JESUS IS THE LIGHT!

Because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace."

INTRODUCTION

Merry Christmas Southpointe!!!

Christmas is a greatest time of the year!! I want to talk to you this morning about the greatest time in the history of the world.

The time that the light came into this world.

To be able to get a clear understanding of this we must go back to the very beginning.

To the book of the beginnings which is the book of Genesis.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Here in our English writing we have 10 words, but in the original Hebrew, there are just seven words in the opening verse of .

And those words are make up of 28 letters, which is 7 multiplied by 4.

Seven is the number of perfection and four is the number for creation.

So God’s Word is showing us that the primary creation was perfect when it left the Maker’s hands.

What we understand is that The Word of God that we study and use is for our dispensation in other words it is for us today.

I believe that the Word of God point to the fact that when God created the world it was perfect.

So the question must be asked what happen between , when the world was perfect and then

The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Understand that from 3 time span is around 6000 years.

But the earth is older than 6000 years.

Scientists have calculated that Earth is 4.54 billion years old, with an error range of 50 million years.

In the beginning God, this is the foundation truth of all real theology.

In the beginning God created:

We are a small fraction of the time and space that the earth has seen.

I believe that the Bible point all this out and that during this age which is now which is man’s dispensation.

Something happen in between and that destroy the earth.

Two words will bring some clarity to all this: Creating and making.

Created-

There is a big different between creating and making:

To create is to call into existence something out of nothing.

To make is to form or fashion something out of materials already existing.

I need the spotlight on the cross and I need a cross (Ricky is making)

For an example: a carpenter can make a cross out of wood, but he is quite unable to create the wood itself.

If you notice again that In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.

These a few things that God created whales,

But we see in

For in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them;

I believe that the early history of this earth corresponds with the spiritual history of the believers in Christ.

Just as the earth was in darkness so was mankind.

The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

And God saw that the light was good. Then He separated the light from the darkness.

In these verses, we first see the activity of the Holy Spirit and then we see the spoken Word.

The Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Here is where hope begins!! God did not abandon the primitive earth that had become a ruin.

His purposed to resurrect it, restore it and the first thing we read of in bringing about his desired end was— the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

There was Divine activity!! There was a movement on the part of the Holy Spirit. And this was necessity!

If there was to be restoration and a new creation, Divine power must intervene, The Spirit of God must move.

Understand this morning, the same held truth in the Spiritual realm. The fallen man had no hope.

Adam rebelled against his maker. Fallen man in himself is as helpless as was the fallen earth.

This must be accomplished by God!!

Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

First, we had the activity of the Holy Spirit and now the spoken Word.

At least, 10 times in Genesis, we will read “God said”. And the first thing God said was “let there be light!”

Turn the light on bright

When the light comes in that was produced by the Word.

The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

This marks the initial step of God’s work in the soul.

For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

At the end of the Old Testament the closing book of Malachi there was 400 years of silent from God, no word, no prophets, no message. It was know as the dark ages.

Then we find John the Baptist who was the forerunner for the Messiah.

But the light had not yet appeared.

First, it was John the Baptist who was the forerunner for the Messiah.

Then comes Christmas morning, the light appear.

L She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped Him snugly in strips of cloth and laid Him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped Him snugly in strips of cloth and laid Him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terrified,

but the angel reassured them. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.

The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!

And you will recognize Him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger."

Just as the shining of the light in , God spoke and said let there be light now we see God speak again He sent the light into the World.

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them.

and God divided the light from the darkness.

The radiance of the Lord’s glory. The light of the world.

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

On that Christmas morning, Jesus the Son of God, the Light of the world was born into a dark world to show mankind the way to eternal life.

There is a big promise here from Jesus to all that will follow Him.

The promise is clear to me: walk in the light not in the darkness of this world and you will have life with Christ.

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light."

He existed in the beginning with God.

God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him.

The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

Not only on Christmas morning was the light of the world brought into this world, The Word was manifest again into a dark world.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Not only on Christmas morning was the light of the world brought into this world, The Word was manifest also.

This is the Christmas story the Word became human and walk among mankind and He brought light to the dark world, the dark hearts of men.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

This is not a figurative expression but I believe a statement of literal fact.

You see, we are made in the image of God, The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit, man is made in three part also.

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.

We see the spirit, soul and body.

Many believe that the spirit is capable of God-consciousness, the soul is the seat of self-consciousness and the body is of sense-consciousness.

When Adam sinned, he died spiritually. Now physical death is the separation of the spirit from the body, but spiritual death is the separation of the spirit from God.

So what happen is that the spirit cut ties with God, and the spiritual part of man is in darkness, the control of man takes a fall and goes to the next level which is the soul.

The soul is now in control and the soul is the seat of man’s lust, passion and emotion.

So now man is doing the works of the flesh, and in the flesh.

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

But in the Christmas morning, the work of regeneration, The Word of God pierces even the dividing asunder of soul and spirit.

So what happen is the spirit is rescued from the lower-level control of the soul.

Communion is brought back with God:

God divided the light from darkness.

I want to end with this thought>>

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded the

The shepherds

Outside of Joseph and Mary the first people to know about the “good news” is a group of people least likely by society to be given this privilege.

Shepherds were a despised class of people in Jesus’ day, nothing like the image we have of them from our nativity scenes in our Church plays!

Shepherds were considered so unreliable in Jewish society that of all people they were the only group that was not allowed to testify in a court of law even if they were eyewitnesses to a crime!

The modern view we hold of shepherds that they were peaceful men loved by society is so wrong!

As a class these shepherds were often poor, uneducated, often considered outcasts of society that performed a meager but necessary service … to watch over the sacrificial lambs for slaughter for worshippers.

This area from Bethlehem to Jerusalem was where the herds of sacrificial lambs were tended for use in Jerusalem and the Temple by worshippers.

It is interesting to take note of this fact since Christ was the “Lamb of God” and it is to these shepherds who oversaw the herds for sacrifice in the Temple that the Angel of God comes to announce news of the Savior’s birth.

b. It is interesting to take note of this fact since Christ was the “Lamb of God” and it is to these shepherds who oversaw the herds for sacrifice in the Temple that the Angel of God comes to announce news of the Savior’s birth.

Since these are the shepherds of sacrificial lambs it is highly appropriate and prophetic that they should now be called to come and see the “lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.”

For these persecuted and despised men God gives them the best Christmas that has ever happened!

The Down and out, the outcast and poor and uneducated was the one the God showed the light to first.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.