The Darkness

Part of my sermon from Sunday Dec 16. It was a very dark world when Mary was told by an angel that she would be with child. God had not spoken in over 400 years, he had not even sent a message through an angel or one of his prophets. It must have been pretty tough to live in this world. Israel was a part of the Roman empire. They were not there own. Darkness can be defined as the absence of light. And this is just what every Israelite was experiencing. One thing that is important to know is that light transforms darkness. Even something as small as a candle in the darkest of rooms spreads a lot of light. Have you ever walked into a dark room, one with very little light. It is hard to see, almost impossible. But the longer you are in the room your eyes begin to adjust to the darkness. This is how it is with sin. When you first walk into it you might not be able to see or even recognize it. But the longer you are in the dark you are able know what it looks like, know it by name and even choose to fight the temptation. However the more accustom with it, sometimes you can become use to being a part of it and partaking it. John 1:9 says, “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” When the light enters the dark space it transforms the darkness. As Jesus comes into every situation he will bring light onto each situation. Jesus can and will show you the sin in your life. The Light reveals Glory. It will show his magnificence and splendor. It will take you by storm and show you the awesome power of God. The Light reveals Grace. Romans 5:20-21 says “The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” Grace is an amazing thing. It does not matter how much darkness/sin we have in our lives. Jesus will come into our lives to transform the darkness to light. I love this verse because it shows that the more sin you have in your life, there is more forgiveness. But we are not to take advantage of that grace and continue to live in the dark. Most of you know I have an 8 month old named Tedy. Every now and then Tedy will make a face and his whole body will tense up. You know exactly where I am going and what I will have to do. I will have to change a dirty diaper. When Tedy does this, Daddy steps in removes the diaper and cleans his crap-covered bum. I give him grace because this is all he knows and I will continue to come into his life and give him grace by changing his diaper. Just as Christ comes into our lives and removes the darkness. But if Tedy comes to me at 8 years old and tells me he needs his diaper changed we have missed something. We have not taught him what he needs to know. He has not grown and his life has not been transformed by the grace we have shown him The Light also reveals Truth. God comes in and shows us what we need to know, how we should live, and how to follow him. He reveals this through scripture. John 3:21 says, “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” We need to continue to live in the light to help us see the truth. The best thing Christians can do is to reveal the light. The light will reveal his glory, grace and truth.