For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. II Corinthians 4: 6 NASB.
The first symbol of Christmas was light. The light of the star guided seekers to the cradle of the king. Goodness Incarnate, a babe, warm and peaceful.
God commanded first light into being and light came out of the darkness. He sent a new kind of light in His Son. Beauty, love, tenderness, and mercy came to a murky world of sin and hate. Goodness Incarnate was light to dispel darkness. Dark skies, dark streets, dark hearts became transformation, birth to new birth.
The battle of light and darkness persists. God and Devil, angels and demons war, one side for light and life, the other for nightfall and death. Humanity resides in the chasm between two armies.
Out of the darkness, light lets us see Christ, the Way. Advent brings candles, lights for our path.
The first candle is hope–the first candleflicker glow of early winter days. Night is long, but the Son’s light promises new day. We wait for His arrival.
The second candle is faith–the foundation for hope. Faith in Christ is the only road to hope. We know He will return.
The third candle we light this coming Sunday. It is joy. Faith and hope give us joy, His promised birth fulfilled.
The fourth candle is peace. Of the four Sundays of advent this year, this day will be the shortest, the darkest. But peace comes in “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
On Christmas Eve, there is a fifth candle, a white one to remind us of Christ’s sinlessness. On that day, the advent wreath brings the most light.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1: 4-5 ESV.
Hope, faith, joy, peace, purity.
Christians realize that Christ’s birth did not really occur on December 25. Even so, it is appropriate for us to mark His birth when the year is darkest but turning to new days of increasing light.
Before He created everything else, God spoke light into existence. Then He sent His own Son to be light to us. Then the Goodness Incarnate told us to light the world.
Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5: 16 NASB.
In dark days, glimmer. Glow. Shine.