Thank you, Dave. The wonder of Christmas is that God himself invaded our world when that
baby was born in Bethlehem. I invite you to open your Bible with me this morning to the
Gospel of John in the first chapter where we're going to study once more John's inspired
perspective of what happened when the Son of God came into the world. I'm going to pick
up the reading in verse 4 of John 1 where it says, in him that is in the Word that he
has just described for us in the first three verses, in him was life. And that life was
the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood
it or perhaps better, the darkness has not overtaken it. Down to verse 9 where it says,
the true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. Father, I pray
this morning as we explore this theme of the light of the world, who is our Lord Jesus,
your Son, that our hearts will be illuminated and that being illuminated by His grace, His
love, our lights may then shine to others that we may reflect His grace, His love, to
the dark world around us. And I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Unlike some relatives,
our Heavenly Father knows what we need for Christmas. John explores that idea here in
the very first chapter, the seed plot really of the whole Gospel, where he lays before us
words and ideas in the first 18 verses that he then unwraps through the rest of the Gospel
of John. He tells us that we are ignorant of God, and so we need the truth. He tells
us that God sent the truth in the person of the Word, His Son. John explains that we
are guilty, what we need is forgiveness, and therefore God sent the Lamb to remove our
sins. We are spiritually dead. What we need is spiritual life, and so we receive that
spiritual life when we receive God's Son. And then what I want to talk about this morning
is the fact that we are blind, spiritually blind. We need light that we might see, and
God has given us that light. Blindness is the lack of vision that can be caused from
the absence of light, whether one lacks the physical facility to receive that light because
of malformation or disease, or there is lack of sufficient light where one is situated,
such as in a room or a cave where there is no light. In either case, one is incapable
of seeing because of the absence of light. The Bible says, there is no fear of God before
the eyes of the wicked, for in His own eyes He flatters Himself too much to detect or
hate His sin. The Psalmist is saying there that the wicked is smug. He's proud. He feels
no accountability to anyone except Himself, and so He is blind to His own sin. But God
desires to save the wicked from His own ignorance. His self-imposed blindness. And so He sends
the Word, John tells us, who is the light? In verse 4 we see that in Him the Word was
life, life. That life was lived out. It was, to use Dave's word earlier, incarnated. That
life became one of us. Jesus Himself said in John 5 verse 26, which is a very key verse
in the Gospel of John, as the Father has life in Himself. So He has granted the Son to have
life in Himself. What Jesus is saying here is that He and the Father share the same life.
That life is not like the life you and I have. The life of God is a self-existent life. It
needs nothing beside itself to sustain itself. The Father and the Son have self-existent
life. And because of that, God is the source of all life. He is the Creator. He is the
Word, as John explains here, by whom all things were made. The life that you and I have is
a life that is derived from God. He is the source of our life. He Himself, however, is
the life. Now this word, life, that John introduces here is a favorite of His in this Gospel.
In fact, He uses it some 36 times more than any other writer in the New Testament. He
records Jesus as saying, I am the bread of what? Jesus said, I am the resurrection and
the, He said, I am the way, the truth and the right. Of His sheep, Jesus said, I give
them eternal life and they shall never perish. And speaking to the Samaritan woman, He offered
her water that springs up, or literally He says, that gushes to eternal life. That life
was lived out in this world, the self-existent life of God. It was lived out in the words,
in the character and the deeds of Jesus. He brought life to our world and in living that
life, John goes on to say, He brought us light, another key word in His Gospel. John contrasts
light and darkness as he writes these words and also in the epistles that he writes. Through
his works, his words, Jesus brought light to our world, our dark world. Jesus brings
light to our world so that you and I can see. Now, I'd like for us to explore that idea
in the context of what John writes here in this chapter. What our world exhibits is darkness.
That's the world we live in, darkness. The light shines, he says, in the what? The darkness.
This is the first time that he uses the word darkness in his Gospel in a sharp contrast
here to the light, as you can see. What is this darkness he talks about? The light, that
is, the life that Jesus lived, which brought light. That light shines in the darkness.
The darkness that he's talking about is not physical darkness, it is moral and spiritual
darkness. It is the absence of the life of God in our world that creates the twistedness
of humanity, the deformity or the evil that is called the darkness of our world. If you
take God out of a culture, darkness is the result. You take God out of a home, out of
a marriage, darkness is the result. A mind or a soul without God is a dark soul. Why
is that? Because the Bible says that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.
Where God is, there is light. Where he is absent, there is darkness. Now while people
in our world are capable of much good, and we see that very often in the generosity of
people, in the charity of people, nonetheless there is an evil principle that is at work
within the heart of every man. That is, behind the goodness, which by the way is a residue
of the image of God in us, behind the relative goodness of human beings, there is an inner
core of evil. That is why our world is so dark. The Bible says this is the verdict.
That is, this is the conclusion. Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness
instead of light because their deeds were what? Evil, as it says on the screen. Everyone,
he says, who does evil, hates the light and will not come to the light for fear that his
evil deeds will be exposed. You and I live in a world that is dark. Why is there such
violence and greed in our world? Why is there racism and oppression? It is because of the
darkness that exists in our world due to the evil that is in the heart of human beings.
Missionary Bruce Seider wrote this week about Spain. He tells us in his letter that only
one in 1,000 Spaniards is a believer. That is, fewer by percentage than believers in
Japan, notorious for being one of the most difficult places in the world for missionaries.
He tells us that in Spain, a church of a hundred people would be considered a megachurch.
Think of that. He says that in the nation of Spain, there are 7,000 cities and villages
that have absolutely no biblical witness. It is a dark nation. He goes on to say, the
country continues to live in the brilliant light of El Sol, that is the sun. It's a sunny
nation, while being in one of the deepest dark nights of the soul on earth. That's Spain.
You and I think of countries where communism has prevailed in the last half a century as
being dark. Consider the fact that in China, in China, still a communist government, it
is estimated that 10% of the people are Christians. Compare that to Spain, where there's one
in the thousand. I wonder how many there are here in the Bay Area. I would suggest to you
that there are fewer percentage-wise in the Bay Area than in China, who are followers
of Jesus Christ. You and I live in a morally and spiritually dark area. We ask ourselves,
why are there wars? Why are there injustices? Why do the rich get richer and the poor get
poorer? Why do women and children become the victims of violence? Why is it that liars
and greedy people and the arrogant seem to succeed and even gain political power in our
world? We could go on and talk about many more of the realities that you and I face
every day and we hear about on the news and we see in the world around us. Where does
this come from? It comes from the darkness of our world. That's the reality of our world.
The innate moral darkness that is in the human being is enforced too, environmentally, by
the dark powers that are at work in the spiritual order. There are fallen beings in the angelic
order that are called demons. The Bible speaks about the powers of this dark world. It's
not talking about the political powers there in that context of Ephesians 6. It's talking
about the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms that is in the invisible realms,
the angelic realms. You see, there is a… We live in a dark world. It is dark because
of the absence of God's light in people. Though people are relatively good, there is
a moral evil that every man must deal with. And in addition to that, there is this governing
principle in the system of the world. That is satanic, which the Bible calls the powers
of this dark world. There is this supernatural influence upon the darkness of humanity that
deepens the night and exerts influence to enslave people, to corruption, and to wickedness.
Satan is at work in our world. As it says in the book of Job, he roams through the
earth, going back and forth in it, in order to organize and enforce darkness upon human
beings. He is the Darth Vader figure of the dark empire of demonic powers. All of the
evil in our dark world can be traced to the condition of the human heart, apart from God.
That is coupled with the influence of satanic principles that he is enforcing through evil
spirits. Our world exhibits the darkness of being in rebellion against God.
Now, what does John say? The light shines in the darkness. That brings me to my next
point, is what the world has experienced, and that is illumination, because John does
say that in this darkness, the light shines. He goes on to say in verse 6, 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. And so he introduces to us John the baptizer, who
was the announcer and the forerunner of the light as prophesied by Isaiah the prophet.
But he makes it clear that John was not the light. He was the witness to the light. He
says the true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. That light
is Jesus himself. Now, John introduces this theme here, but then he quotes Jesus in the
eighth chapter and the twelfth verse is saying, I am the what? The light of the world. He
says, this is Jesus. The one who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the
light of life. Jesus says, I am the light of the world. Now, understand that's more than
just a figure of speech. He is literally incarnated light. The brilliance of God's person which
no one can look at. The brilliance, the glory of who God is, dwelled in the body and the
person of Jesus. He said, I am the light of the world. It's a truth. A number of years
ago I met a young lady who at the time I knew her was the mother of several small children.
She and her husband had lived a rough life though before their family came. They had
both been involved in drugs and other kinds of substance abuse. She recounted to me a
story when after years of drug abuse she was completely depressed. Darkness had come into
her soul and by the way the use of substances like that, of drug abuse, opens the soul up
to satanic influence. Did you know that? She said that she had gotten to a point where
her world was just small and dark and she sat down in a room and wanted to die. She
could hear voices telling her to kill herself and end it all. In addition to the voices
that she heard, she could hear as it were like dogs that were barking at her in her
ears. There was this sound, there was this noise that was driving her crazy. But somewhere
in her past she had heard about Jesus years before this but had rejected the message.
God gave her grace in that moment to cry out to Jesus. And as she was overwhelmed by this
darkness and the noise and the voices telling her to kill herself, she simply cried out,
Jesus help me. And she said at that moment there was light that flashed into the room
like lightning flashed. And the darkness was immediately dispelled and all the voices
were silenced. And the light filled her heart and she at that moment had hope that she could
find forgiveness in life and came to faith in Jesus Christ. I want to tell you when Jesus
says I am the light of the world, he means that literally. At his birth brilliant light
came into this dark world. It was like the sun rising after a very black night. Isaiah
writes about this in the eighth and ninth chapters of his book. In the eighth chapter
he warns that the Assyrian army is going to invade the country of his people. Isaiah
warns that they are going to come into the north part of the country that we call Galilee
and they called Galilee. And would surround Jerusalem although it would not take the southern
kingdom of Judah, eventually Assyria would take away captive the people of the northern
kingdom called Israel. And he says that they would be thrust into utter gloom. Nevertheless
Isaiah says, there will be no more gloom for those who are in distress. In the past God
humbled the land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, that's that same area up there called the
Jezreel Valley, the area of Galilee. He says God humbled that area but in the future he
will honor Galilee of the Gentiles by the way of the sea along the Jordan. The people
walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in the land of the shadow
of death of deepest darkness literally it says, a light has dawned. And then in verse
nine, excuse me, verse six he goes on to say, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son
is given and he gives that marvelous messianic prophecy. What is Isaiah saying? He's saying
that in the darkness of this world and specifically there the darkness of Galilee, the light would
come. Where did Jesus have his ministry? Where were his headquarters? In Galilee, Capernaum,
along the Jordan River. He was born in Nazareth which is in the hill right beside the Jezreel
Valley, the land of Zebulun, Naphtali, Galilee, that's where the light came. The world has
been illumined. Jesus demonstrated the power of the light that he had in himself by restoring
the sight of a man. After saying in chapter eight of John, I am the light of the world.
In chapter nine, Jesus encounters a man who was born blind. He'd been blind from birth.
And Jesus instructs him to go and to wash the clay that he had put in his eyes out at
the pool of Siloam. And the man did that and he could see for the first time in his life.
And the Jewish leaders were very upset about this. Do you know why? Because he did this
on Saturday. He did it on the Sabbath. They called the man in. They questioned him. They
examined him. Who is this that healed you on the Sabbath? They were concerned that he could
see, having been blind from birth. Who healed you, they said. They questioned him a second
time. They said, this man who did this to you is a sinner. He said, you know, whether
he's a sinner or not, I don't know. But this I know once I was blind. But now I can see.
He said, I've got light now that I didn't have before. You see, when Jesus said, I am
the light of the world, he fulfilled that. And by the way, that he would bring light
to the blind is a part of the prophecy of the Old Testament. Isaiah 29.18 says that in
that day, that is the time of Jesus, out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind
will see. He goes on to say in Isaiah 35, then the eyes of the blind will be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped. These are messianic days of the Messiah. God says
in Isaiah 42, I the Lord have called you in righteousness. I will hold you, hold, take
hold of your hand, rather. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the
people and a light for the Gentiles to open the eyes that are blind to free the captives
from prison. So when Jesus healed the blind man, he was making the statement that he is
the Messiah. He is the one who was sent by God into the world to illuminate. And I love
the way John puts this, the light shines in the darkness. Not that it once shone, it
shines now. And it's still shining today, shining through his people. For although Jesus
is in heaven, he shines through you and me who are followers of his. As Paul says in
Ephesians chapter five, for you talking to us now, he says, for you were once darkness,
but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light for the fruit of the light
consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth. That's how we're to live. And find
out what pleases the Lord, have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but
rather expose them for it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
But everything exposed by the light becomes visible for it is light that makes everything
visible. Light has a lot of purposes, but among them it is to make things visible. When
you and I live for Jesus in this darkened world, his light shines through us. How does
the world respond? The same way that it responded to Jesus by rejection. And that's the third
blank in your notes. The world responds by rejection. We had a beautiful solo that said,
welcome to our world. And we say that with all of our hearts, but that is not what the
world says. The world didn't say it 2000 years ago and it doesn't say it today. John says
the world did not recognize him. He came to his own. His own did not receive him. As we
read in John chapter five, John chapter three, everyone who does evil hates the light. You
see, darkness does not want to be exposed. It resists the light. It hates the light.
It rejects the light. Whatever makes its character evident is not welcome. That's why all of
us when we sin have the first inclination to hide or to cover up our sin. John chapter
nine and verse 39 says, Jesus said, for judgment I have come into this world so that the blind
will see and those who will see, who see rather will become blind. What is Jesus saying in
those cryptic words? He says, well, I came so the blind will see. He healed a blind man,
that very chapter. But it also means that those who are spiritually blind may have their
eyes opened to the truth, but those who think they see the self-righteous and proud religious
leaders of his day and those who in our day think that they're just fine the way they
are and don't need God, he says that they will become blind. There is a rejection and
a judgment that comes because of that rejection. And not only is there darkness in the human
heart that rejects the light, but we find in 2 Corinthians chapter four, verse four,
it says the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers. So they cannot see the
light of the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. In other words, the human heart
is dark and blind to the light of God. But that innate darkness that is in us because
we have turned from God is reinforced by a supernatural darkness and blindness that Satan
puts around us because he does not want us to see. How then can anyone see? That brings
me to my last point. How our world escapes the darkness, the blindness. It is by a miracle,
a miracle. That's the only way. You and I are not in ourselves going to be able to escape
the darkness and the blindness that we ever see light, that we ever come to the place
of being delivered from darkness is an absolute miracle of God. John says, all who received
him, to them, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children
of God. Because I want to say those who are born of God, not by human effort, by human
works, but those who are born of God. And Jesus picks up on this in the third chapter
when he says, you must be born again. And Nicodemus, who was blind at that point, didn't
understand. He said, well, how can I enter into my mother and be born again a second
time? Jesus said, no, no, no, no, Nicodemus, I'm talking about being born of the Spirit.
A miracle. Just as much as the miracle of that blind man in John chapter 9 is the miracle
of Jesus opening the eyes of one who is blind to see him as Savior. You and I have a role
in this today because Jesus is in heaven. You and I have a role that's very similar
to that of the apostle Paul that says in his commissioning in Acts 26, Jesus says to Paul,
I'm sending you to them, the Gentiles, to open their eyes and turn them from darkness
to light and from the power of Satan to God so that they might receive forgiveness of
sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Folks, do you see that? When
you look at those words, though that is specific to Paul, it is your privilege and mine to
do the very same thing, to show others the life of Jesus and the light that comes through
that life so that their eyes are opened and they can see and they can then turn from the
darkness to that light and from the power of Satan to God and be saved. What a privilege
that is. Jesus said, I am the light of the world, but He also said, you are the light
of the world. Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and
praise your Father who is in heaven. Well, we've worked our way through what I wanted
to share with you from the Gospel of John, but I want to close this morning very briefly
with a couple of questions. These are important Christmas questions for someone like you in
a place like this, our dark world. Ask yourself first of all, have I experienced God's miracle?
That's what Christmas is all about. Light came so that you and I could experience the
miracle of God, which is forgiveness of our sins. Philip Bliss was one of the most prolific
songwriters of the last half of the 19th century. His name is not known by most people today,
but he and his wife were very well known in their day. He is the one, for example, who
composed the music for, It is well with my soul, which we sing. The words are written
by Spafford, but it was Bliss, his friend, who set the words to the music that we know
so well. 131 years ago this week, on December 29, Philip Bliss and his wife, Lucy, left
behind their two toddlers, boarded the train in Rome, Pennsylvania, where they lived, to
go to Chicago to be in a meeting with Dwight and Moody. They connected with another train
in Buffalo, New York, and the train left the station about 4.15 in the afternoon in a raging
blizzard. They made pretty good time, though, about 15 miles an hour, it says, through the
snow driven by the winds off of the Lake Erie. They rounded the corner south of Buffalo and
moved into Ohio. Just outside of Ash Stabula, Ohio, they crossed a trestle. The trestle
had been replaced just a few years before this with iron. It had been wood for many,
many years, but a new, strong iron trestle was built. The train was passing over the
top of this trestle, two engines now pulling the train through the snow. The first engine
made it safely off the bridge, but just as it got onto the solid ground on the other
side, there was a snap and a roar and a violent twisting of the rest of the train and a sickening
turning as the cars plunged down 75 feet into the ravine below into the icy river. And there
were some people who were able to escape the cars. They were badly twisted and crushed.
Some had been impaled on iron. Others were trapped under the weight of the cars. And
because, of course, there were stoves and lamps in the train, immediately fire broke
out. Philip Bliss was able to get out one of the windows, but he realized his wife was
not with him. He went back to the burning train and found that she was trapped inside.
And so he climbed back inside the train, and there, seeking to free her, the two of them
went into the presence of the Lord. And with a hundred other people, they died in that
terrible tragedy. A few days later, there was a memorial service held in Chicago at which
Dwight Moody was the officiant. Eight thousand people filled the hall. Four thousand stood
outside in the January cold. Now, I mention Philip Bliss because it was he who took the
words of Jesus in John chapter 9 and put them to music. A few years before this, he had
heard a preacher preach from John chapter 9, and he wrote that song that some of us
remember, The Whole World Was Lost in the Darkness of Sin. The light of the world is
Jesus. If you know it, sing it with me. The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin.
The light of the world is Jesus. Like sunshine at noon day, His glory shone in. The light
of the world is Jesus. Come to the light, tis shining for thee. Sweetly, the light has
dawned upon me once I was blind, but now I can see. The light of the world is Jesus.
Years later, there was a missionary in Calcutta, and he was there during an eclipse, and he
looked out upon the masses of the lost pagan people of India who in this eclipse were terrified,
and they were going down to the river and baptizing themselves in the total darkness
of their religion. And as he was watching all of this from somewhere, he heard the
strains of a small group of Christians singing, The light of the world is Jesus. My friend,
is he the light in your life today? Have you experienced the Christmas miracle of having
your eyes opened? But there's a second question I want to ask as I close, and that is, what
am I doing to extend his light into the world? Philip Bliss wrote another hymn one time.
It was a hymn that was based upon a message he heard Dwight and Moody give. Moody was
appealing for people to come to faith in Christ, and he told about a story, a true story outside
of Cleveland, Ohio again on Lake Erie, not too far from where Bliss would eventually
die. There was a ship, a passenger ship that was fully loaded coming into the Cleveland
Harbor, and the pilot had gotten on board the ship to guide the ship safely into Harbor.
And the captain of the ship said, are you sure we're Cleveland where we need to be?
I don't see the lights, because you see there were lower lights, there was a lighthouse,
but then there were lower lights that had to be lined up in a certain way to get the
ship into the harbor. And the pilot said, no, the lower lights are not burning, they're
out. And he'd steered the ship, but he missed the harbor, and the result was the ship went
into the rocks, and many, many people lost their lives that night. And Moody's point
was, believers, you and I are those lower lights. Our father has a lighthouse in Jesus,
but you and I are the lower lights that must be on to guide people. And so Bliss picked
up that theme the next night, he came back to the service, and he sang for them for the
very first time, brightly beams our father's mercy from his lighthouse evermore. But to
us, he gives the keeping of the lights along the shore. Let the lower lights be burning.
And to Gleam, across the wave, for to us he gives the keeping of the lights along the
shore. Is your light burning for others to see? To guide them into the only harbor there
is for the soul? Let's use it this Christmas time to do that, the friends, family that
we're gathered with. Let's let the lower lights be burning in our lives, and extend
the light of Jesus into the dark world around us. Let's pray together. Father, we've been
reminded even this very week how brief life is, and how important it is that you and I,
that we, your people, work together with you, bringing light into the world. And I pray,
Father, that as we meet with family and we see friends over this holiday season, that
we will be the life of Jesus bringing light to them. But I also pray, Father, for some
friend who's here that may not have that light at all and be lost in darkness yet.
Oh, Father, I pray that right now, even in the simplest of prayers, they would cry out,
Jesus, help me. And you would send the light flooding into their souls and lead them out
of that darkness into your marvelous light and away from Satan into your power, out of
the kingdom of darkness, into the kingdom of your dear Son. And I pray this in Jesus'
name, amen. Amen.