Christmas Lights | Donovan Rillion | The Light Has Come

Let's read Isaiah chapter nine, verses one through

seven. But there will be no gloom for her who

was in anguish. In the former time, he brought

into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land

of Naphtali. But in the latter time, he has made

glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond

the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people

who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on

them has light shown. You have multiplied the

nation. You have increased its joy. They rejoice

before you as with joy at the harvest, as they

are glad when they divide the spoil. For the

yoke of his burden and the staff for his shoulder,

the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as

on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping

warrior in battle to molt and every garment rolled

in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

For to us, a child is born. To us, a son is given

and the government shall be upon his shoulder

and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace,

there will be no end. On the throne of David

and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold

it with justice and with righteousness from this

time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord

of hosts will do this. Let's pray. Father God,

we're so grateful that right now we get to take

time. For the Christ follower, we get to take

an entire season of the year to just remember

that the Redeemer has come, that the Restorer

has come, that Christ has come. And so, God,

as we reflect on the promise you made to Israel

so long ago, and as we look at the New Testament

and see where Christ has fulfilled that promise

and the new promises that he has made that you

have made, God, I pray that we will see that

great light. That we will know no gloom. That

the reign of your peace will hold. That joy will

overtake us. That love will be our law. And God,

that we would be citizens of your kingdom until

Christ comes again. Father, may your word reign

and rule in our hearts this morning. May your

gospel be preached. May our lives be changed.

It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The last few

weeks we've been talking about the Israelite

people in the midst of war. They've been in the

midst of invasion and their lives are full of

chaos and their reality is death. Their reality

is sorrow. It's unrest. It's displacement. It's

uncertainty. But the emphasis wasn't on the Israelite

suffering. The focus, hopefully, has been on

the light in the midst of darkness. Because while

Israel was in this time of darkness, while they

were in this time of suffering, what they are

being reminded of by the prophet Isaiah, the

words of God being spoken through him is don't

worry. The light is coming. Don't be afraid.

A Savior is coming. For the Israelites in Isaiah's

time, hope meant clinging to this promise, this

promise of a Savior, a Savior who would come

one day that would end their suffering, that

would bring peace to their unrest, that would

bring an end to death. He would bring an end

to sorrow. See, the Israelites, they knew the

history of this promise keeping God. They had

been taught the history since they were children.

Think of it the same way you learned history

in elementary school and middle school and in

high school. And for some of you in college,

you learned the things that happened not just

in our country, but the things that happened

in other countries. You've learned things like

how societies began and you learned about the

medieval periods. And then you learned about

the. the industrial revolution and you, you learned

about all the wars, you learned about all the

presidents, you learned about all the rulers,

you learned history. And so now if somebody asks

you a question about world war two or the great

depression, you might can tell them a little

bit of something about it. You maybe can't tell

them all the facts about it, but you can tell

them a little bit. The Israelite people would

have known their people's history probably a

little bit better than that because their education

was a little bit better than ours. Right? So

they knew their history. They knew about this

promise keeping God. They knew about how Adam

and Eve sinned and got kicked out of the garden.

They knew about how murder was brought into the

world through Cain and Abel. They knew about

their people being in captivity. They knew about

all of these things. What they knew was that

God rescued Israel from Egypt. They knew about

the many battles that God gave their people victory

in, that they had no business having victory

in. They knew about the promise keeping God.

They maybe couldn't tell you every detail about

it, but they knew that all throughout their people's

history, they have suffered. God has rescued.

They have been fearful. God has rescued. They've

been in captivity and God has rescued. They knew

their history of a promise keeping God. And remembering

that God keeps his promises should give them

reason to patiently await fulfillment of this

promise. And they would need patience. Because

it would be about 700 years between the time

that this promise was made and the time that

the Savior arrives. There was some gap there.

I think we can all imagine 700 years is a long

time. To give you reference, America is not 700

years old. But we feel like it's been here for

a long time. There's a 700 year gap between the

promise and the fulfillment. Israel waited through

centuries of hardship. An apparent silence from

God. Israel waited. They endured conquest by

enemies. They endured exile from their land.

They had to deal with generations under foreign

rule and oppression. They lived without national

freedom. And for nearly 400 years, they lived

without a recognized prophetic voice. A voice

from God. And in the midst of all of this, the

faithful did their best to keep the Scriptures.

They did their best to pray the promises and

wait patiently. But by the time the Savior arrived,

Israel was weary. Israel had grown tired and

they had felt this oppression and maybe they

had grown weary of longing. Not just for relief,

but for rescue. And you know how that feels.

You've prayed and you've prayed and you've prayed.

You've waited. But it seems like. God never answers.

You've dealt with the pain and you thought maybe.

If I just hold on a little bit longer and if

I just trust the doctors just a little bit longer,

healing will come. And if I if I just hold a

scripture and if I fast and if I pray and if

I meditate and I spend time with God, he'll do

what I need him to do. And we try to do what

we can to make God work on our time. But it doesn't

work that way. God works on his time. But as

we talked about last week, he always works. He

always fulfills his promises, even if you have

to wait 700 years. It may not be the timing you

want, but it will be perfect timing. And so we

remember what God promised. In the midst of the

suffering, the Israelites can look back to Isaiah

nine and they can read for to us, a child is

born to us, a son is given and the government

will be upon his shoulder and his name will be

called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting

Father, Prince of Peace. You know, in a world

where you're struggling with the government,

in a world where you're not sure what your society

is going to look like 10 years from now, much

less tomorrow, in a world where you're not sure

what tomorrow holds for you and your family,

your community, your country, your world, in

a world where life is very uncertain and you

read the words, a son is given. And everything

will be upon His shoulder. And He'll be called

Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government.

Of His government. Not the world's. Not yours.

His rule. That government will increase and of

peace there will be no end. Justice. righteousness

forevermore. We know this world isn't perfect.

We're very aware of that. And in fact, on most

days, we probably look at the world and say it

is anything but perfect. But the perfect is coming.

That's what Isaiah promises. He says to us, a

child is born. The government's going to be up

on his shoulder. He's going to be called all

of these wonderful things like Counselor, Mighty

God, Everlasting Father, Lord of Hosts. Y 'all,

this is not just any child that's going to be

born in some manger. This is God. That language

there is king language. I want you to hold on

to that understanding and remember that phrase,

for to us a child is born as we look at the Luke

2 passage. And in the same region, there were

shepherds out in the field keeping watch over

their flock by night, and an angel of the Lord

appeared to them. And the glory of the Lord shone

around them, and they were filled with great

fear. And the angel said to them, Fear not, for

behold, I bring you good news of great joy that

will be for all the people. Here it is. For unto

you is born this day in the city of David a Savior

who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign

for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling

clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there

was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly

host praising God and saying, Glory to God in

the highest and on earth peace. Among those with

whom he is pleased, the Savior is born, but he's

going to be found in a lowly manger. The Savior

has arrived, but the announcement of his birth

would be made not to kings, but to shepherds.

The Lord of hosts is here, but this great news

would be delivered in a pasture, not a palace.

See, God fulfills his promises in unexpected

ways and unexpected places to unexpecting people.

We think of these grand announcements like they

should be made to the people that deserve to

know. You know, when you think about the special

things that are going to happen in this world,

the announcements always happen to the insiders

or to the people that are on the inside club,

the people that are maybe the biggest donors.

Right. The announcements are made to the high

officials. First and then to the lowly people

like us. But when God decides I'm going to fulfill

this great promise that everybody's been waiting

on for hundreds of years, I'm going to make this

happen today. When he decides it's time, he doesn't

make the announcement to the king. He doesn't

make the announcement to the government. He doesn't

make the announcement to the rich people. He

makes it to the shepherd in the pasture. And

what I'm saying is, is God fulfills his promises,

but it's always in a very unexpected. And I've

got to tell you, I don't know about y 'all, but

I feel like I'm one of those shepherds. I'm not

a king. I don't live in a palace. I'm not the

wealthiest man. I'm not the most powerful man.

And so when I think about God fulfilling his

promises to unexpecting people, I think, man,

there's hope for me because I'm one of them.

And so I keep praying and I keep waiting and

I keep trusting that God will fulfill his promises.

But it may not happen exactly how the world thinks.

See, this announcement itself is magnificent.

It's unmistakable that this is from God. Who

else could make something like this happen? Who

else could do something like that? I mean, an

angel of the Lord appeared and the glory of the

Lord shone around them. Suddenly there was with

the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts. I challenged

you a few weeks ago to imagine what that might

look like. But this week I had AI generate an

image based on the text here in Luke 2. And this

is what it gave me. I want you to just look at

that for a moment and put yourself in the shoes

of the shepherd. When this promise that you've

been waiting on, that you've been praying for,

that you've been longing for, is finally announced

that it's going to be fulfilled, this is the

announcement. You're out in the field, just doing

your job. And bam, God shows up in a glorious

light. Your people have been suffering. You've

been displaced. You've been oppressed. You've

been hurting. And at some points, maybe most

points, you've been doubting if God even keeps

his promises. And then suddenly in the darkness

of night, the world around you is lit up with

an announcement from God saying it's time. The

fulfillment is here. Now, I want to bring you.

I want to bring this to our world today. You're

sad at the loss of a loved one. You're not sure

what tomorrow holds, if you even get a tomorrow.

You're enduring pain today that you've been praying

for for who knows how long that you just don't

know how to keep enduring. You're tired from

all the pain and injustice you see other people

experiencing in the world. You're just weary.

And the world around you is dark. But God breaks

through our darkest nights. And he says, I still

make good on my promises. In your wandering,

God promises to guide you home. In your hunger,

he says, I can feed you. In your battles, I can

defend you. In your uncertainty, I can give you

peace. In your sorrow, I can bring you joy because

that is exactly what the arrival of Jesus Christ

means for all people. The king of the universe

steps down into this darkness and he offers to

light up the world. Now, please hear this carefully

because it's very important. That night in Bethlehem

was not just the fulfillment of the promise.

It was the beginning of the next chapter. in

God's restoration plan and his redemption story

for his creation. Isaiah said of the increase

of his government and of peace, there will be

no end. That means when Christ was born, the

kingdom didn't fully arrive all at once. It's

just getting started, right? The kingdom of God

is getting its roots planted and it's getting

the groundwork done, but it's not here all at

once. There's some work still to be done to build

up this magnificent kingdom of God. I used to

love the show Home Improvement. I don't know

if any of you ever watched that one. That's a

good one, right? And I love this hot rod that

Tim, the tool man, Taylor, he's restoring throughout

the seasons of the show. And, you know, he gets

these parts in. He goes into the garage to work

on it. And, you know, it's like every time he

goes to work on it, he messes something up because

clearly he's not really that good with tools.

I am Tim, the tool man, Taylor, right? I relate.

So he goes to fix something, but it doesn't always

go. But he eventually gets, you know, some progress

made. And eventually he gets that hot rod done,

right? And he takes it on a cruise. And that's

what I think of when I think of the kingdom of

God. God is restoring his creation slowly, but

surely. It's not just all going to be done at

once. He's got to go in the garage and tinker

with it. Now, the good thing about God is he

doesn't mess up on his projects, but he's working

on it. He's restoring this this world that he

created to live in, to enjoy. But we messed it

up. And so God's working. He's working. And one

day it's going to be ready. See, the king has

come to earth. His reign has started. You know,

we can see that that reign beginning and we can

see it working in the way that the church has

grown and grown through centuries. If you think

about it, the church starts with 12 people. And

now. The the population of Christians in the

world is two point three billion. Now we can

have our conversations about what Christian means,

but people that claim to follow Jesus Christ

is the definition we're going to use this morning.

Two point three billion people. I would say the

reign of Christ has started. I would say it's

taken hold a little bit. Right. The light has

broken into the darkness. You know, today I looked

up some statistics. Today, an estimated 400 ,000

missionaries are mobilizing education, health

and development work all over the world. 400

,000 people are working to bring Christ into

civilization. Christian hospitals provide essential

care in developing regions. Christian schools

educate tens of millions of students where education

might otherwise be scarce. And that doesn't even

count the Christians living as the hands and

feet of Jesus every day. Even here in Blairsville,

you know, I think of I try to think of some of

the things that go on just in our congregation.

Jackie and Brittany and all those who help with

the food pantry. Or Catherine Nelson and her

work in the schools with the mentoring program.

You think of Noah and his work with the youth.

Tim and his leadership and benevolence. Linda

and the ladies class and their efforts for Panama

missions. Y 'all, that is kingdom work. That

is the kingdom taking root in this world. That

is the work of Christ beginning his kingdom efforts.

But the darkness clearly doesn't disappear overnight,

which is why we still need that work to be done.

See, the peace of Christ was secured, but it's

not yet perfectly experienced. We don't have

it fully yet because it's not done. The throne

was claimed, but not yet visibly established.

The kingdom has come, but not yet in its fullness.

There's a phrase, it's already, but not yet.

So I want you to remember already, but not yet.

The kingdom of God is already here, but it's

also not yet here. As in we have it, but it's

not perfect. It's not done because there's so

much more. You know, people say, well, if God

has done this redeeming work and if the church

is so big and expansive and good, well, then

how can we solve suffering? We're not done yet.

There's so much more. And that should bring you

hope. Because to think of how much good the church

has already done, and I'm talking about church

universal. If you think about how much good the

church has already done and we say it's not done

yet. That's a hope inspired statement to say

that there's so much more good that God wants

to do in this world. And if we can understand

that, we can understand why the angels could

sing about peace while Rome still ruled. That's

why the Savior could be born while suffering

still existed. That's why hope could arrive even

when darkness remained. Because God is doing

something deeper than changing circumstances.

He's changing the world. God is renewing the

world from the inside out. He's restoring it.

And one day his kingdom will fully reign on earth.

See, Jesus didn't come first to overthrow governments.

He came to overthrow sin. He didn't come first

to remove suffering. He came to redeem people

through their suffering. Isaiah was a promise.

Luke 2 was a foretaste. But both point to what

is true now and what will be fully seen one day.

Yeah, I think about when you've got kids. Last

night was a rough night with Easton. Love that

kid, but man, he. I don't know what his deal

was last night. And so we had some spankings.

We had some time out. We sent him to his room.

I mean, it was a rough night. But by the end

of the night, I laid down with him for a little

bit. And I had to use that phrase that every

parent uses. The, I'm sorry it has to be this

way, but one day you'll understand. One day you'll

understand why you can't just kick people. One

day you'll understand why you can't just throw

stuff in the air and hit the ceiling fan. One

day you'll understand why you can't run around

with no clothes on. One day you'll understand

why we've got to have things the way we have

them now. One day, all of this that we've been

going through is going to make sense. And what

that means, if we can understand that, if we

can hold on to that, is that if Christ has come,

Hope isn't a wish. It's a certainty. If the kingdom

has begun, then darkness doesn't get the final

word. What that means is if God kept his promise,

then he will finish what he started. He will

redeem his people. So we live today in the space

between the promise fulfilled and the promise

completed. We still hurt. We still struggle.

We hurt with the joy from the assurance of Jesus.

We still wait, but we wait with hope of our Savior

returning. We still strain, but we strain with

the peace of Christ in our hearts. Because the

same Jesus who came humbly from heaven to this

broken earth will return in glory bringing His

new perfect home. The same King laid in a manger

in Bethlehem will one day sit. on his rightful

throne in the new Jerusalem. And the peace and

the joy announced by angels will one day cover

the entire earth, not just sections of it. You

see, the birth of Christ tells us a few things.

It tells us that God always keeps his promises.

It tells us that even in our darkest nights and

our most fearful times, God will light it up.

And it tells us that God's not done. He's only

just got started. See, we've been talking about

Christmas lights and the effect that they have

on darkness. Especially this dark, cold season

that we're in right now. Throughout this series,

my prayer is that you've heard or been reminded

of the true light. Because there's a lot of lights

in this world. A lot of hope. And a lot of people

that give promises and a lot of people and religions

and things that tell you this is the way. But

there is only one way. And he came in the most

unexpected way to the most unexpected people

at the most unexpected time. There is only one

light that can bring you home. There is only

one redeemer that can set everything straight.

The light that brings hope, the light that brings

a peace that even we are told in Scripture, the

world cannot offer and a joy that the world cannot

offer. This light that has come is coming back

and he's coming back in a glorious way. He always

does. We may not be expecting it when it happens.

It may not be the way we want it to, but I promise

you it is going to be amazing. And my only question

is, will you be a part of the group that gets

to go home? Will you be a part of the people

that can say I followed the light out of this

dark wilderness? Will you be a part of the people

that can say I lived the illuminated life that

only Christ offers? I want you to think about

a very dim flashlight, maybe even a candle. Let's

use a candle. A candle gives you a little bit

of light. And me personally, I like dark like

I like to be in a dark room. I like when my office

is dark. I don't love to have a lot of lights

on. So I'm good with the dim lighting. Right

now, what we've got is we've got the dim light.

Because, yes, Christ has brought us a light and

that light can offer us some peace. It can offer

us some hope. It can offer us some joy. And that

light is enough to get us through the dark wilderness.

But one day. The LEDs are going to come on. One

day that light is going to shine so bright that

we go back to that Isaiah passage where he says,

no gloom. Because a great light has shown. No

more sorrow. No more wandering. No more fear.

No more worry. No more stress. The light has

come. We've got a little bit of that light. But

one day, Jesus is going to come back. And he

is going to blind everyone who hadn't started

getting adjusted to the kingdom light. So will

you follow? Will you embrace the light that has

already come? Will you prepare for the light

that is coming? This is a perfect time. to talk

about the true light, the gospel, the good news

of Christ coming down from heaven to redeem and

restore the world. And so my question is simply,

will you follow it? Will you follow that gospel

light? If you haven't accepted Christ as your

savior, if you haven't accepted his redeeming

light, if you haven't started living that illuminated

life and you would like to, or if you just need

prayers because it is a dark time and you're

struggling to see it, wherever you're at today,

whatever you need, my prayer is that you'll come

as we stand and as we sing.