The Light of Life
Day 4 - Sunrises and other creative brilliance
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” -John 1:1-5,9-12
(photo by Lisa Shkrobot)
I think that Jesus liked sunrises. I imagine when Jesus was growing up and later, as a young man that he enjoyed getting up early and watching the sun rise, enjoying a unique perspective about God the Father’s creative brilliance. The Bible tells us that Jesus often got up early, before dawn to pray and I am confident that there were many times when Jesus marvelled at the sunrise and talked to God about the beauty of those scenes.
John tells us that Jesus too was involved in the creation of the sunrise; in fact Jesus was involved in all of creation. John makes this especially clear by intentionally using the phrase ’In the beginning’, which is the Hebrew name for the book of Genesis, based on the first verse of Scripture. Jesus was involved in the creation of all things, including the very first sunrise. Beyond that, John tells us that in a profound sense Jesus Himself was the ‘true light’ that was dawning on the earth. Unfortunately, this truth has proven too difficult for many people to grasp, and that is why John wrote that Jesus ‘came unto his own, and his own received him not’ (KJV).
The Scriptures teach us that Christ has come, Christ is present and Christ will come again. During Advent we focus on the promises of the Messiah’s birth and the Messiah’s return as King, but we should also seek to be aware of how Jesus is present to us today, through the Holy Spirit. The light of Christ shines in the darkness of our world and in the darkness we experience in our own lives.
How might Jesus be present with us today? Where might Jesus ‘come to us’ today? Will we recognize where He is present and receive Him? As we do so, we embrace hope, we welcome the true light that gives life.