I don’t presume to know what your year has been like. But this I know: life is not easy. Every year has its hardships, its losses, its unmet expectations. In a fallen world filled with sinners, some manner of difficulty is not only reasonable, it is part of our day-to-day existence.
Don’t you see how every part of our world is in need of rescue? There’s nothing the curse of sin hasn’t touched. There’s no one unaffected by it. Broken families are everywhere. Loneliness abounds. Medical maladies seem overwhelming, and ultimately there is no medicine to stop death. Political and social tensions run hot and, especially in the United States, there’s pent-up anger that seeks outlets of every sort.
The only hope for a world in ruins is the redeemer of sinners. John tells us in the Fourth Gospel, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). That’s what we need—light that the darkness can’t overcome. This light is Jesus. He is the “true light, which gives light to everyone” (1:9).
What John has in mind is the incarnation of the Son of God. Jesus is the light, and the incarnation is how he came into the world.
Jesus shines in the world which was made through him (John 1:10). He was before all things, and he entered the world to redeem all things. What we need for the darkness is redeeming light, yet no one deserves this light. Jesus shines with mercy. Every beam is grace.
John tells us that Jesus “came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:11). This boggles the mind. Light shines, and people reject it, preferring the darkness (3:19–20). They reject the light and thus confirm their spiritual blindness.
For sinners, the problem with light is that it reveals. It exposes. “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (John 3:20). One reason, then, that people don’t love the light of Christ is that they love the deeds of sin. They prefer the darkness because the darkness corresponds to their deeds.
Yet, still, mercy shines. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 1:15 that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” If people are in the darkness, they need rescue. If people love the deeds of the darkness, they clearly don’t merit salvation. But the good news of great joy for all people is that Christ has come into the world to save sinners. It’s a divine plan displaying unmerited mercy toward sinners.
Sinners like you and me. When the light of Scripture searches our hearts, we’re exposed as guilty. We’ve fallen short of the glory of God. We sin because we are sinners, and we deserve to reap the judgment in the darkness we love.
But, grace upon grace, light shines into the world. There is hope in the ruins because Christ has entered the ruins. And where Christ is, there is light. “I am the light of the world,” he said. “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
One of the reasons I love fireplaces, lamps, and candles—and even Christmas lights—is because these are visible reminders that we were not made for the darkness. We were made to dwell in everlasting light with God. Light has come into the world to save sinners, to bring them out of darkness, to give them the light of life.
May God bless you with joy this Christmas day! In Christ, we are people of great hope because we have a great Savior, a Savior who outshines the darkness.