Jesus The True Light Of Christmas

Jesus the True Light of Christmas

John 1:1-9

Isaiah 9:1-2

The Apostle John in his Gospel the first chapter gives us a description of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

:”In the beginning was the Word, (Jesus) and the Word (Jesus) was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the Beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In his was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” John 1:1-5

I. Jesus Is Alpha and Omega

The Apostle John declares that Jesus is Alpha and Omega. Jesus is the beginning and the end. Jesus did not have his beginning in a manger in a stable near Bethlehem. Jesus became God in human flesh. Jesus took on a real human body – all man yet all God. Jesus is the only true God-man who ever lived.

John 1:14, “The Word (Jesus) 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.” Jesus is the incarnate Son of God.

E. Stanley Jones, former missionary to India, tried to think of a way to tell people in India about the love of God in Jesus. He said, suppose a farmer was plowing a field and he came upon an ant hill teaming with ants. How could the farmer warn the ants to get out of the way of the plow? There is only one way to communicate to the ants; to become an ant and give them a warning in their own language. All who would listen would be saved.

In Jesus God stepped out of heaven to communicate His plan of salvation. Jesus became one of us to communicate in our language and tell us of God’s love. John 3:16-18 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believes stands condemned already because he has not believes in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

Jesus is Alpha and Omega, the eternal Son of God. For you to know Jesus is for you to know God. Jesus claimed that He and God the Father were equal.

The Jewish rulers and officials were questioning Jesus and his claim to be equal with God the Father. Jesus answered them by saying, John 10:37-38, “Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father.”

On a spiritual supernatural level God is Father, God is Son and God is Holy Spirit. God the Father is Creator, God the Son is Savior, and God the Holy Spirit is Administrator of God’s graces and gifts.

On a human level I am a father to my children, I am the son of my father, and my life comes from vital organs in my body. I can think on the human level, but my best thinking falls short by a million times how to comprehend God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit on a spiritual level.

The Bible, God’s Word is clear, “In the beginning was the Word, Jesus and the Word, Jesus was with God and the Word, Jesus was and is God.

II. Jesus is Life and Light

The Apostle John declared that Jesus is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. John also declared that Jesus is Life and Light. Ever since the brightness of heaven flooded the hills of Bethlehem; and the far off twinkling star guided Eastern wise-men to the new born King…Christ has been the Light of the world, and we have celebrated Christmas with colorful lights.

John 1:5, “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” Another translation says, “The darkness has not overcome it.”

At the time of Christ’s birth the Roman government was experiencing unprecedented prosperity, but the Roman officials were living in moral darkness. In the Roman society at that time working at common labor was a disgrace. The middle class had disappeared. In the empire there were 6 million slaves.

One Emperor, Vitellius, in less than eight months, spent several million dollars on special feasts.

Family life for the Romans had once been a sacred thing and for 520 years divorce was not a part of family life. But in the time of Christ a person of prestige was known by the number of divorces the person had. Children were regarded as a burden and their education was handed over to slaves. The practice of abortions was a general custom. One of the historians of that time, Tacitius, said of Rome, “to corrupt and be corrupt is the spirit of the times.” When we look at our American culture 2,000 years later there are many similarities. We need the light of Christ to shine forth in our darkness and show us the way.