SERIES
Advent: Into His Marvelous Light
2016-11-27T11:00:00-06:00
1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
If we’re not careful, Christmas can quickly become an exhausting season that distracts us from its very meaning. While we are tempted to race around and “win” Christmas in our decorating and gift-giving, Advent invites us to pause and consider the lengths to which God Himself has gone to win us and give us Himself. As we enter this season once again, are we more preoccupied with all we must do or with all that God has done?
On Sunday, Chad Scruggs reminded us of the connection between Creation and Recreation through the powerful imagery of light. When God began to create, He started with light. In Genesis 1, the Lord spoke the transformative words, “Let there be light,” into a world that was “without form and void.” The Creator brought all of his resources to bear upon His creation, even though she had nothing to offer in return. God’s light came as a gracious gift to a world that did not deserve it. When our own lives feel formless and void, shrouded in darkness, the creation story speaks a good word to us. The very things that make us think that the Lord would have nothing to do us...do not hinder Him from sending His light. The light shines in the darkness.
When God began to create, He started with light. And when He begins to recreate, He starts with the light of Christ. There is nothing we can do to deserve the light of Christ, but that did not stop Him from coming. Though we were lost in deep darkness, “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). In the next month, our Christmas lights may impress. Our gifts may light up someone’s countenance. But nothing rivals the brilliance of the light of Christ shining in a human heart. If we know Him, we live in the light of His love, and we bask in the glow of His approval. By God’s grace, this season is about a heart-changing promise, not an exhausting performance. The light has pierced the darkness, and that light now shines in our hearts. Is that the brightest light of our Christmas, the one that our neighbors will see even when all the decorations go back in their boxes?