Another well-known prophecy is that of God providing a great light. This daily devotional looks at how the Christ Child is that Light.
Nuggets
- The people walking in darkness are those who have not ABCDed.
- God wants Darkness People to be turned into Light People.
- The Son came to be our Savior in spite of what we did.
- Jesus’ sacrifice drives out the sin, allowing those who have ABCDed to then bask in His light.
Devotions in the Prophecy of the Christ Child series
One of Isaiah’s prophecies was that we would be given a great light. Maybe those in his day knew what he was talking about.
Do we?
Let's Put It into Context #1
The Holman Bible Dictionary defines prophecy as “reception and declaration of a word from the Lord through a direct prompting of the Holy Spirit and the human instrument thereof.”
Resource
Prophecy is a divine revelation to mankind through the Holy Spirit of a future event. This was God telling us that we would be delivered.
Let's Put It into Context #2
“Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the future he will bring honor to the way of the sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations (Isa. 9: 1 CSB)
To understand the light, we have to contrast it with the darkness. Sin has been equated with darkness. We think of darkness as the absence of light.
When we remember that Satan has been called the prince of darkness, we can see that is correct because God and Jesus are not present. “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col. 1: 13 ESV).
It is Satan’s mission to blind mankind of the light. “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (II Cor. 4: 4 ESV).
We also think of darkness as providing excellent cover. We can see that many think their sins are invisible and not seen by man or God.
We weren’t made to have a dark image. We were made in God’s image. He is light, so we were to have been light. Sin mucked that up.
It was into this landscape that Isaiah prophesied about the Christ Child being a light. Spurgeon wrote, “There is to be a light breaking in upon the sons of men who sit in darkness, and this light is to be found only in the incarnate God.”
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Seeing the Light of the Christ Child
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light …” (Isa. 9: 2 CSB)
The people walking in darkness are those who have not ABCDed. They are still allowing Satan to govern their lives.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
God loves all of His creation. We know this because
- “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3: 16 CSB).
- “… God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5: 8 CSB).
God wants Darkness People to be turned into Light People. We only do that by believing in the Savior He sent.
Yes, people saw that Savior. Stewart gave a list of people Jesus appeared to after the resurrection alone. He wrote,
“Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, the women that came to Jesus tomb (Mary the Mother of James, Salome, and Joanna), Peter, and two disciples on the Emmaus road. He also appeared to the remainder of the Twelve Disciples with Thomas absent. Later he appeared to them with Thomas present. There was also an appearance to seven disciples on the Sea of Galilee. On another occasion he appeared to over five hundred people at the same time. There is also an appearance to James. Finally Jesus appeared to Saul of Tarsus – the man who became the Apostle Paul.”
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Think of all those Jesus saw before the crucifixion. We know on different occasions, He fed 5,000 and 4,000 people. He saw a lot more people during the three years of His ministry!
Jesus came in the flesh — 100% Man and 100% God. Perowne wrote, “… Jesus Christ as the Word made flesh is the true Light which lighteth every man.” Jesus have up His spirit body to take on a fleshly body, so that we might see Him.
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The reason Jesus came was so that we could be fixed. His shedding His blood would restore our relationships with God.
The Dawning of the Light of the Christ Child
“… a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness (Isa. 9: 2 CSB)
Okay, something just popped in my head, and it has to come out of my mouth. Errrrr, my fingers.
The sun is going to rise, and it is going to set. We have no control over whether it comes or goes. The sun is going to keep on keeping on in spite of what we do or don’t do.
The Son came to be our Savior in spite of what we did. Mankind disobeyed God. We had no say in whether we wanted or needed a Savior. We did. Some of us still do.
As soon as Adam and Eve committed the original sin, God said Jesus was coming to be our Savior. “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen. 3: 15 CSB).
Glossary
In fact, God had it all planned out that Jesus would be our Savior before He created us. Before we had even sinned, God set in motion the Plan of Salvation.
Glossary
Hoare gave a good explanation of why Jesus’ as the Light was needed. He wrote, “To the Jews, how well calculated was His appearance to clear up the obscurities of their own Mosaic ritual and prophetic declarations! To the Gentiles, no less did the coming of Christ present a religion able, for the first time, to resolve all their doubts, to satisfy all their wants, and unite the whole family of man under one great Head of all.”
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The Christ Child as the Light of the World
“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life’” (Jn. 8: 12 NASB)
Plop this verse next to the world-is-in-darkness verse. Light drives out the darkness.
Jesus’ sacrifice drives out the sin, allowing those who have ABCDed to then bask in His light. That Light grows life — eternal life.
That is what the prophecy of the Christ Child is all about. That is His whole reason for coming to earth.
Before the foundation of the world — before we had even sinned — Jesus was tasked with being the Light of the world. He readily accepted and completed the task.
“… he who follows Me …” (Jn. 8: 12 NASB) is the only qualifier He puts on who become children of the Light. He doesn’t say they have to be rich — or poor. He doesn’t say they only have to be Jewish.
Any and all who genuinely search for Jesus can find Him. Ryle wrote, “He is not for a few only, but for all mankind.”
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Jesus said there is only one qualification to be children of Light — a.k.a children of God. “But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name” (Jn. 1: 12 CSB, emphasis added).
Following takes faith. Faith is the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives. It takes commitment.
It is a choice. If we don’t truly believe that Jesus is the Light, then we won’t be committed.
Then we won’t be a sheep on the right. We will be a disappointed disciple.
Glossary
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Making the Connections
“For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Cor. 4: 6 CSB)
What? You say you are having trouble seeing this light?
First off, you have to search for it if you have not ABCDed. You have to continue to seek it if you have.
You are probably not finding it because you are looking out in this world. You won’t find it there.
You have to look inward. You have to find it in your heart. You have to look for it with your mind.
“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength” (Mk. 12:30 NLT).
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Glossary
How Do We Apply This?
“You are to open their eyes and turn them from the darkness to the light and from the power of Satan to God, so that through their faith in me they will have their sins forgiven and receive their place among God’s chosen people” (Ac. 26, 18 GNT)
We can only see the Light when we open the eyes of our hearts. How do we do that? We circumcise our hearts.
Resource
Glossary
“for once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light” (Eph. 5: 8 RSV)
We go a long way in doing that when we walk with the Spirit. Walking is the term used to describe how we live our lives.
When we walk in the Spirit, we follow God instead of human nature. We obey His laws and commandments.
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The Light of the world was prophesied all those years ago. The prophecy came true — and the Light is still in the world today.
Search and seek for it this Christmas season.
Father God. It is always about us — restoring us to being Your children. Help us to see Your light. Most importantly, let others see Your light in us. Amen.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
If you have not admitted that your relationship is not right with God,
have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,
and have not confessed your sins,
please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
Related Links
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
Don’t know what your spiritual gifts are?
Take this Spiritual Gifts Inventory
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
Job Duty #4
Proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16: 15)
Job Duty #6
Make Disciples (Matthew 28: 19-20)
Job Duty #1
Be a Living Sacrifice (Romans 12: 1-2)
Job Duty #2
Work Out Our Salvation (Philippians 2: 12)
Job Duty #3
Bring Him Glory (Matthew 5: 16)
Job Duty #4
Proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16: 15)
Job Duty #5
Love People (John 15: 12)
Job Duty #6
Make Disciples (Matthew 28: 19-20)
Job Duty #7
Other Duties as Assigned
(Ecclesiastes 3: 1)
It Was Enough
Vocalist: Elaine Guthals
Keyboard: Chris Vieth
What do you think?
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