[The Words of Advent] HOPESample

Christ: Life and Light in the World

A teacher was assigned to visit a hospital to help a boy who was getting behind. She was not prepared for what she saw: a little boy badly burned and in great pain. She almost turned around and bolted, but something held her in there. The next morning, the overnight nurse asked her, “What did you do? It is like somebody flipped a light on in him. He is fighting to live.” Later, the boy explained, “I had completely lost hope until I saw that teacher. They wouldn’t send a teacher to work with a dying boy, would they?”

When your power goes out, what brings you hope? A candle. If you have a rough night, what can you hardly wait for? The sunrise. There is always hope when there is light. All things were made through Jesus Christ. He intertwined hope into the very fabric of life, imbuing it with the certainty of Himself. Where there is life, there is hope. John says that in Jesus there is life, and that life is the light of all humankind.

Jesus, our Life and Light, came and shone in the darkness. It cannot overcome Him. The God of the universe sent His Son, the Light of the world, into a dark and dying planet. He sent the Light of hope for you and me.

John the Baptist, the last of the Old Testament prophets, gave his testimony so that no one would miss that Jesus is the Light of the world given to all. That is how gracious our God is. That is an incredible Christmas gift, isn’t it? And yet, sadly, there are those who don’t receive it. They would rather be in darkness.

For God so loved the world that He gave us His Son. In Him we have hope, life, light, grace, and salvation. We are born again because … God gave all of Himself for us. The Word voluntarily became human. He didn’t just come down and go right back up. He dwelt among us!

We celebrate Advent because 2000 years ago God gave us the gift of hope. His Son, Jesus Christ, became one of us. That is how much God loves us. We need to be sharing that hope!

Father, we give You thanks that You have been so merciful and gracious to us by bringing us to Your Son. He is our Life, Light, and Hope. May we share Him with others this Christmas, to Your glory.

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