In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the first thing He said was, Let there be light.” At that time darkness covered everything and God knew what the world would need first and most was light. It plays a significant role in life from plants to people. Psychologists have even studied the effects of light, and the absence of it, on humans. It is necessary for our overall wellbeing. God knew in the beginning that we needed it, so He spoke it into existence. When Adam and Eve sinned, the introduced a different kind of darkness into the world. Their sin brought death where God’s light had brought life. In Genesis 3:15 God spoke the first prophesy about a Savior who would come to redeem mankind from this darkness.
The disciple John started off his Gospel talking about Jesus in an interesting way. John 1:4-5 says, “In Him was life [and the power to bestow life], and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it or overpower it or appropriate it or absorb it [and is unreceptive to it]” (AMP). Just like at the beginning of creation, God once again spoke light into our world. The light that Jesus brought into the world, through His birth, was to bring spiritual life and light back. His light shined into the darkness of sin that ruled the world at that time. Jesus’ birth signified an end to spiritual darkness and death, and there was nothing the darkness could do to stop it.
In John 8:12 Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” We no longer have to stumble in the darkness of our sin when we follow Jesus as His disciples. We no longer have to suffer the consequences of life without light because of who He is and what He offers. If you’ve been stumbling around in the darkness or if you have allowed it back into your life, I want to encourage you to let the light that brings life back into your heart. The light that Jesus brought that first Christmas is available to you this Christmas. He wants to bring light where there is darkness, life where there is death and hope where there is despair. His light changes everything, and you have the choice to let it in to every area of your life. Stop walking in darkness and begin living in His light today.
Photo by brahan milla on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 