The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Isaiah 9:2
God has always used dark times to bring in the greatest deliverance. When all was lost in the garden, sin and death had entered the perfect world and destroyed its perfection, God gave the hope of a promised deliverer. When the flood wiped away all but 8 humans and those creatures saved on the ark, God shone His glory in the sky and renewed His promise. When those He called to be His people have been in slavery in among a strong nation for 400 years, God gave them a glimpse of what the delivery will look like by sending a mere man to lead them out free. Time after time, when other nations torment and oppressed His nation, He sent other samples to deliver them.
But it is in the darkest time, when God had not spoken for centuries, when most had lost hope in the promise that He sent the True deliverer, not just for one particular people but all people who would believe, not to free them from a mere political oppressor but from the ultimate destroyers- sin and death!
His plan seemed so impossible, send Him as a baby into a nation ruled by an insanely jealous king. Place Him in the care of a simple carpenter and his young wife. No armed guards, no secret fortress. Make His life that of an ordinary working man. Make His friends a conglomeration of the common and the reviled. Give Him words and works that speak Truth and hope but anger those with earthly power. Surrender Him to them so they can put Him to death.
A darkness unlike any other darkness cloaked the universe as the promised Savior lay dead in a stone tomb.
But, wait, the Son rise is coming!
For many of us, it has become clear that there is a darkness in our lives individually and in the world generally. There is only one Light that can dispel that darkness, The Light of the World, Jesus Christ.
As we celebrate Christmas, let us look with renewed wonder at the indescribable gift of God Himself come to save us! Come let us adore Him, Christ the KING!
