.” Here is the vitality of the light. Light and life are inextricably interwoven. You cannot have life without light. When God wanted to bring life out of chaos in creation, He said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). When the light appeared, the seas began to swarm with life. The seeds of earth began to bud and blossom. 

I’ve always loved natural science. I can remember that the first big word I ever really locked in on was photosynthesis. I remember being enthralled as my teacher explained the meaning and process of photosynthesis. She told us, “The word photo means ‘light,’ and the word synthesis means ‘to put together.’ Green plants produce food by putting chemicals together with light.” It is light that causes these plants to produce food, and the whole life chain of animals and humans depends on this process.

 Life itself is built on sunlight. Without sunlight, our world would become cold and dark and dead. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He came to give us life. When the Holy Spirit shined the light of the gospel into our hearts, a divine photosynthesis took place producing life where before there was only death. “The entrance of Your words gives light,” says the psalmist (Psalm 119:130). 

Jesus is the Light. Do you know that life followed Jesus everywhere He went during His earthly  ministry? Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). 

No matter how cold and dark your world may seem, it can be brought back to life when the glorious light of the Son of God shines into your heart. There is no life without light. The life and the light went out of Adam’s race when he sinned in the Garden of Eden. But when we come to Christ, the Lord comes back in, turns on the light, and life begins again. Jesus is the Light of the world. That little Babe in Bethlehem turned on the light and gave us eternal life.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Indifference Or Hostility

What is your attitude toward Christ?

Is it that the thought of Who Christ is, just never enters your mind?

Or maybe you are just one of those people who just flat out deny that Christ is Lord and King, believing He never existed although you only have to look at creation to see God's power! 

Can man create sky?

Where did air come from?

Precious water, did it just appear?

The solar system, infinite space, One Son who conquered death to rise after 3 days, these aren't man made!

Look at the human body, the detail of its design, the molecules, the DNA, and the dividing cells, not man made but God made!

You must choose, there is no in between, Choosing Christ leads to eternal life and the other choice of denial of His power is death.

Brothers and sisters, when someone trust and turns to Christ, they have a new beginning. The past stays in the past, but people often judge others by their past.

Just remember, you are also being judged by God. 

He has forgiven your past.

God said people will be know by their fruit!

So let God judge and you pray that no one enters into temptation!

There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? - James 4:12

1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.

3 Do you suppose, O man-you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself-that you will escape the judgment of God?

4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

6 He will render to each one according to his works: - Romans 2:1-6

1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.

3 Do you suppose, O man-you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself-that you will escape the judgment of God?

4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

6 He will render to each one according to his works: - Romans 2:1-6

19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. - Romans 1:19-21

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.  - Psalm 19:1

4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. 

5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. 

6 The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. 

7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.  - Ecclesiastes 1:4-7

Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2:10–11)

God is not served by human hands as though he needed anything (Acts 17:25). The gifts of the magi are not given by way of assistance or need-meeting. It would dishonor a monarch if foreign visitors came with royal care-packages.

Nor are these gifts meant to be bribes. Deuteronomy 10:17 says that God takes no bribe. Well, what then do they mean? How are they worship?

Gifts given to wealthy, self-sufficient people are echoes and intensifiers of the giver’s desire to show how wonderful the person is. In a sense, giving gifts to Christ are like fasting — going without something to show that Christ is more valuable than what you are going without.

When you give a gift to Christ like this, it’s a way of saying, “The joy that I pursue (notice Matthew 2:10! “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy”) — the joy that I pursue is not the hope of getting rich by bartering with you or negotiating some payment. I have not come to you for your things, but for yourself. And this desire I now intensify and demonstrate by giving up things, in the hope of enjoying you more, not things. By giving to you what you do not need, and what I might enjoy, I am saying more earnestly and more authentically, ‘You are my treasure, not these things.’”

I think that’s what it means to worship God with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. Or whatever else we may think of giving to God.

May God awaken in us a desire for Christ himself. May we say from the heart, “Lord Jesus, you are the Messiah, the King of Israel. All nations will come and bow down before you. God wields the world to see that you are worshiped. Therefore, whatever opposition I may find, I joyfully ascribe authority and dignity to you, and bring my gifts to say that you alone can satisfy my heart, not holding on to these gifts.”

John Piper 

The Constancy of the Light

He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

JOHN 1:2–3

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. JAMES 1:17

As we rejoice in the arrival of the Christmas season, let us celebrate the constancy of the light that shined into the world when Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. John tells us that Jesus was “in the beginning with God” (John 1:2). Furthermore, Jesus is the Creator God without whom “nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3).

Jesus is the eternal God. God cannot change. He declared through the prophet Malachi, “I am the Lord, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6). James made this wonderful statement: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

In the natural world, the speed of light is a constant. When Albert Einstein formulated his famous theory of relativity, he said he was able to put forward this theory because there is one thing and one thing alone in the world that is constant—the speed of light. Everything else is relative. Light is the only thing that is constant in our natural universe. And Jesus is our one constant in the spiritual realm.

Even the sun, which has never failed to give its light since the day God created it, will one day cease to shine. We are told that the energy of the sun is slowly being used up. You won’t have to worry about the sun burning out in our lifetime, but even the sun is not eternal. Its light will not shine endlessly. The light of Jesus, however, will illumine heaven throughout all eternity.

What a wonderful truth to consider this Christmas! We will soon welcome a new year. And though our world is a very uncertain place, we have this certainty to lean on: “. . . His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22–23).

Not only do we have the constancy of Jesus to depend on for today, but someday we are going to be made just like Him (1 John 3:2). We will bask in the direct rays of His glorious light forever! Praise God for the changeless, constant light of the Lord Jesus Christ!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Two Kinds of Opposition to Jesus

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. (Matthew 2:3)

Jesus is troubling to people who do not want to worship him, and he arouses opposition against those who do. This is probably not a main point in the mind of Matthew, but it is an inescapable implication as the story goes on.

In this story, there are two kinds of people who do not want to worship Jesus.

The first kind is the people who simply do nothing about Jesus. He is a nonentity in their lives. This group is represented at the beginning of Jesus’s life by the chief priests and scribes. Matthew 2:4 says, “Assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [Herod] inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.” So they told him, and that was that: back to business as usual. The sheer silence and inactivity of the leaders is overwhelming in view of the magnitude of what was happening.

And notice, Matthew 2:3 says, “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” In other words, the rumor was going around that someone thought the Messiah was born. The inactivity on the part of the chief priests is staggering: why not go with the magi? They are not interested. They are not passionate about finding the Son of God and worshiping him.

The second kind of people who do not want to worship Jesus is the kind who are deeply threatened by him. That’s Herod in this story. He is really afraid. So much so that he schemes and lies and then commits mass murder just to get rid of Jesus.

So today, these two kinds of opposition will come against Christ and his worshipers: indifference and hostility. I surely hope that you are not in one of those groups.

And if you are a Christian, let this Christmas be the time when you ponder what it means — what it costs — to worship and follow this Messiah.

John Piper