THE Night, LIGHT AND SIGHT OF CHRISTMAS
Luke 2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night
Consider three aspects of That Silent Night:
.I. The Night of Christmas (v. 8)
To thoughtful people, that little phrase "by night" has significance beyond the physical night that shrouded those shepherds who guarded their sheep. While it was a physical night, it was also a spiritual night. Two things characterized that night:
1) There was the Stillness of the Night (v. 8)
For 400 years heaven had been silent. Then something happened. God's timing had come and the silence of that dark night was broken by the voice of the angel proclaiming the birth of the Savior. If that silence had not been broken, the world would have been doomed to eternal darkness.
2) There was the Darkness of the Night (v. 8)
The darkest hour is always before the dawn, and that is the point in time when God visited this planet in the person of a little babe. As history records, it was truly a dark night. Romans 1 depicts the state of human depravity. But into that night of stillness and darkness a voice was heard and a light appeared.
II. The Light of Christmas
God had turned out the light, 400 years had gone by and there had been no voice and no light. And then it happened God reached down to a stable in Bethlehem and turned on a light. Jesus had come as the Light of the World. This was God's Saving Light. A beacon of light shined forth from that stable that night. A light to light the way of man
1) There was God's Light of Warning
This is the light that guarded the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve had been driven out of their paradise. It appeared as a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the tree of life Genesis 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
2) There was God's Light of Burning
This is the light that burned in the bush that was not consumed Exodus 3:2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. Moses learned that God is a consuming fire and demands nothing less than holiness
3) There was God's Light of Searching
This is the light that blazed on Mount Sinai when Moses received the tablets of the Law Exodus 19:18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. Such was the glory of that experience that Moses had to veil his face as he came down to meet the camp of Israel.
4) There was God's Light of Shielding
That was the light that focused on the mercy seat where the high priest sprinkled the blood on the Day of Atonement. A cloud covered the tent and the Lord's glory filled the Exodus 40:35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
5) There was God's Light of Guiding
This is the light that guided the Children of Israel throughout their wilderness wanderings Exodus 40:38 For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
III. The Sight of Christmas (v. 12)
The shepherds saw a baby in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Let us look into what they saw: His clothing pointed to His death.
1) They Saw the Humanity of God (v. 12)
In terms of human form, God was unknown. Although the patriarchs, the psalmist, and the prophets had seen manifestations of Deity, they never saw Him personally. But now God had come in person and was lying in a manger. He is no longer unknowable or unapproachable. He has clothed Himself with humanity. He has entered life and become relevant. He has entered history and become redemptive.
2) They Saw the Humility of God (v. 12)
Those words "lying in a manger" spell out the humility of God. God in Christ was not born in the palace of Herod. He was not laid in a cradle of ivory, overlaid with gold. Instead, he was born in a cold cave and nestled in a manger filled with straw, amid the stench of animals. This is the humility of God.
Conclusion: God enable us to grasp the concepts of the night, light, and sight of Christmas, and then commit ourselves to the Christ of Christmas in adoring worship and service.
Revelation 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.