The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
- Isaiah 9:2, NIV
One of the themes throughout Scripture is the contrast between light and darkness. God, who defines himself as light, is full of goodness and truth. He is like the sun—bright, shining, and illuminating.
Darkness, however, represents sin. Darkness is what happened in the heart of humanity when Adam and Eve sinned against God in the garden of Eden. And just like with the sun, darkness cannot coexist with light. Therefore, sin separates us from God. We have been living in deep darkness ever since—stumbling, tripping, falling—harming ourselves and others.
Without God’s promise of “a great light that will dawn,” spoken through the prophet Isaiah, humanity would be left with no options but hopelessness and despair.
But there is every reason for hope! For with the promise of God, so comes the provision of God. And for those who believed the promise, in hope they eagerly anticipated this great light that would come. Though they lived in deep darkness, by faith they searched for the promised light. By faith they waited, not knowing how or when the light would come, only that it would. By faith they believed the Messiah would come, bringing the light of salvation to all.
Unlike us, they did not know that many years later this great light would arrive in the fragile form of a tiny baby, born in an obscure little village called Bethlehem.
It would be the apostle John who would later record these words spoken by Jesus himself: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12, NIV).
Jesus, thank you that you came to earth to bring light and life into our darkness.
This devotional can be done in conjunction with BLINK, the Christmas storybook for children. Pick up your copy at Waumba Land or UpStreet this Sunday.
