This world we live in is filled with darkness. Just look around, a narcissistic megalomaniac is leading in the polls at three times his nearest competitors, guns are topping most people’s Christmas list this year and the President of the United States is being lauded by the media for his golf game.
Meanwhile, the Islamic state is murdering a Christian every five minutes somewhere in the world and a couple was arrested for beating up a blind salvation army bell ringer.
The condemnation is that we love the darkness more than the light and the darkness is becoming very dark indeed.
That is why we need a proper understanding of Christmas not the sickly sweet version that we see on the Hallmark Channel or yet another cartoon about Santa Claus.
No, what we need is the light of the world shining brightly into the darkness. We need the bright and morning Star to remind us that this winter will only remain for a little while and that sin and death will soon come to an end.
We look forward to the messianic age when Satan has been bound and we look forward to the new heaven and that new earth where Jesus is the only source of light because he is quite literally the light.
But what about the here and now? Well, that is the interesting part, for you see we are to represent the light and together we make up that shining city on a hill. I believe that America, for a brief moment, represented what was possible when people move towards the light and reflect that light to the earth.
We got it wrong when we thought it was democracy that we needed to export to free the world but really it is the gospel that brings liberty, light and warmth into the world.
As we celebrate Christmas we should not focus on the darkness, because the Islamic state will continue to conspire to do evil in this world and the godless will continue to work toward the elimination of liberty and freedom in favor of debauchery. Instead we should acknowledge that God sent his son to save us from the darkness so that we can share the light with all those who desire to walk in it.
