Light is an essential component of life. Without it, human beings would struggle to understand, explore, and interact with the world in which we live. Biologically, sunlight plays a significant role in managing our circadian rhythms and in the production of vitamin D and serotonin. Most dramatically, if the sun stops shining, plants stop growing which leads to stifled food and oxygen production, both of which are hard to live without! So, again, light is an essential component of life. If it is wholly absent, there is only sadness, sickness, and death.
And that’s not only true of our physical lives but also of our spiritual lives. If we want to be a people who enjoy healthy and happy souls now and forever, we need a very specific Light because the Light is essential for life. And the good news is that God sent that Light into the world. The question is, will we defiantly stay in the shade?
SERMON MANUSCRIPT
Light is essential for life. Without it, humanity would struggle to understand, explore, and interact with our world. Biologically, sunlight plays a role in managing our circadian rhythms and in the production of vitamin D and serotonin. Most dramatically, if the sun stops shining, plants stop growing. No plants means no food and no oxygen which means no people. So, light is essential for life. If it’s absent, there is only sadness, sickness, and death.
And that’s not only true of our physical lives. It’s also true of our spiritual lives. If we want to enjoy healthy and happy souls now and forever, we need Light because the Light is essential for life. And the good news is that God sent that Light into the world. The question is, will we defiantly stay in the shade?
ILLUMINATION
This passage describes divine illumination. A world in darkness was given Light, the Light being the life-bearing eternal Word of God, Jesus Christ who, as we saw last week, was with God in eternity and is God eternally.
The coming of the Light was not subtle. Before he arrived, God sent “a man … whose name was John.” [1:8]
Our deacons are currently looking to hire an office administrator, a position that holds many responsibilities: from congregational communication to facility coordination to ministry organization. And some of you have jobs like that—your tasks are many, goals are numerous, and assignments are varied.
That was not the case for John. His divine job description had a single line: “bear witness to the Light,” “testify about the Light.” “Tell everyone about the Light ‘so that all might believe’” (v. 7).
And when the Light did arrive, he enlightened “every man” (v. 9). The Light of God revealed in Jesus is not for a specific class, colour, caste, creed, or country. It is for all and has been made known to all. Prophets and priests, Israel and angels, shepherds and magi, opposition and anticipation. This wasn’t subtle.
High beams don’t softly and gradually adorn the highway at night. They cut through the dusk for safety’s sake. A reading lamp doesn’t ask permission to disturb a room’s dimness. It explodes upon it, unforgivingly shoving the darkness out of the way.
And when Christ came into the world, preceded by a man whose only job was to announce his arrival, he dropped a bomb of illumination upon humanity. He was not subtle. The Light cut through the darkness and put every person to a binary choice.
REJECTION
Option #1 is rejection. [1:10] This is an unnatural tragedy. The Light created the world, entered into the world, but was unrecognized by the world. It’s sad. Even more dramatic is that [1:11]. Not only did the world he created reject him, but his own people, Israel, rejected him.
Israel had been called by God, established by God, protected by God, led by God, and promised by God to birth the world-blessing, humanity-saving, kingdom-bringing, sin-killing Messiah. And, after centuries of waiting, here he was—born of the tribe of Judah in the line of Abraham in the City of David.
Israel was his own people. But “his own did not receive him.” Why? Because they, like the rest of the world, were used to darkness, comfortable with darkness, and enjoying the darkness. And, as we all know, when light first shines in the dark, it’s an offence to the eyes. And that offence led many to reject the Light.
It’s the same today. It’s not for lack of illumination that people reject the Light of God in Jesus Christ. God hasn’t been subtle. He sent his prophets and his word, he sent his Son and his Spirit, and he sends his church. But, as John will later write, [3:19–20].
Some avoid the light because of what it’ll reveal. Others run from the light because of what it demands. Still others hiss at the light because of how it offends. But, regardless of the flavour, these are all variations of the same response: rejection.
RECEPTION
But there is another available response to divine illumination, and that’s reception. It’s the one God wants. Remember John: [1:7].
And, while many “did not receive” the Light, [1:12–13]. When the Light bomb initially went off, not everyone rejected him. Some accepted him. They believed “in his name,” that is, his person—who he is, what he did, and what he promised. They received him as divine illumination. They stepped out of darkness and into the Light of life through belief.
And, when they did that, the Light himself “gave to them the right to become children of God.” They were moved into a family that was not naturally theirs by being born again, not by some genealogical discovery or human adoptive process, but by God himself. They believed in the Light and God did the rest, eternally transferring them from a home of death to a home of life.
This is what Christmas is about: that, on a day in history, the Light shone into a dark world. The Light was laid in a feeding trough. The Light was welcomed by an unwed teenager and an adoptive father. The Light was announced by ignoble shepherds, honoured by foreign magi, and hunted by murderous rulers. But still the Light shone, and with no subtlety. [8:12; 12:46]
God’s been clear: all have sinned and all deserve death. All are in darkness and all are owed darkness. But God so loved this dark world that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, the Light and the life, into the world to die for the world, that all may be saved through him.
The Light has shone—it has not been subtle—and there are only two responses: rejection and reception. We can hide in the shadows or step into the Light.
“Those who have the Son have life; those who do not have the Son do not have life.” If you’re here this morning and you have never heard of, understood, or accepted what Jesus offers, today is the day of salvation and I’ll pray for you in just a moment.
But for those of us who have received the Light, we have been given the right to become children of God, born again by God’s power and brought into God’s family. And it’s to the family Table we now turn to share the meal that commemorates the baby that was born to die. The life of God’s Son led him from a manger to a cross upon which he would sinlessly die to free sinners like us. By his sacrifice, Light and life are available to all who believe.
As Christians, we take the bread and, following our Lord’s instructions, eat remembering the body given for us. And we take the cup, remembering the blood spilled for the forgiveness of sins. [2 Cor 4:6] Let’s pray.
Josiah has served the Oakridge Bible Chapel family as one of its elders and one of its pastoral staff members since September 2018, before which he ministered as an associate pastor to a local congregation in the Canadian prairies. Josiah's desire is to be used by God to help equip the church for ministry, both while gathered (edification) and while scattered (evangelization). He is married to Patricia, and together they have five children—Jonah, Henry, Nathaniel, Josephine, and Benjamin.
- Josiah Boydhttps://oakridgebiblechapel.org/author/josiah-boyd/
- Josiah Boydhttps://oakridgebiblechapel.org/author/josiah-boyd/
- Josiah Boydhttps://oakridgebiblechapel.org/author/josiah-boyd/
- Josiah Boydhttps://oakridgebiblechapel.org/author/josiah-boyd/