Discover the Light of the World (Advent week 5)

Jesus is the Light of our World

Luke 2:12–17 NKJV

And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.

Well, it’s Christmas Eve, and we have gathered to celebrate in song, to worship in prayer and to focus on Christ at Christmas.

One of our Christmas traditions here at Southside is the Advent wreath. Each Sunday of Advent we light an additional candle on the wreath in anticipation of Christmas.

For our Advent messages on Sunday mornings, we also used the various candles on the Advent wreath as the themes for our messages. For example, the first advent candle represents hope, so the first Sunday of Advent we looked at hope in light of Christmas and the Christmas story. But you may have noticed there’s one candle left on the wreath, and that is the center candle, also called the Christ candle. The Christ candle is saved for last and lit on either Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. And so this being Christmas Eve we have lit all four outside candles as well as the center candle in celebration of Christmas.

The Christ candle is in the center because the Christ candle reminds us that Jesus is the center of Christmas. The four outer candles are all important, but they only make sense with Jesus at the center. Yes, Christmas is a time of hope, peace, joy and love, but once again, this is only because of Jesus. And so, this morning I want us to look at Jesus, and how we only have real hope, peace, joy and love in our lives because of him.

I. There is no real hope without Christ

So, let’s talk about hope first. Jesus is the center of Christmas because there is no real hope without Christ.

We learned that the whole advent season is all about hope and anticipation. It’s about the people of the Old Testament waiting all those long years for Christ to come. And it’s also about us who are waiting and longing for Christ’s return. God promised to send Jesus the first time, and he did. God has promised to send Jesus a second time, and he will.

Christmas is all about hope because it’s all about Christ. Because God sent his Son into the world, you and I have hope. We have hope for today because Christ is with us. We have hope for tomorrow because Christ will never leave us. And we have hope for eternity, because Christ is coming back to take us to be with him forever.

Too many people live without hope today because they live without Christ. And so that’s the first reason Jesus is the light of the world, because all real hope is found in him. There is no real hope without Christ.

II. There is no real peace without Christ

There is no real peace without Christ.

Our world is sadly lacking peace today because our world is lacking Christ. The religious leaders of this world won’t bring you peace. The political leaders of this world won’t bring you peace. The pop psychologists of this world won’t bring you peace. All the drugs and medication in the world won’t bring you real peace.

Only Jesus brings true and lasting peace. He is the Prince of Peace. He is the Savior who came to bring peace between you and God. He is the coming King who comes to reign in peace over all the earth.

The angels who announced the birth of Christ to the shepherds out in the fields sang songs of peace on earth, goodwill towards men. And so that is a second reason Jesus is the center of Christmas, because Jesus brings peace. There is no real peace without Christ.

III. There is no real joy without Christ

There is no real joy without Christ. When we looked at the advent candle of joy, we saw that Jesus brings joy, which differs from happiness.

This world offers a lot of entertainment, a lot of excitement, a lot of thrills, but very little joy. Joy is deeper than happiness. Happiness is temporary and dependent on circumstances. But Jesus offers you a joy that transcends your circumstances. Christmas is not always a happy time for people. Especially if we have lost someone close to us, it colors the season for us. But Jesus offers you a joy that will sustain you even in your deepest sorrows. True joy doesn’t mean you will never be sad. It means that even in your saddest hours, God is with you, you can trust him, and therefore you can have joy.

And so that is a third reason Jesus is the center of Christmas, because Jesus brings a joy that is deeper than happiness and even deeper than our sorrows. There is no real joy without Christ.

IV. There is no real love without Christ

There is no real love without Christ. When we looked at the advent candle of love,. We saw God’s love for sinners in sending his own Son into the world as a sacrifice for our sins. And we saw our love for others which is a natural response to God’s love for us.

When we say that there is no real love without Christ, we’re not saying that you can’t love your family or be loving towards others unless you’re a Christian. There are many people who do not follow Christ who are still very loving people. But what we are saying is this: whether you realize it or not, your love for others is only possible because of Jesus, because Jesus is the Son of God. And you cannot experience or express fullness of love without Christ.

The Bible tells us that God is love, and that all love comes from God. (1 John 4:7-8)

The story of Christmas is all about love, because Christmas is all about Jesus. The Bible says: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10)

The baby born in Bethlehem grew to be a man. He lived a perfect life with no sin. He went to the cross and died a horrible death. And the Bible tells us why he did all this. He did it for you and for me. God sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. That’s why he came. That’s why he lived. That’s why he died. And that’s why he rose again – so he could be our Savior forever and rescue us from sin and Satan and death.

This is how God showed his love among us. He sent his Son. And so that’s the fourth reason Jesus is the center of Christmas, because God is love, and all love comes from him. There is no real love without Christ.

CONCLUSION: Let me close with an illustration to help us pull all this together. There’s something about a fire in the fireplace that is so soothing, so pleasing, especially around Christmas time. We sometimes turn the TV on to the “Fireplace Channel.” That’s right, there is an actual channel which just shows a fire in a fireplace on your TV screen twenty-four hours a day. We just leave it on in the living room to get the feel of a fireplace in the home.

What is it that people love about a fire in the fireplace? It’s the whole experience, isn’t it? The light that the fire sheds, the warmth that the fire brings, the scent of the burning wood and the crackling of the embers – these all combine to make it such a beautiful experience. But you can’t have all those things without the fire. The things we love about the fire come from the fire, and the fire is at the center of the light, the warmth, the scent and the crackling.

It’s the same with Christ at Christmas. We all want hope, peace, joy and love, but some people seem to want them without Jesus. It’s like wanting the light, warmth, scent and crackling of the fire in the fireplace without the fire. It doesn’t work that way. Just as the fire is central to all the good things about the fire, so Christ is central to Christmas. Hope, peace, joy and love come from him. He is the center, and we only enjoy the good things of Christmas because of him.