12/25/06 - Christmas Day - Heb. 1:3

THE LIGHT HAS COME
- As the radiance of God's glory
- To purify us from our sins

It’s here. It’s actually here. It’s Christmas Day! Finally! The celebration of our Lord’s birth! The event we’ve been building up to for the past month during the season of Advent. Just waiting for the Light. Waiting to see it shine through the darkness. Waiting for our Savior to appear. And today is the day. Today the Light has come. And to celebrate the coming of the Light we look to the book of Hebrews 1:3: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” This is the Word of the Lord. The Word that tells us the Light has come - the Light has come as the radiance of God’s glory and to purify us from our sins.
It’s really amazing to think about the little baby Jesus born in a stable as the radiance of God’s glory. Because a baby born in a barn doesn’t look like the radiance of God’s glory. It’s not radiant, it’s not majestic, it’s not glorious. And on top of that, throughout Scripture the glory of God was something that was so magnificent, so overpowering, so perfect that no mortal human being could see it and live.
For example: when King Solomon built that massive temple and dedicated it to the Lord, the priests could not enter it on the day of dedication to perform their duties. Why? Because the glory of the Lord filled the temple and they were not able to go into his presence. Years before that the prophet Moses specifically asked to see the glory of God. But the Lord wouldn’t allow him to. God instead gave Moses a glimpse of his back as he passed by because God pointed out that no one can see him face to face, no one can see the glory of God and live. The prophet Ezekiel had a similar experience. He received a vision in which he saw “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” He didn’t actually see the glory of the Lord. He didn’t even see a likeness of the glory of the Lord. He saw the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. But even when he experienced that 3rd hand version of God’s glory, he fell to the ground in fear and respect! That is how powerful and majestic the glory of the Lord is. We sinful human beings cannot experience it and survive the encounter.
Now, knowing how unbearable the glory of the Lord is for sinners, look again at what our text calls Jesus. “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory.” Jesus, that little baby lying in the manger, is the radiance, is the brightness, is the blinding light of the glory of the Lord himself! This is God in human form just as Hebrews continues to say, he is “the exact representation of his being.”
The exact representation. The word in Greek is interesting because it comes from a word that can mean, “stamp” or “coin.” A coin was stamped exactly the same way as the instrument that made the impression. Jesus is the exact representation of God’s being. Jesus is the same as his Father. Jesus is God. This baby is God. And so Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and wise men got to do something Moses, Ezekiel, and all the other Old Testament believers never could - they saw the glory of the Lord face to face. How could they do that and live? Because the glory of the Lord was cloaked, veiled, hidden in human flesh and human blood.
The point is: don’t let the baby fool you. This baby is still the glory of the Lord himself. This baby is the Light of the world. And when you go home and look at your manger scene today, and you see Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and wise men, the sheep and the donkeys, and the baby Jesus in the middle - remember that he’s in the middle for a reason. Everyone is looking at him for a reason. Because he’s not just a cute baby. He is God. He is the Lord lying in straw. He is the Light wrapped in swaddling clothes. Yes, this is a day of joy and peace and comfort. But realize this is also a day of reverence and awe and worship. Because the Lord is here. God is born. The Light has come.
But why? Why did the Light come? Why did God bother clothing himself with flesh and blood as if he were a creature and not the Creator? Why did God, who was living in perfection, take on a human body and suffer pain and the effects of sin. Why did God, who could have had anything he wanted, give up his divine power for a time and become a servant to be ridiculed and mocked by those he created? One reason and one reason only: to purify us from our sins. That’s it. That’s why he came. That’s why he was born in a barn in Bethlehem on a normal night. To purify us from our sins. Because we’re dirty. We are dirty! Allow me to give you some Old Testament background to prove that point.
Back in Old Testament times the Israelites were required to bring a number of different offerings to the Lord. One of those offerings was called the “sin offering.” They were to sacrifice animals as sin offerings in order to purify themselves from their sins. Because a sin made them unclean. A sin made them dirty. And so they had to be purified, they had to have the filth and the grime and the crud of sin wiped away so that they could stand in front of a perfect God. It is no different today. Even though we are no longer required to offer animal sacrifices, sin still makes us unclean. Sin still makes us filthy dirty. Don’t think there is any way you are possibly good enough to be let into heaven! It doesn’t matter how many good things you’ve done! It doesn’t matter how good of a life you’ve tried to lead! Have you sinned? Well, then it’s over. You cannot stand in front of a perfect God by yourself if you’ve sinned even once. He will not accept anything but perfection. And any filth, any stain, any spot of sin on your person will not be tolerated. You must be purified. I must be purified. There is no other way. And that is why we celebrate Christmas. That is why the Light has come. “God is light,” John says in his first letter. “In him there is no darkness at all… and the blood of Jesus his Son purifies us from all sin.”
The blood of Jesus purifies us. When you look at a picture of baby Jesus lying in the manger - you normally don’t think of blood, do you? Blood is gross to some people, blood usually means pain, the sight of blood is more often than not a bad situation. But blood is the reason for today. Blood is the reason the Light has come. Because blood was the only way Jesus could purify us from our sins. That’s why God commanded that all those Old Testament sacrifices were to be made. To make it clear that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” The blood of a substitute. The blood of God. The blood of this baby whose birth we celebrate today. And so when we look at Jesus lying in the manger we not only see God, we see a Savior. Who would suffer. Who would die. Who would rise from the dead. And he would do all this for you. To forgive you. To purify you.
And you are purified. You are now clean in the sight of God. You are pure right now even though we constantly stain our clothes with the filth of sin every day. And when you stand in front of God on Judgment Day you can be absolutely confident that no matter what you have done in this life, no matter how many or how great your sins have been, Jesus’ blood purifies you. You will be accepted because your Savior has been accepted. Jesus stands in front of his Father and he says, “Do not look at them. Do not look at all the sins they’ve committed. Look at me. Look at the perfect life I lived. Look at the death I died in their place. Look at the pains of hell I suffered so they didn’t have to. Look at my resurrection that made their possible.” And the Father looks at his Son and say, “I accept your substitute. I will accept them, because I accept you.” And Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God the Father as we speak, ready to stand up on your behalf.
So what a great day this is. The start of Christ’s life here on this earth. A life that would be lived in perfection, climax in a sacrifice, burst forth from any empty tomb, and continue on into eternity. And so rejoice with me, my fellow believers. As the apostle Peter says, “Declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Declare his praises. Declare them to the world! It’s Christmas morning! Our salvation celebration has started! Our substitute has arrived! Our ransom has been born! Our Savior is here! The Light has come!
Amen.


“Hallelujah! For our Lord Almighty reigns! Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!” Amen. - Rev. 19:6-7