1 00:00:00,001 --> 00:00:05,680 Man, the 1980s was a wild time with some terrible, terrible movies and so 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:11,040 hopefully you were spared from most of them. I, however, was not spared from a lot 3 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:16,960 of them. I was able to see a lot of those terrible 80s movies even as a five, six 4 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:22,440 year old. I was able to watch Predator and Alien and my dad kind of liked some 5 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:25,440 intense movies and he just kind of shared them with me and hopefully you 6 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:30,120 were spared from this one. I wasn't though. The 1980s classic The Blob. The 7 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:35,280 Blob. Anybody seen The Blob? Alright, whoa, a couple people. Oh wow, I'm shocked 8 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,960 because not a lot of people saw it. If you've never seen it, please do not go 9 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:43,640 look it up. Do not go see that movie The Blob because I was, you know, I was fine 10 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,960 until I saw it. None of the other movies got to me but then The Blob changed me. 11 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:51,920 It changed me to my core, alright. I used to sleep like a normal human being but 12 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:55,760 after The Blob, I could not. I had to sleep under seven or eight blankets 13 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:59,680 because I was terrified and one of the things that changed is that I had to 14 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:04,360 have so many nightlights in my bedroom. If there was a place to plug in a 15 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,000 nightlight, a nightlight had to be there so that when you turned out the lights 16 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,840 in my room for me to go to sleep, it was like just as bright. Like you could read 17 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,680 a book in the middle of my room with the lights out because the nightlights, there 18 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:20,360 were like 13 of them or something and so because to me, The Blob lived in the 19 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:24,320 darkness. If it was dark, that's where The Blob could be but with the lights on, 20 00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:30,400 it made all the difference. Look at what Isaiah 9 says on the screen. It says, "The 21 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:35,240 people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land 22 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:40,720 of deep darkness, a light has dawned." Those words, deep darkness, the way Isaiah 23 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,400 wrote it, it's kind of a term he coined and it just means that this land of just 24 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:49,680 the death's shadow. That we are people walking in death's shadow, a place of 25 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:54,280 deep, deep darkness all around us but then he goes on and says this, "This light 26 00:01:54,280 --> 00:02:00,840 has come for unto us a child is born. To us a son is given and he will be called 27 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:08,560 Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." This 28 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:12,120 was written about 600 years before the birth of Jesus but everybody who was in 29 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:17,480 darkness at that time started looking and searching and waiting. When is the 30 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:22,080 light gonna come? When is this one gonna come into our world, into our lives, 31 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:28,000 that's gonna shine this light? They were eagerly looking and waiting and then 32 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,920 look at verse 4 of our text, John 1 verse 4. John writes about him. He says, "In him 33 00:02:32,920 --> 00:02:43,560 was life and that life was the light of men." The light of men. We need light. We're 34 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:48,320 all looking for light. We're looking for what's most beautiful in life. We're all 35 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:53,680 on this search to be more enlightened, to figure out better ways to do life. We're 36 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,440 all in search of the good life. You know that feeling when you're in the dark 37 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:01,080 about something and then someone kind of flips the lights on and you see it in a 38 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:04,120 new way or you see something you never saw before and you're like, "Oh man, I 39 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,200 didn't know. I didn't know life could be better. I didn't know this it could be 40 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:12,200 this good." Like for me it was it was washing my legs. Like I just didn't know. 41 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:16,040 I grew up in the Midwest and so I never, us Midwestern boys, we didn't wash our 42 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,280 legs. We just let the soap take care of it on the way down. That's just a 43 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:23,040 Midwestern guy thing. Like ask anybody that grew up in the Midwest. And so then 44 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,920 I got married and my wife one day was like, "Hey man, did you wash your legs?" 45 00:03:26,920 --> 00:03:30,380 And I was like, "Why would I do that? The soap took care of it, you know, on the way." 46 00:03:30,380 --> 00:03:34,400 And she was just like, "No!" She instantly regretted marrying me. She's like, "What? 47 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,840 What do you mean? You don't wash your legs?" And I was like, "No." So it's a 32 year 48 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,400 old man. The switch, the light switch flipped on and I realized I should wash 49 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,920 my legs. You know, it's been great. It's been a wonderful experience for me. 50 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:53,240 But you know that feeling when the light comes on. We need the light. Why? Because 51 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:58,560 look at verse 5. The light shines in the darkness and yet the darkness does not 52 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:06,360 overcome it. That's why we need the light. Because there's darkness. If there were 53 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:13,520 no darkness, we wouldn't need a light to shine. But there is darkness. Powerful 54 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:19,200 darkness in this world and powerful darkness in our lives. That's part of the 55 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:22,840 message of Christmas. It's not one that we like to focus on a lot, but part of 56 00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:27,140 the message of Christmas is that there is darkness in this world. Christmas 57 00:04:27,140 --> 00:04:33,080 means that the monster exists. That there's a dragon. A darkness that spread 58 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:38,240 and infected everything and a darkness that must be dealt with. If there's no 59 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:42,480 darkness, there's no need for a light. 60 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:47,960 Maybe you've been feeling that lately. You've been feeling how dark this world 61 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:54,720 really is or you've been feeling how dark you yourself really are. Man, the 62 00:04:54,720 --> 00:05:01,080 darkness can feel overwhelming. It can consume our lives. But John's writing 63 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:06,000 here to say, man, the light has come. The light that shines in the darkness and 64 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:10,080 the darkness, powerful as it may feel, the darkness in this world and in our lives 65 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:15,360 cannot overcome the light that has appeared. The light that's come, it drives 66 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:22,960 out the darkness. And John says in verse 4, it's in him. In him. It's the him he's 67 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:28,700 been talking about in verses 1 through 3. The Word made flesh. God, our Creator, who 68 00:05:28,700 --> 00:05:33,360 took on flesh when he was born into this world to live just like us. It's Jesus. 69 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:39,920 Jesus is this life that is the light that we're looking for. This light 70 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,800 that drives out the darkness in this world and in our own lives. And so John, 71 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,920 man, he wants us to know this good news that the light has come because he knows 72 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:52,320 we have a problem. And it's not just the problem that we're in darkness. I mean, 73 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:58,480 technically, it's not a problem anymore. The light has come. The light has driven 74 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:02,520 out the darkness, is driving out the darkness. That's not really our problem 75 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:08,040 anymore. Our problem is that the light we long for, the thing you and I are 76 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:15,480 searching most for in life, the light, we're looking for it in the wrong places. 77 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:22,680 We consistently look for the light in the wrong places. Like look at verse 6. 78 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:27,640 John says, "There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness 79 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:32,840 to testify about the light so that all might believe through him. He was not the 80 00:06:32,840 --> 00:06:37,560 light, but he came to testify about the light. The true light that gives light to 81 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:44,440 everyone was coming into the world." You see, John, the writer of this gospel, is 82 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:49,760 writing about another guy named John. We typically call him John the Baptist. He 83 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:53,600 was a preacher who came before Jesus and God used John the Baptist to prepare 84 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:57,560 everyone for Jesus. John the Baptist was out in the wilderness telling everybody 85 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:01,640 that Jesus was coming and they needed to get ready. He was pointing everyone to 86 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:04,640 the light, but he was this really impressive preacher. He was kind of this 87 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:08,440 wild dude. And so people were coming out of the towns, out of the cities. They were 88 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:12,200 coming into the wilderness to see John. And a lot of people became fixated on 89 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:19,240 John. And a lot of people hitched their wagons to John's train, 90 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:24,080 thinking that maybe he was the light they're looking for. And John, the author, 91 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:29,720 the writer here, wants to make it clear. John is not the light. We are constantly 92 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:34,080 trying to hitch our wagons onto trains that we think are 93 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:37,800 gonna satisfy us. We're constantly trying to grab onto things that we 94 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:41,000 think are gonna give us the light that we're looking for in life, whether it's 95 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:46,240 relationships or things we can acquire. We're constantly looking for light in 96 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:51,800 all the wrong places. John's writing to say, "Man, I know that John the Baptist was 97 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:57,120 impressive, but he wasn't the light. He was just pointing you to the true light." 98 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:02,720 Here's what that means, guys. Other people, other things in this world, they are not 99 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:08,600 the light that we are looking for or longing for. What do you feel like would 100 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:13,800 make you most happy? Like if you just got your hands on it. If you got this thing 101 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:17,440 in life, it would make you as happy as you could possibly be. The thing that 102 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:24,360 your heart longs for right now, what is that thing? It changes for us in 103 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,800 different seasons, right? We don't have to look much further than Christmas to see 104 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:32,120 that. Like when I was five, that thing was a bat cave. Like I wanted the Batman's 105 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:35,440 Batcave. Like I wanted that. I was like, "If I can get this, then life will be good 106 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:39,280 for the rest of my life." And then by six years old, it was a pogo stick, you know? 107 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:43,600 Fast forward to 16, it was a Mustang convertible. Like it just kept kind of, it 108 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:47,040 just changes for us. If I can just get this thing, then life will be good. But so 109 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:53,920 long as I don't have it, life stinks or it's not completely fulfilled yet. How 110 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:57,600 would you finish the sentence? "I'd be totally content and happy if I just had 111 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:07,840 blank." That's likely where you're hoping to get your light from. But the best that 112 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:12,040 anyone or anything else in this world can do is point us to the true light, 113 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:16,640 like John did. If we're hoping that another person or something we can 114 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:22,920 acquire can be the light for us, that thing or that person will let us down. It 115 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:30,360 will leave us in the dark. But John, he was pointing to the true light. The one 116 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:37,320 who won't let us down. The one who won't leave us in darkness. We could try to 117 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:41,560 grab onto relationships or money or figure out how to retire early. It will 118 00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:49,720 fail you. But there is a light out there that won't. And so what exactly do we 119 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:53,320 have to celebrate about the coming of the light, the coming of Jesus into the 120 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:57,160 world? What exactly do we have to celebrate this Christmas? Well number one, 121 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:02,560 we can celebrate that God has shined his light. God has done it. God promised that 122 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:08,080 he'd send light into the world and God did it. He has shined his light on us. In 123 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:12,640 the Bible, God's light is connected to his presence. And so when God himself 124 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:17,400 came into this world to be present with us, it was God shining his light as 125 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:27,080 powerfully as possible. God really, really wants to be with you. With us. That's the 126 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:30,960 story of the whole Bible. In the beginning, it says that God walked with 127 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,440 Adam and Eve. He wanted to be near them. And God didn't run away and hide from 128 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:42,800 them. They ran and hid from God. And when they did, God came to find them. And he 129 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:46,240 promised to fix the problem of our rebellion so that he could be with us 130 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:50,280 again. The whole Old Testament shows us how badly God wants to be with us. He 131 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:54,080 told his people to build this giant tent in their 132 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:57,600 wandering so that his presence could live in that tent. And then once 133 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:01,040 they settled in their land, God told him to build this structure, this temple, this 134 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:05,000 building for his presence to be with his people. And then here in the opening 135 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:11,080 pages of the New Testament, the Word made flesh. God come to dwell among us. God 136 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:19,760 really wants to be with you. Jesus shows us that. You ever thought about that amazing 137 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:25,160 truth? That the God of the universe, the God of unbelievable glory, the God that 138 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:28,680 angels worship can't even be in his presence because he's so 139 00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:36,720 glorious? That God wants to be with you, present in your life? And then we can 140 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:41,640 celebrate because the coming of Jesus brings God's presence to every part of 141 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:47,040 our lives, every moment of our lives. We can celebrate because God has shined his 142 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:53,040 light. He wants to be with you and he is with you. But we can also celebrate that 143 00:11:53,040 --> 00:12:00,420 God is the light. God himself is the light. You know in the early pages of the 144 00:12:00,420 --> 00:12:04,840 Bible in Genesis when we read about the creation story, you ever notice that light 145 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:12,060 existed? God said, "Let there be light," and then later on he created the sun. How is it 146 00:12:12,060 --> 00:12:16,360 that light could exist before the sun was created? Because what we read all 147 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:21,040 over is that the actual, that what emanates from God himself, his glory, his 148 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:28,840 majesty, the sum of all of his goodness, it's just light. He himself is light. And 149 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:33,280 here's why that's good news. It's good news because we know where we can find 150 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:38,200 the light we're looking for. We know where we can find supreme truth and 151 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:43,140 beauty and that's such great news because the message we get over and over 152 00:12:43,140 --> 00:12:47,680 again in life is that we've got to go find light. Usually we're told we've got 153 00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:54,160 to dig deeper in ourselves, right? Find yourself, be true to yourself. Elsa cried 154 00:12:54,160 --> 00:13:03,440 out, "Show yourself," right? The problem is this. The deeper we actually dig into 155 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:07,440 ourselves and into this world, the more we realize that there's actually 156 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:15,040 darkness down there. There's darkness there. We realize that we actually need a 157 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:18,840 light that comes from outside of ourselves and outside of this world. We 158 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:23,200 need a light from the outside to get in. You see, God doesn't tell us to go find 159 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:27,280 truth and beauty and light within ourselves. He tells us he'll provide it 160 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:33,440 for us, which means this. We can be lacking and still have God's light shine 161 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:38,560 on us. We can be sinful and still have God's light shine on us. We can be 162 00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:48,040 unworthy and still God's light shines on us. He has shined his light. He is the 163 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:52,760 light and when he shines his light on you, when you experience all that you're 164 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,560 looking for in Jesus, it gives you another reason to celebrate. This is the 165 00:13:56,560 --> 00:14:03,920 greatest one. God brings you into his light. God brings us into his light. Look 166 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:08,440 at verse 12. Here's what that means. It says, "But to all who did receive him," who 167 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:15,000 received the light, "he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who 168 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,800 believe in his name, who were born not of natural descent, nor of the will of the 169 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:24,840 flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." See what this is saying is that, man, if 170 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:29,400 you see that Jesus is God's light, if you see and believe that he's all that 171 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:33,880 you've ever been looking for, if you, the words John uses here, if you receive him, 172 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:39,480 then he has brought you into the light of Jesus, into the light he offers, and 173 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:45,760 that means you are God's family now. When God brings you into the light, he brings 174 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:53,240 you into his family. Look at what it says there. You have the right to be a child 175 00:14:53,240 --> 00:15:00,840 of God. You have the right. It is right for you to be a child of God. This is the 176 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:06,440 idea of adoption. It's the biggest reason we can celebrate the coming of the light. 177 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:10,480 I mean, it's great that Jesus came to forgive us of our sins and so that we 178 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:14,640 can no longer be guilty and have shame. That's great. Praise God for that. But if 179 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:17,960 that's all he came to do, then this is all about just a courtroom scene where 180 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:22,640 God, Jesus, takes our sins, takes them on himself, says, "Paid for, innocent," and then 181 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:26,160 we were escorted out of the courtroom into life to live on our own and figure 182 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:34,560 out what to do next. But this paints a different picture, a more fully beautiful 183 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:38,760 picture. It's not just that Jesus came to rescue us from our sins and from our 184 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:43,040 guilt and our shame. Praise God for that. But it's more. He came to invite us into 185 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:49,960 his family, to adopt us. We have the rights to be God's children, the rights, 186 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:54,520 the privileges, the inheritance of being God's child. When God brings you into his 187 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:58,200 light, you start to realize this. God isn't your supervisor or your boss. He is 188 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:03,520 your father. And a father's relationship with his kids isn't based on performance. 189 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:10,240 It's based on his love. You see, if you're in God's light, he loves you as his own 190 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:14,000 child. Not because you've impressed him, not because you've cleaned your life up 191 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:18,440 enough, not because you serve him or give sacrificially to him. He loves you because 192 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:26,880 he loves you. Which means this, you can't lose his love. If your good works didn't 193 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:30,800 get you into the family, then your failures can't get you kicked out of the 194 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:36,640 family. God loves you because he loves you, because he's a father who's brought 195 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:40,960 you into the family. We can celebrate because God has brought us into his 196 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:46,760 light and that means we are his kids. And now guys, those are amazing reasons to 197 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:50,080 celebrate. Honestly, they just are. They're amazing reasons to come around your 198 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:52,920 Christmas tree and to look at your presents and say, "Ah, that's a toy that's 199 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:56,240 gonna break in six months and this is something that's not gonna fit here in 200 00:16:56,240 --> 00:17:01,840 about two weeks." You know? But to instead come around the tree and said, "Man, God 201 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:07,240 has shined his light and God is the light and God's brought me into the 202 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:13,040 light." That is reason to celebrate. And so here's what's gonna happen, okay? We're 203 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:19,320 all gonna make a choice right now. All of us. Every person here. We're all gonna 204 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:24,840 make a choice about how to respond to this news. You are, you will make a choice 205 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:30,640 right there in your seat. Here's the options. Number one, some of you might 206 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:39,000 choose to reject the light. To reject it. Look at verse 10. It says, "He was in the world 207 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:43,120 and the world was created through him and yet the world did not recognize him. 208 00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:49,320 He came to his own and his own people did not receive him." You see, when Jesus 209 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:52,560 came there were many, many people who didn't receive him. Many people who 210 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:57,560 rejected him. And there may be some here today who respond to Jesus in that way. 211 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:02,320 It may be that God has thrown the lights on for you in the past or maybe even 212 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:05,400 this morning. He's kind of thrown the lights on and you're like, "Oh wait, Jesus 213 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:09,120 was God and Jesus came to do this? Jesus came to bring me into his family?" Like 214 00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:12,160 maybe that's new light for you. God kind of turned the lights on and you're like, 215 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:17,280 "Oh man, I didn't know it was quite this good." Maybe God's thrown the lights on 216 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,880 for you many times in the past but each time and maybe even now you're tempted 217 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:27,960 to say, "No, but I don't want it. I'd rather keep living life my own way. 218 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:33,240 Hoping that my money gives me light and that my relationships give me light and 219 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:40,040 that other things I can grab will give me light." Many people rejected Jesus in 220 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:47,480 his day. Many people will reject Jesus now. So that is one option. The 221 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:52,120 other way we might respond is to ignore the light. Do you see in verse 11 where it 222 00:18:52,120 --> 00:18:57,320 says that Jesus came to his own? To his own people. Do you know who that is? 223 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:01,480 His own people were the people who believed in God. The people who 224 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:05,040 believed the promise that God would rescue them. These were the churchgoers, 225 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:09,320 the hopeful ones. The ones since Isaiah wrote 600 years ago that the light would 226 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,360 shine into the deep darkness. That the wonderful counselor, mighty God, 227 00:19:12,360 --> 00:19:15,800 everlasting Father would come. They'd been searching, looking, hoping, waiting. 228 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:20,000 His own people. Jesus came. You think these are the people who would receive 229 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,240 him the quickest but he came to his own and his own people didn't receive him. 230 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:27,920 See here's what that means guys. It's possible to be around Jesus and still 231 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:34,320 miss Jesus. If you're here today and you're a Christian it's possible to 232 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:38,680 really miss Jesus this holiday season or to miss what Jesus is doing in your life 233 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:44,000 because you've been looking for your light still in other places. See when God 234 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,880 flips the light on for you, we come out of darkness and into light but 235 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,040 we've got to realize that part of our default, part of our nature is to still 236 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:57,320 live and act like we're in the dark. To still try to grab onto light and life 237 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:01,920 with so many other things and think that they'll give us what we know only Jesus 238 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:05,920 can give us. Maybe that's been you. Maybe you've been ignoring Jesus. You have him. 239 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,520 He's been a part of your life. You trusted him but man you've been grunting 240 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:17,600 after so many other things. You've just been ignoring the light that you have. 241 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:22,640 So listen, those are two options and man if you're in one of those camps, if 242 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:29,960 you're like yeah I'm rejecting the light or yeah I'm ignoring the light, listen 243 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:36,760 the dragon was there. The darkness was there right at the birth of Jesus. 244 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:40,080 Revelation 12 tells us about it when it writes about the birth that Jesus, look 245 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:43,560 what it says, "And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give 246 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:50,840 birth so that when she did give birth it might devour her child." You don't 247 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:54,440 hear that story a lot at Christmas. You don't see that in many nativity scenes 248 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:58,160 that at the birth of Jesus there was a dragon there but the darkness was there. 249 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:02,240 A couple years ago someone in our church put up a little nativity scene, Jesus, you 250 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:06,280 know all the things, but then got a giant huge inflatable dragon to put over it 251 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:12,240 and I was just like yeah that's Christmas! The darkness was there ready 252 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:19,120 to devour that child. And listen if you're in the space right now where 253 00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:22,000 you're rejecting or ignoring Jesus here's what that means, that the darkness 254 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:27,880 is right there. The darkness is right there wanting to devour this light, 255 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:36,360 wanting to devour the message from you receiving it and responding to it. Here's 256 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:41,320 the thing, here's what we read in John 1, the darkness can't overcome it. The 257 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,440 darkness in this world is trying to snuff it out but it can try but it won't. 258 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:50,080 The light is more powerful. God will keep pursuing you so that those who are 259 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:55,160 rejecting or ignoring Jesus can respond the third way. We can choose to celebrate 260 00:21:55,160 --> 00:22:00,000 the light. You can choose to celebrate the light because look at what verse 12 261 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:06,200 says, "To all who did receive him." To all. This message, this good news that the 262 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:13,400 light has come, it's for all, not excluding you. This message is for all of 263 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:18,160 us, for everyone to come into the light and later in verse 12 it says this, "To 264 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:22,600 those who believe in his name there is reason to celebrate." So what does it 265 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:28,000 mean to receive him, to believe him? How do you get in on celebrating the light? 266 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:34,520 Well here's the reality, if Jesus really is the light of life like the Bible says 267 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:40,740 he is, like 1st John says he is, then we cannot simply like him. You cannot 268 00:22:40,740 --> 00:22:48,240 like Jesus. But I think that's where a lot of people are at. Maybe that's where 269 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:52,400 you're at. You've come to a place where you're cool with Jesus, you like Jesus, 270 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,920 you think you can learn some good things from him, he's a good example about how 271 00:22:55,920 --> 00:23:00,200 to live life sometimes, he's inspiring, he's loving, and so you can get behind 272 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:07,640 liking him. Maybe that's where you're at. You like Jesus. I was a teacher once at a 273 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,960 school and I was a Bible teacher and I taught this course called Christian 274 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:14,760 Ethics. So it was a deep dive into seeing how the Bible says we should live as 275 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:18,520 Christians. And so I wanted students who were serious and so I made them apply to 276 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:22,720 take this class and so I rejected a few. And there was this one gal that I 277 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,400 rejected I was like, "Nah, I don't think it's right." And so she actually like 278 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:31,320 responded, said, "Oh, no, can I like challenge your rejection?" I was like, "Sure, 279 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,320 let's meet up." And she was like, "Okay, like I really want to take this class." And I 280 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:37,400 was like, "Yeah, but man and your stuff and the things that you wrote, like you 281 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:39,680 made it clear that like you're not a Christian, you don't believe in Jesus at 282 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:42,760 all, right?" She's like, "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not into this. I don't believe 283 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:47,200 that Jesus is God. I don't worship him. No, no, no." I'm like, "So, I'm just, why do 284 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:50,800 you want to take this class?" And she was like, "Oh, because I believe that the 285 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:55,680 things that he says are great. Like if I actually followed his teachings, if I 286 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:59,660 lived my life by his teachings, I think my life would be way better than if I 287 00:23:59,660 --> 00:24:04,280 didn't. My life would be way better. I think I'd have just a better life. I'd be 288 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:08,080 a better member of the community, better member of society. I would have a better 289 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:11,480 life if I just follow the teachings and example of Jesus, but I'm not gonna 290 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:15,440 worship him as God." And I was like, "Oh, so you like Jesus?" She's like, "Yeah, I like him. 291 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:24,880 I'm just not gonna worship him." And listen, as much as I appreciated her honesty 292 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:31,960 then and still appreciate it now, that is the only position that makes zero sense. 293 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:38,920 It makes zero sense. It didn't exist in Jesus's day. In Jesus's day, there were 294 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:41,920 groups of people. There was a group of people that hated and rejected him and 295 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:44,920 wanted to kill him. There was a group of people who were terrified of him and ran 296 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:47,480 from him and tried to ignore him, but there was another group of people who 297 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:53,360 bowed down their lives and worshipped him as Lord and King. There wasn't anybody 298 00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:57,200 who just liked him. There were some people who came for a while and kind of 299 00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:59,520 liked him, but eventually Jesus drove those people away because they're like, 300 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:06,440 "Oh yeah, wait. No, never mind." That's the only position that doesn't work, and it 301 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:11,440 still doesn't. So how do you get in on the celebration? It's not by liking Jesus. 302 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:17,360 It's by going all in, fully giving your life to Jesus, by bowing down your life 303 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:22,200 and saying, "I believe that Jesus is the light of God. Jesus is everything my soul 304 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:27,120 longs for, and I am trusting him with my entire life and getting up every single 305 00:25:27,120 --> 00:25:34,480 day and worshipping him as Lord and King." That's how you get in on the celebration. 306 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:40,600 Go all in with Jesus, and when you do, part of the celebration is telling 307 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:45,080 others. Like a member of a group who's lost in a cave, when you find that crack 308 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:49,280 of light in the rocks, you scream to all of them to come because you found hope 309 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:54,200 and life. Part of getting in on the celebration of being in the light of 310 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:58,000 Jesus is bringing others into the light. How are you going to shine that light to 311 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:02,400 others this holiday season? How are you, like John the Baptist, going to point others 312 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:08,440 to the light that God has shined in your life? Because God has shined his light. 313 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:13,240 God is the light, and he's invited you into the light. So how are you going to 314 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:25,480 respond? Reject him, ignore him, or celebrate the light? Let's pray together.