Walking With Christ

12 days until Christmas.

Every message in this advent series has built upon the ones before in some way. This build up is a lot like the building anticipation of the birth of Christ. Walking through the history in the old testament shows us many great examples of our flaws and God’s love and grace for us. We see many examples of His absolute control over His creation and how He can work even the most impossible or improbable situations to the benefit of the kingdom. It also shows the effect that sin has had on the world and those who are in it, which is the reason we are so far separated from God. This separation is the reason we need to be reconciled with our creator. The old testament is a long list of examples that show that none of this was an afterthought to God. The coming of the messiah had been prophesied from the very beginning. Today, we will continue to the end of the prophecy of Zechariah. This prophecy about John the Baptist being the herald of the messiah ends with speaking about the coming events.

Luke 1:78-79 (78)because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high (79)to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.(ESV)

In verse 76 it says that John will go before to prepare the way. For what? Why?

In Genesis 2:17, when God told Adam “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”(ESV), He already knew that Eve was going to eat the apple and Adam would follow right behind. He knew about the separation, the gulf, that would be opened when they ate the apple. He also knew that He had not built into us a way to bridge that gap. It would be His mercy that would provide a way and His goodness that would lead us to that way. The moment Adam and Eve ate the apple, sin was released into the world and death began to stalk the inhabitants. This shadow of death hunted all who lived in those days.

What is a shadow? What is darkness? Darkness isn’t a thing. It has no substance. It has no power. So what is it? Simply put, darkness is the absence of light. A shadow is caused when something passes between the source of light and the object behind it. The shadow of death, then, signifies that death had come between the source of light, God, and the earth and all of those who lived there. There are plenty of places in the bible where sin is personified almost to the point of being able to claim it as another being in existence. Sin is more closely described as the absence of God rather than a specific created being. This can help us to understand the concept of sin better. The root definition of sin is to fall short of a goal or miss the mark. The personification of sin helps us to conceptualize it’s insidious nature.

Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death” (example of personification) which can be restated as “the consequences of living without God is separation from God”. This is free will at work. We can choose to live without God. The result of that choice is that He will honor our wishes and let us spend eternity without Him. When Adam and Eve ate the apple, sin entered into the world. Sin is repaid in death or separation. It is the “wages” of sin that come between our source of light and us.

It’s because God has mercy, back to Luke, that a new sunrise is promised. Calling the coming messiah the sunrise is pretty apt because He would rise over the sin that had taken dominion over the world. His rise would bring light to the places previously in the shadow of death. The simple truth is that light versus dark doesn’t change what dangers exist on a given path. Walking that path in darkness makes it much more likely that we will stumble into those dangers because we simply can’t see them. The light of our path makes choosing our steps much easier. There is much less to guess about. Pitfalls and trip hazards are a lot easier to see and thus avoid. This doesn’t mean that we can’t or won’t trip or make poor choices on where we step out of arrogance or ignorance, but it will be far more obvious as to why we tripped when we walk in the light.

When we walk in the light it becomes a lot easier to find our way. Finding our way brings us to a place of peace much quicker than fumbling around in the dark. Advent is about the celebration of God turning on the light. He said, “let there be light” then sent light into the world through His son, Jesus. If we claim to be Christians then we are to be mirrors that reflect His light back into the world.

Light and dark. Life and death. The battle between these two opposing forces are just different ways to describe the with versus without God debate. Since free will was first used by Eve to do something contrary to God’s design, we have needed a way to overcome the imbalance that was caused. Jesus brings light to the darkness. Jesus brings life where there was only death before. Jesus is that bridge that corrects the imbalance of free will. Believing in Him and trusting in God’s promises moves us into the light. First we hear, then we believe. First we read, then we believe. First we are told of the danger we are in then we ask for help. Read the bible and join together with other believers as often as possible. Walk in the light. Be transformed by living in the light.

Father,
We thank You for another opportunity to come before You to sing Your praises. We thank You for Your eternal mercy and grace. We thank You for the light of the world, and for sending Him into the world to correct the imbalance and pay the wages of sin for us. We know, Lord, that there is no other way to You but through Your son and we believe on Him. We ask, Father, that You pour out Your spirit on us to give us wisdom to walk in the light on the path that You have made straight. Let us live in the light You sent and reflect that light back into the world with the same purity we received. Let us humbly serve Your kingdom all of our days. Let us not boast of any good works by our hands because we know that our best is but dirty rags. We ask that You work in and through us for the glory of the kingdom. Open our eyes and hearts to those in need this season. We know the anticipation of the coming of Christ that we celebrate this advent, but we also know that there are those who cannot fully celebrate in joy because they are either still under the shadow of death or they have lost sight of the light because of the weight of tragedy in this life. Let us walk in the light as He is in the light so that Your light through us would light the path of the lost so that they can find their way to the path of peace. We thank You, Father, for the work You are doing in us and through us. We sing praises to Your holy name forever more.

In Jesus name we pray, amen.