Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Journey To Bethlehem - The Light Of The World

God stepped into the dark world that we live in and made us an offer.


John 1:1–14  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God; 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This broken, sin filled world was full of darkness when the light of the world arrived. You would think that the bright light would be welcome by everybody but stumbling in the darkness is preferred by a lot of people.

This passage of scripture tells us a lot about who Jesus is and what he has been doing. First of all we see that Jesus is God, he isn't a separate individual, he is a part of the trinity. We also learn that Jesus was a significant part of creation, it was created through Jesus and for Jesus, he was with God the father from the beginning.

Colossians 1:15-16  Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,  16  for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see--such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him.

Jesus stepped into our dark world, he spoke about being the light and he proved it in the things that he did, you would think that the light would be very welcome but instead he was rejected as if he were the sinner.

John 9:5-7 " But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 Then He spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man's eyes. 7 He told him, "Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam" (Siloam means "sent"). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!

It is amazing that so few recognize him and care about their situation but to the ones that do Jesus makes an incredible offer. The Bible has a coupon in it, the coupon reads "to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" how can you pass up such an offer?

Isaiah 9:2 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.

Thank you Lord for stepping into history to give me what I could never do for myself, you have made an offer that I cannot pass up.