Why do we Celebrate Christmas?: The Reason--A Light Shining in the Darkness

Introduction

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. The word Advent means Arrival, the first Arrival of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Why did Jesus come in the first place? What was the reason He needed to arrive? Why did the immortal need to become mortal and the infinite to become finite? Why did the God of the Universe who spoke the Universe into being come in the form of a small child? Why did the Light come into this Dark World? As we begin this series: Why do we Celebrate Christmas, ask yourself do you know Jesus?

All was Good

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it (John 1:1-5)

The same word in the LXX (Genesis 1:3-4) that we see for LIGHT is the same word that John uses at the opening of his Gospel. It parallels the opening of Genesis. (Genesis 1:1-5)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

This was the first day of Creation. The second, third, fourth, and fifth days we see the creation of the sky, the oceans, plants, trees, fish, birds. Then on the sixth day God created land dwelling animals and incidents. Then He created something special starting in verse 26 of Genesis 1.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:26-31).

But one must ask, why is there darkness? If all was good in the beginning? What happened? What is the problem?

Darkness: Sin enters the picture

All was good until Sin entered the picture. God had given humans (Adam and later his wife Eve, the first humans) one command.

Genesis 2:8-9; Genesis 2:15-17

The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

One command. Do not eat of the fruit of this one tree.

Genesis 3 we find out what happens.

(Read Genesis 3)

Sin is anything we think, say, or do that displeases or goes against God.

James 1:13-15 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

They were drawn away in temptation by their own desires (to know good and evil) they were enticed and it became a strong desire and it gave birth to sin and sin gives birth to death. God had said they would die. Now at that moment they sinned they didn’t drop dead, but their relationship of walking with God broken. Their bodies started to decay and would it would lead to their death.

Yet in the midst of what will happen to them we see a reason for HOPE (verses 14-15). There will be a redemption from this curse.

Yet, before the redemption would come things would get worse.

The Cost of Sin

Sin has a high cost!

Adam and Eve’s first son Cain would murder their second son Abel (Genesis 4) and things would continue to go downhill. The Old Testament records a global flood to destroyed all but 8 humans, yet soon after the flood humankind continued down a destructive road again. Sin has a high cost.

Romans 6:23a “ For the wages of sin is death,...” The payment for sin is not just physical death, but spiritual death.

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned”

Romans 8:19-22 “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. “

Humanity has spiraled down Romans 1:28-32 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

Yet, as I began with John 1 there is hope, the Light that was to come into the darkness.

The Light in the Darkness

John 3:1–21 NKJV

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

Jesus Christ, the birth we celebrate this season is the Light of the World. He is the Light in the darkness. He is the One who exposes sin, but more importantly He is the One who forgives sins. He is the One who was promised back in Genesis. The reason why we celebrate Christmas is because we are sinners, in need of a Savior, a Redeemer. We could not save ourselves.

Conclusion: The Need for Recompense

What did Jesus Christ do to be our Recompense? Our payment? The wages of sin is death, the payment is death. What did need to do to buy us back? Next Sunday we will look at what Christ did for me and you to pay to have us restored to Himself.