Message by:
Pastor Terry Crawford
Covenant Church
Shepherdstown, WV
John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word 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.
John 1:4-5
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The 3 words we need to pay close attention to are life, light and darkness.
Our gift from God was not a what but a who.
He began all things with life and came as a life to give us life. Life begins with him and is sustained by him. Stuff will never satisfy, so all the wants leave us empty. But in Jesus, the way, the truth, the life, we find our rightful place in God’s kingdom.
Life - Sun (gives us life, but also illuminates our darkness) power source
Light -
Our gift from God was not darkness but light.
This is important because the use of light here represents life and the ability to see our path to God clearly.
John 3:19
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Darkness deals with the motives of our heart and the actions of our lives.
Darkness - Our ways, sin, it will always desire to overcome but cannot.
1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore don’t judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts. And then praise will come to each one from God.
Romans 13:12
The night is nearly over, and the daylight is near, so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
So darkness is the power of evil and unbelief. The darkness is the world of evil and unbelief and death and judgment.
What you will experience in darkness.
- Fear
- Confusion
- Hopelessness
- Lack of movement
- Faulty Confidence
Following Christ brings light into our lives to see clearly.
Micah 7:9
Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until he pleads my case and upholds my cause. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.
Paul before King Agrippa (Jesus spoke to Paul)
Acts 26:17b-18
I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
The gift of life and light is for everyone.
John 1:9
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
Overcome - direct and powerful attack
Motives of the heart
So the first reason the light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it is that this light is living—it has energy and purposefulness and growth and reproduction. It is not a static thing, like a stoplight that might be ignored. The light that shines in the world today is the very life of the Son of God.
That leaves one last reason for why we can be sure that the light will not be overcome by the darkness. Not only is the light a living light, and not only is the life of this light the life of God's Word through whom he created all things, but this Word, this life, this light, IS GOD! And God Almighty cannot be overcome.
And the light shineth in darkness,.... Which, through sin, came upon the minds of men; who are naturally in the dark about the nature and perfections of God; about sin, and the consequences of it; about Christ, and salvation by him; about the Spirit of God, and his work upon the soul; and about the Scriptures of truth, and the doctrines of the Gospel. Man was created a knowing creature, but, not content with his knowledge, sins, and is banished from the presence of God, the fountain of light; which brought a darkness on him, and his posterity, and which is increased in them by personal iniquity, and in which Satan, the god of this world, has an hand; and sometimes they are left to judicial blindness, and which issues in worse darkness, if grace prevents not: now amidst this darkness there were some remains of the light of nature: with respect to the being of God, which shines in the works of creation and providence and to the worship of God, though very dimly; and to the knowledge of moral good and evil:
Christmas is the end of religion as we know it. We don’t get a religion, we get a person.
Covenant Church Website
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