Crosswalk the Devotional - Dec. 7, 2007
December 7, 2007
The True Light That Shatters the Darkness
by Fred Alberti, Crosswalk.com Manager of Communities
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
Genesis 1:3-4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:1-14
In the stillness of the birth of time God gazed upon the darkness that blanketed the void and declared, "Let there be light." The blaze shattered and separated the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
We're at the time of month now when people are busily putting up Christmas lights. How do I know this? Well, our neighbor believes it is his duty to test the energy output of our local electric company by plugging in 15,000 lights. I often wonder if the space station orbiting earth re-adjusts their coordinates based on the illumination from the house across the street.
Obviously, for those lights to be noticed there needs to be darkness. So it was during the fullness of time that God once again spoke the Word and brought forth the Light. Not the neon lights of Vegas or the funny little fake Christmas tree lights that our neighbor uses but the True Light.
The Light who brought forth creation was now going to become an intimate part of that creation by being born Himself. The begotten of God once again would shatter the darkness declaring the glory of the Father.
Jesus appearance upon the map of time was just as momentous as His first act of creation. For in the words of Isaiah, "the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." (Isaiah 9:2)
It is easy to fall into the illusion that we are walking in the land of the shadow of death when death surrounds us all. However, as Christians we are not in the darkness. Peter says, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9)
Are you shining for the glory of God?
Now is the time to "plug in" and declare Jesus Christ, the Light… the True Light of the world.
Intersecting Faith & Life: Purchase a small stuffed animal and donate it to your local law enforcement to be given to a small child who is facing a dark time in his or her life.
Further Reading
2 Peter 1:19-21
The Difference Between Light and Darkness
