The Light of Christmas

I am going to depart from the Gospel of John devotions and focus on the celebration of the Son of God coming into the world as a human.

The world calls this event Christmas and has basically turned it into a celebration of family, sentimentality, and “magical” moments.

I like the term The Incarnation. It is when the Son of God became the physical human being Jesus, God became flesh and bone, blood and muscle.

Matthew and Luke each give us a little different view of the coming of Jesus into the world. They both focus on the physical birth.

John gives us a view of the spiritual aspect of Jesus’ coming.

John 1:3-5
There came a man who was sent from God, his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

1 John 1:5
This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.

John refers to Jesus as The Light.
In John 8:12 Jesus speaks of Himself as The Light of the World.

Jesus came into the world as The Light.

Jesus as The Light defeats the darkness.

Darkness is simply the absence of light. When light shows up, the darkness always disappears. Light always overcomes darkness.

Ephesians 5:8
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

The Incarnation means I don’t have to live in darkness. I don’t have to live separated from God. I can live in the light.

1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.

The result of experiencing Jesus as The Light is:
Living in community with fellow followers of Jesus
Being purified from all sin by the blood of Jesus

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living in The Light and experiencing the presence of Jesus, fellowship with other believers, and purification from sin.

Jesus as The Light illuminates.

Jesus shows us what is real.

Jesus shows us the reality of life.
Jesus shows us the reality of sin.
Jesus shows us the reality of His incarnation.

In Colossians 1:15-20 Paul tells us who Jesus, the Son of God is.

He is:
The Image of God
Creator of all things
The Focus of all creation
Before all things
The Sustainer of all things
The Head of the church
The Fullness of God
The Reconciler of all things to God
The Peacemaker of all things through His blood
In short Paul pictures Jesus as supreme over everything.

Then in Philippians 2:6-8 Paul shows us what Jesus did for us.
Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!

Jesus gave up all of what Colossians 1:15-20 describes Him as being. He gave it up so that as the God/Man He could be the perfect sacrifice for our sin.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is letting Jesus as The Light illuminate the truth about our lives, our sin and His sacrifice.

I pray that we will, as we celebrate Christmas, celebrate it as what it really is: the incarnation of the Son of God.

Then our focus will be on Jesus, the Son of God, who came to be our atoning sacrifice.

In the movie Talladega Nights, Will Farrell as Ricky Bobby prays at lunch to the baby Jesus. When his wife, Carley, reminds him that Jesus grew up, Ricky Bobby says that he likes the Christmas Jesus best. He says, “Look, I like the baby version best, do you hear me?”

Yes, I just used a Talladega Nights illustration because that is how the world views Jesus, as a cute baby. He is nice and sweet and safe. Baby Jesus is not going to challenge the world to change.

Baby Jesus will never be The Light to defeat darkness and illuminate the truth.

I love The Incarnation/Christmas.
I love The Incarnation/Christmas because the One who loves you and me came to become our sin so we could become His righteousness.

I pray you have an awesome time as you celebrate The Incarnation of the Son Of God.

Celebrating Jesus by Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
                                                  Joe