- This is the time of year
00:00:00.60\00:00:01.93
that a lot of people
hang lights on their houses,
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and personally,
I'm kind of glad for it
00:00:03.73\00:00:05.33
because I'm not a fan of
short days in winter nights.
00:00:05.33\00:00:08.77
So, any effort to
dispel the darkness
00:00:08.77\00:00:11.51
more than welcome in my book.
00:00:11.51\00:00:13.27
And today I'm gonna suggest
00:00:13.27\00:00:14.48
that there's
one really big light
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that a lot of people
seem to be forgetting.
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[upbeat music]
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I think that today,
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given the fact that
it's the Christmas season,
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when most people seem to be
aware of the birth of Christ,
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I'm gonna start today by
reading from the opening words
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of the gospel of John.
00:00:50.31\00:00:52.31
Here's what it says,
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"In the beginning was the word
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"and the word was with
God, and the word was God.
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"He was in the
beginning with God.
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"All things were
made through Him,
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"and without Him
nothing was made that was made."
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So what it's telling
us is that Christ Himself
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is the creator,
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which naturally leads to
this next thought in verse four.
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"In Him was life, and the
life was the light of men.
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"And the light
shines in the darkness
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"and the darkness
did not comprehend it."
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The way the Bible describes it,
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the human race
was living in the dark
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the day that Jesus was born,
at least spiritually speaking.
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A lot of
generations had come and gone
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since the human fall from grace.
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And we had compromised
our knowledge of God,
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rather severely over
the passing centuries,
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to the point where we made a
caricature out of our creator.
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Where God had
declared that He is love,
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we taught ourselves to think
of Him as a relentless tyrant,
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who would destroy us
if He didn't get His way.
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We looked at all the
heartache and trouble
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that we caused in this world,
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and we somehow
managed to convince ourselves
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that all that
pain was God's fault.
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And so, in the
biblical narrative,
00:02:02.72\00:02:04.59
God intervened by
taking on human form
00:02:04.59\00:02:07.42
and entering our human history.
00:02:07.42\00:02:09.52
And over in the book of Hebrews,
00:02:09.52\00:02:11.16
we have this amazing statement
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that kind of describes the
moment Jesus adopted humanity.
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It says, "Therefore, when He
came into the world, He said,
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"sacrifice and
offering you did not desire,
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"but a body you
have prepared for Me."
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I know that people often
talk about the sacrifices
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of the Old Testament
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and use them to create a
distorted picture of God,
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insisting that He must be
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some kind of blood
thirsty pagan deity
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whose arbitrary wrath
against the human race
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can only be appeased by
the violent shedding of blood.
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But, in examining
the birth of Christ,
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we suddenly see that it's
God who makes the real sacrifice
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in the story found in this book.
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The entire sacrificial
system of the Old Testament
00:02:56.77\00:02:59.24
was not some kind of
pagan appeasement ritual,
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it was a symbolic foreshadowing
of the ultimate sacrifice.
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God himself would
take on human form,
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live like us and die like us.
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In fact, die much worse than us,
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in order to save us
from the self-destruction,
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the wages of sin that we
seem so intent on collecting.
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At one point in His ministry,
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Jesus prayed that His
disciples would have a chance
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to see the glory He used to have
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before He took on human form.
00:03:30.77\00:03:33.21
He said, "Father, I desire
that they also whom you gave Me,
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"may be with Me where I am,
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"that they may behold My
glory, which you have given Me,
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"for You loved Me before
the foundation of the world."
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The birth of Christ in Bethlehem
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was a serious
downgrade for Jesus,
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a downgrade from
His previous existence.
00:03:52.13\00:03:55.10
The Bible teaches
that Christ is the one
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who made this
world in the first place.
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And now He starts
life as a human infant,
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born to a poor family, spending
His first night on earth,
00:04:02.80\00:04:06.31
sleeping in a feeding trough,
00:04:06.31\00:04:09.21
even the luxurious
home of Herod the king,
00:04:09.21\00:04:11.51
which you could
actually see from Bethlehem
00:04:11.51\00:04:14.28
would have been a
downgrade for the Son of God.
00:04:14.28\00:04:17.02
And yet there He was,
drawing his first breath
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among barnyard animals.
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The Son of God had
become the son of man,
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choosing to exist
among us in a human body
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that was subject to all
the same problems we face.
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He got hungry, He got tired.
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He did without things that most
people consider necessities.
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He experienced loneliness
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and He knew what it was
like to be misunderstood
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even by the
people closest to Him.
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His was an
authentic human experience.
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The book of Hebrews says,
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"Therefore, in all things
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"He had to be
made like His brethren,
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"that He might be a merciful
and faithful High Priest
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"in things pertaining to God.
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"To make perpetuation
for the sins of the people."
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It was an authentic human life,
00:05:02.90\00:05:05.20
a life that was designed
to shed light on a dark world
00:05:05.20\00:05:08.30
that had mostly forgotten
00:05:08.30\00:05:10.27
what our lives are
supposed to look like.
00:05:10.27\00:05:13.17
The human race was
created in the image of God,
00:05:13.17\00:05:15.61
but we had abandoned that
distinction a very long time
00:05:15.61\00:05:19.28
ago, and we twisted
the human experience
00:05:19.28\00:05:21.42
into something dark and painful.
00:05:21.42\00:05:24.09
Instead of
exhibiting the selfless nature
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of a giving and loving
God, we started living for self
00:05:26.19\00:05:29.89
and defying the
natural order of the universe.
00:05:29.89\00:05:33.19
And then as the
whole world went dark,
00:05:33.19\00:05:35.50
we took to blaming
God for what we had done.
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Back to the gospel of John
now, chapter one, verse nine,
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"That was the true light
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"which gives light to every
man coming into the world."
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So what kind of light was that?
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Well, that's actually
a pretty big question.
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That light was on the one hand,
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the truth about
what God is really like.
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If you have seen Me, Jesus
said, you have seen the Father.
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And in the life of Christ,
00:06:02.59\00:06:03.86
we can see very clearly
00:06:03.86\00:06:05.86
that God really is
everything He claims to be.
00:06:05.86\00:06:09.60
I mean, even the critics of
Christianity still admire Jesus
00:06:09.60\00:06:14.60
because how could you not?
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Thomas Jefferson was
hardly what you would call
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a biblical Christian,
00:06:20.14\00:06:21.61
at least in the sense that
modern evangelical Christians
00:06:21.61\00:06:24.18
use that term.
00:06:24.18\00:06:25.71
And Jefferson spent a
fair bit of time picking away
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at some of the
traditional understandings
00:06:28.82\00:06:30.79
of the Christian faith.
00:06:30.79\00:06:32.45
He actually compared
the writings of the Jews
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to the writings of
the Greek philosophers.
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And he called the ethics of
the Jews, I quote, "Repulsive."
00:06:37.33\00:06:41.70
And yet when it came to
Jesus, he suddenly softened up,
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and said that, "The system
of morality offered by Jesus,
00:06:45.23\00:06:48.74
"was the most benevolent
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"and sublime probably
that has ever been taught."
00:06:50.21\00:06:54.28
There's a reason
that people back,
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in first
century, Palestine flocked
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to hear this humble
carpenter from Nazareth.
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And it's because there was light
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piercing through the darkness,
in every word He spoke,
00:07:02.42\00:07:06.12
and there was something right
and true about His teachings.
00:07:06.12\00:07:09.79
And some of those people
back then dare to believe
00:07:09.79\00:07:13.19
that what they were hearing
00:07:13.19\00:07:15.20
was what God
Himself must be like.
00:07:15.20\00:07:18.23
But there were
also those who recognize
00:07:19.43\00:07:20.97
that the teachings of
Christ, if people accepted them,
00:07:20.97\00:07:23.71
were going to dispel
the convenient darkness
00:07:23.71\00:07:26.04
they were hiding behind
as they clung the power.
00:07:26.04\00:07:29.24
The words of Jesus
were going to pull down
00:07:29.24\00:07:31.68
our human way of doing things,
00:07:31.68\00:07:33.88
and that had a way of
wounding some people's pride.
00:07:33.88\00:07:36.95
Verse 10, "He was in the world
00:07:36.95\00:07:40.06
"and the world
was made through Him
00:07:40.06\00:07:41.56
"and the world
did not know Him."
00:07:41.56\00:07:44.19
So, the light was there,
but you had to want to see it.
00:07:44.19\00:07:47.23
Verse 11, "He came to His own
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"and His own
did not receive Him.
00:07:50.13\00:07:52.40
"But as many as received Him,
00:07:52.40\00:07:53.97
"to them He gave the
right to become children of God,
00:07:53.97\00:07:57.14
"to those who
believe in His name.
00:07:57.14\00:07:58.94
"Who were born not of blood
nor of the will of the flesh,
00:07:58.94\00:08:02.64
"nor of the will
of man, but of God.
00:08:02.64\00:08:05.75
"And the word became
flesh and dwelt among us,
00:08:05.75\00:08:08.32
"And we beheld his glory,
00:08:08.32\00:08:10.42
"the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father,
00:08:10.42\00:08:13.32
"full of grace and truth."
00:08:13.32\00:08:16.52
All right, I've got to
take a really quick break,
00:08:16.52\00:08:19.09
but I don't think you're gonna
want to miss what comes next,
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so stick around,
I'll be right back.
00:08:21.40\00:08:24.43
- [Narrator] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues,
00:08:26.27\00:08:30.57
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:08:30.57\00:08:35.14
If you've ever read
Daniel or Revelation
00:08:35.14\00:08:37.35
and come away scratching
your head, you're not alone.
00:08:37.35\00:08:40.38
Our free Focus
on Prophecy guides
00:08:40.38\00:08:42.78
are designed to help you unlock
the mysteries of the Bible
00:08:42.78\00:08:45.55
and deepen your
understanding of God's plan
00:08:45.55\00:08:47.99
for you and our world.
00:08:47.99\00:08:49.62
Study online or
request them by mail
00:08:49.62\00:08:52.06
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:08:52.06\00:08:54.93
- My ancient pagan ancestors
00:08:56.00\00:08:57.77
remembers of
various Germanic tribes
00:08:57.77\00:08:59.63
and they were really big
fans of venerating Oak trees.
00:08:59.63\00:09:02.87
It was a vital part
of their belief system.
00:09:02.87\00:09:06.71
The Oak tree
represented all kinds of things
00:09:06.71\00:09:09.14
to my ancestors,
including a very ancient belief
00:09:09.14\00:09:12.05
that the human
race slowly evolved,
00:09:12.05\00:09:14.42
and frankly degraded from a
more vegetative state of being.
00:09:14.42\00:09:18.79
The universe, they thought,
00:09:18.79\00:09:20.06
used to be
filled with a fine mist,
00:09:20.06\00:09:22.26
and then that mist
took on a more solid form,
00:09:22.26\00:09:24.69
and eventually primitive life
00:09:24.69\00:09:25.96
kind of looked like a
huge plant with branches
00:09:25.96\00:09:28.60
that was spread
throughout the universe.
00:09:28.60\00:09:31.00
It was in their way of thinking,
the cosmic mind of God,
00:09:31.00\00:09:34.30
and it became more
tangible and physical over time,
00:09:34.30\00:09:37.57
and then very
slowly vegetable life
00:09:37.57\00:09:40.44
gave rise to animal life.
00:09:40.44\00:09:42.51
This is the reason you
see so many old paintings
00:09:42.51\00:09:44.68
for human
beings look like trees.
00:09:44.68\00:09:46.95
To the ancient
pagans of Northern Europe,
00:09:46.95\00:09:49.78
trees were potent
symbols for life and creation
00:09:49.78\00:09:52.65
and the divine
mind of the universe.
00:09:52.65\00:09:54.72
And what better
symbol for all of this
00:09:54.72\00:09:57.56
than the mighty Oak tree.
00:09:57.56\00:09:59.53
Until of course, a
Christian missionary
00:09:59.53\00:10:01.46
by the name of Saint Boniface,
00:10:01.46\00:10:03.13
started working
among the Germanic peoples
00:10:03.13\00:10:05.27
and cut down a sacred
Oak tree dedicated to Thor,
00:10:05.27\00:10:09.87
an act that
convinced some people
00:10:09.87\00:10:12.14
to convert to Christianity,
00:10:12.14\00:10:13.51
because apparently
there was a miracle
00:10:13.51\00:10:15.71
that helped the great
missionary make his point.
00:10:15.71\00:10:18.08
A great wind came along
and knocked over the tree
00:10:18.08\00:10:21.42
as he was cutting it,
00:10:21.42\00:10:22.88
which made some people
think that the God of Boniface
00:10:22.88\00:10:25.12
was conquering Thor.
00:10:25.12\00:10:27.16
But his act of cutting
down that tree, desecrating it,
00:10:27.16\00:10:30.23
also made him a lot of
enemies, including my ancestors.
00:10:30.23\00:10:34.10
And eventually, the
Friesians, my tribe,
00:10:34.10\00:10:37.23
well, we killed the man.
00:10:37.23\00:10:38.43
Of course, you've
got to be wondering
00:10:39.63\00:10:40.87
what that has to do
with the birth of Christ.
00:10:40.87\00:10:42.24
So let me get to the point.
00:10:42.24\00:10:44.14
That tree was apparently
a magnificent specimen,
00:10:44.14\00:10:47.31
the greatest Oak in the region,
00:10:47.31\00:10:49.44
because it represented
Jupiter, the king of the gods.
00:10:49.44\00:10:53.21
But compare that to the
story of the burning bush
00:10:53.21\00:10:56.02
that you find in Exodus,
00:10:56.02\00:10:57.72
and you'll notice a
dramatic difference.
00:10:57.72\00:10:59.95
The day that God
appeared to Moses,
00:10:59.95\00:11:02.29
He used an insignificant shrub.
00:11:02.29\00:11:05.26
It was a humble manifestation.
00:11:05.26\00:11:08.16
And if you read the
story very carefully,
00:11:08.16\00:11:10.07
you quickly discover that the
presence in that burning bush
00:11:10.07\00:11:13.57
was actually the
pre-incarnate Christ.
00:11:13.57\00:11:17.07
He describes
Himself as the, I Am.
00:11:17.07\00:11:19.77
And in John 8, Jesus said,
00:11:19.77\00:11:21.64
"Most assuredly I say to
you, before Abraham was, I Am."
00:11:21.64\00:11:26.65
And at that moment,
00:11:27.38\00:11:28.62
His listeners picked
up stones to kill Him
00:11:28.62\00:11:30.35
because in their
minds that was blasphemy.
00:11:30.35\00:11:32.85
Jesus was actually
claiming to be the God
00:11:32.85\00:11:36.22
of the Old Testament.
00:11:36.22\00:11:38.13
So, here's the big point.
00:11:38.13\00:11:40.03
Jesus appeared to
Moses in a burning bush,
00:11:40.03\00:11:42.46
probably an Acacia, and not
the mighty Oak tree of Thor.
00:11:42.46\00:11:46.90
The shrub was burning
00:11:46.90\00:11:48.14
and it was obviously
shedding a lot of light,
00:11:48.14\00:11:50.34
but still it was humble.
00:11:50.34\00:11:52.21
And that's the pattern you find
00:11:52.21\00:11:53.48
throughout the
pages of the Bible.
00:11:53.48\00:11:55.21
The humility of an Almighty God.
00:11:55.21\00:11:58.01
The story always has
God moving in our direction,
00:11:58.01\00:12:00.98
and He's always careful to veil
the full light of His glory,
00:12:00.98\00:12:04.05
so He doesn't destroy us.
00:12:04.05\00:12:05.99
Jesus says, "A body
you have prepared for Me."
00:12:05.99\00:12:09.02
And according to Hebrews 10,
00:12:09.02\00:12:10.79
it was an
ordinary everyday body,
00:12:10.79\00:12:13.60
like the ones that we have.
00:12:13.60\00:12:15.26
In fact, when he started,
it was an infant's body.
00:12:15.26\00:12:18.37
And in that
ordinary everyday human body,
00:12:18.37\00:12:21.87
Jesus visited the
synagogue in Nazareth.
00:12:21.87\00:12:25.01
And well, let me
read you what happened.
00:12:25.01\00:12:27.14
This comes from Luke
4, it says in verse 16,
00:12:27.14\00:12:31.15
"So he came to Nazareth
where he had been brought up,
00:12:31.15\00:12:34.25
"and as His custom was,
00:12:34.25\00:12:35.75
"He went into the
synagogue on the Sabbath Day
00:12:35.75\00:12:38.19
"and stood up to read.
00:12:38.19\00:12:40.06
"And He was handed the
book of the prophet Isaiah.
00:12:40.06\00:12:43.09
"And when He
had opened the book,
00:12:43.09\00:12:44.39
"He found the place
where it was written,
00:12:44.39\00:12:46.73
"the spirit of
the Lord is upon Me
00:12:46.73\00:12:48.86
"because He has anointed Me
00:12:48.86\00:12:50.27
"to preach the
gospel to the poor.
00:12:50.27\00:12:52.07
"He has sent me to
heal the brokenhearted,
00:12:52.07\00:12:54.64
"to proclaim
liberty to the captives
00:12:54.64\00:12:56.47
"and recovery of
sight to the blind.
00:12:56.47\00:12:58.64
"To set at liberty
those who are oppressed,
00:12:58.64\00:13:01.21
"to proclaim the
acceptable year of the Lord."
00:13:01.21\00:13:05.48
The blind we're
about to get their sight.
00:13:05.48\00:13:08.12
And of course,
Jesus did heal people
00:13:08.12\00:13:10.69
who were literally blind,
00:13:10.69\00:13:12.25
but this is also talking
about spiritual blindness.
00:13:12.25\00:13:15.89
On that day in Nazareth,
00:13:15.89\00:13:17.13
the light of the
world was standing
00:13:17.13\00:13:18.79
right in front
of the congregation.
00:13:18.79\00:13:21.36
It wasn't the consuming
fire of God's almighty presence,
00:13:21.36\00:13:24.83
but a real live human
being, God in human flesh.
00:13:24.83\00:13:29.27
Nazareth of course
was Jesus' hometown,
00:13:29.27\00:13:31.67
so they all knew Him from
the time He was a little kid.
00:13:31.67\00:13:34.78
And when He was finished
reading, He took a seat and
00:13:34.78\00:13:38.18
said, "Today this scripture
is fulfilled in your hearing."
00:13:38.18\00:13:42.52
In other words, the
long awaited Messiah
00:13:42.52\00:13:44.62
had just
appeared in their midst.
00:13:44.62\00:13:47.22
I highly doubt if this
story was happening today,
00:13:47.22\00:13:49.89
and Jesus was
appearing in your home church,
00:13:49.89\00:13:52.66
that you'd find anything unusual
00:13:52.66\00:13:54.56
about His physical appearance.
00:13:54.56\00:13:56.56
Renaissance painters
put a halo over Jesus' head,
00:13:56.56\00:13:59.80
but I assure you, he didn't
have a visible halo that day.
00:13:59.80\00:14:04.01
The prophet Isaiah says,
"He has no form or comeliness,
00:14:04.01\00:14:07.98
"and when we see Him,
00:14:07.98\00:14:09.21
"there is no beauty
that we should desire Him."
00:14:09.21\00:14:13.38
The light of God was humble,
and you had to want to see Him,
00:14:13.38\00:14:17.22
if you were going to
recognize who He was.
00:14:17.22\00:14:19.99
This was God in human flesh,
00:14:19.99\00:14:21.86
the Son of God
becoming the son of man
00:14:21.86\00:14:23.99
living in authentic human life
00:14:23.99\00:14:25.66
and showing us
what God is really like
00:14:25.66\00:14:27.76
all at the very same moment.
00:14:27.76\00:14:30.70
Our sense of self-importance
has taught us to think
00:14:30.70\00:14:33.87
that important people
should look important,
00:14:33.87\00:14:36.34
that they should
be very impressive.
00:14:36.34\00:14:38.94
But when God came
to live in our midst,
00:14:38.94\00:14:41.64
he was
everything we didn't expect.
00:14:41.64\00:14:44.58
That day after Jesus
finished reading the scriptures
00:14:44.58\00:14:47.25
to the synagogue
in His own hometown,
00:14:47.25\00:14:50.05
the people
struggled to figure out
00:14:50.05\00:14:51.72
what they had just witnessed.
00:14:51.72\00:14:53.62
Obviously something
extraordinary had taken place.
00:14:53.62\00:14:57.43
Jesus had just made
an extraordinary claim,
00:14:57.43\00:15:00.70
but it was coming from
such an ordinary person.
00:15:00.70\00:15:04.37
Luke 4 says this,
00:15:04.37\00:15:06.70
"So all bore witness to Him,
00:15:06.70\00:15:09.14
"and marveled at
the gracious words
00:15:09.14\00:15:11.24
"which proceeded
out of His mouth.
00:15:11.24\00:15:13.27
"And they said, is
this not Joseph's son?"
00:15:13.27\00:15:16.54
In other words,
Jesus is just so average.
00:15:17.71\00:15:21.72
And so many people rejected Him
00:15:21.72\00:15:23.62
and they actually
made plans to kill Him.
00:15:23.62\00:15:26.69
After leaving
Nazareth, here's what Jesus said
00:15:26.69\00:15:29.49
in the town of Capernaum,
00:15:29.49\00:15:31.33
"The people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light,
00:15:31.33\00:15:34.93
"and upon those who sat in
the region in shadow of death,
00:15:34.93\00:15:38.37
"light has dawned."
00:15:38.37\00:15:40.24
The King of Glory stooped
very low to become one of us
00:15:41.67\00:15:44.37
and His real glory was veiled
00:15:44.37\00:15:46.37
so that we would
be attracted to Him
00:15:46.37\00:15:48.11
for all the right reasons.
00:15:48.11\00:15:50.21
It was the truth about God
00:15:50.21\00:15:52.05
that was gonna pull
us in His direction.
00:15:52.05\00:15:54.25
The revelation of a creator
who practices self-denying love.
00:15:54.25\00:15:58.79
And so the Redeemer
of the world was born
00:15:58.79\00:16:01.26
in a crude structure
designed for barnyard animals.
00:16:01.26\00:16:04.76
An idea that made pagan
philosophers recoil with
00:16:04.76\00:16:08.90
disgust, because to
their way of thinking
00:16:08.90\00:16:11.20
a physical human
existence is utterly flawed.
00:16:11.20\00:16:14.47
So how could a pure God
become mere flesh and blood?
00:16:14.47\00:16:19.07
You and I have put a lot of
halos over the Christmas story
00:16:20.81\00:16:23.68
with our twinkling
lights and our holiday pageants,
00:16:23.68\00:16:26.58
making the birth of Christ,
00:16:26.58\00:16:28.08
the important festival that
in some ways it deserves to be.
00:16:28.08\00:16:31.45
But it's important to remember
00:16:32.32\00:16:33.69
that apart from a
handful of shepherds,
00:16:33.69\00:16:36.09
almost nobody noticed the
night that Christ was born.
00:16:36.09\00:16:39.86
I often try to imagine
the amazement of angels
00:16:39.86\00:16:42.63
as they watched
what happened that night
00:16:42.63\00:16:44.83
on a hill next to Bethlehem,
00:16:44.83\00:16:46.37
Herod the king
was living in luxury.
00:16:46.37\00:16:48.30
And he had no idea that
the rightful king of this world
00:16:48.30\00:16:52.07
had been born
just a few miles away.
00:16:52.07\00:16:54.48
Not until a group of
wise men from another country
00:16:54.48\00:16:56.91
came much later and told him,
00:16:56.91\00:16:59.45
and then he
wanted the baby dead.
00:16:59.45\00:17:01.42
Because he considered
the appearance of Messiah
00:17:01.42\00:17:04.12
to be a personal threat.
00:17:04.12\00:17:05.69
Almost nobody noticed the
birth of God in human flesh.
00:17:07.12\00:17:10.66
Even though there were
lots of prophetic indicators
00:17:10.66\00:17:13.36
that the time
for Messiah had come,
00:17:13.36\00:17:15.86
it pretty much went unnoticed.
00:17:15.86\00:17:17.57
And so the angels
broke through the night sky
00:17:17.57\00:17:20.17
to let a group of shepherds
know what had happened,
00:17:20.17\00:17:23.87
not high ranking statesman,
not influential businessmen,
00:17:23.87\00:17:27.48
not well-regarded
academics, but shepherds,
00:17:27.48\00:17:31.18
one of the lowest occupations
on the social ladder,
00:17:31.18\00:17:34.82
because maybe those
people would appreciate
00:17:34.82\00:17:38.02
what had just happened.
00:17:38.02\00:17:39.55
Luke 2 says, "Now there
were in the same country
00:17:39.55\00:17:43.79
"shepherds living
out in the fields,
00:17:43.79\00:17:45.56
"keeping watch over
their flock by night.
00:17:45.56\00:17:47.86
"And behold angel of
the Lord stood before them,
00:17:47.86\00:17:50.53
"and the glory of the
Lord shone around them,
00:17:50.53\00:17:52.87
"and they were greatly afraid.
00:17:52.87\00:17:54.94
"Then the angel said
to them, do not be afraid
00:17:54.94\00:17:56.94
"for behold I bring you
good tidings of great joy,
00:17:56.94\00:18:00.24
"which will be to all people.
00:18:00.24\00:18:02.44
"For there is
born to you this day
00:18:02.44\00:18:04.25
"in the city of David a
Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
00:18:04.25\00:18:07.88
"And this will
be the sign to you.
00:18:07.88\00:18:09.98
"You will find a babe
wrapped in swaddling cloths,
00:18:09.98\00:18:13.02
"lying in a manger."
00:18:13.02\00:18:14.42
I'll be right back after this.
00:18:15.32\00:18:17.66
- [Woman] Here at
the Voice of Prophecy,
00:18:19.89\00:18:21.33
we're committed to
creating top quality programming
00:18:21.33\00:18:23.63
for the whole family.
00:18:23.63\00:18:25.10
Like our audio adventure
series, Discovery Mountain.
00:18:25.10\00:18:28.27
Discovery Mountain
is a Bible based program
00:18:28.27\00:18:30.74
for kids of all
ages and backgrounds.
00:18:30.74\00:18:33.07
Your family will enjoy
the faith building stories
00:18:33.07\00:18:35.84
from this small
mountain summer camp and town,
00:18:35.84\00:18:38.71
with 24 seasonal
episodes every year
00:18:38.71\00:18:41.18
and fresh content every week.
00:18:41.18\00:18:43.39
There's always a new
adventure just on the horizon.
00:18:43.39\00:18:46.55
- I think today, a lot
of people still struggle
00:18:49.59\00:18:51.59
with the sheer
humility of Jesus.
00:18:51.59\00:18:54.00
He's the most important
child who was ever born,
00:18:54.00\00:18:56.83
and yet he lived a
life of subsistence.
00:18:56.83\00:18:59.90
The religious
authorities of Christ's Day
00:18:59.90\00:19:01.77
complained that
He eats and drinks
00:19:01.77\00:19:03.57
with tax collectors and sinners.
00:19:03.57\00:19:06.11
Tax collectors were
the very bottom of society.
00:19:06.11\00:19:09.21
A group considered treasonous
00:19:09.21\00:19:11.01
because they
worked for the Romans.
00:19:11.01\00:19:12.95
That's who the King of the
Universe chose to hang out with,
00:19:12.95\00:19:16.25
tax collectors and
prostitutes and lepers,
00:19:16.25\00:19:19.82
and everybody who had
nothing to offer Him in return.
00:19:19.82\00:19:23.49
"Foxes have holes and
birds of the air have nests."
00:19:23.49\00:19:26.09
Jesus said, "But the
son of man has nowhere
00:19:26.09\00:19:29.20
"to lay His head."
00:19:29.20\00:19:30.37
It says a lot about the
way that modern Christianity
00:19:31.77\00:19:33.77
continues to tell
the story of Jesus.
00:19:33.77\00:19:36.17
I mean, there's
nothing specifically wrong
00:19:36.17\00:19:37.84
with material prosperity.
00:19:37.84\00:19:39.77
In fact, a lot of God's
best friends in the Bible
00:19:39.77\00:19:42.18
were very wealthy people.
00:19:42.18\00:19:44.01
Abraham, Job, David,
Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea.
00:19:44.01\00:19:49.02
But the way that
we tell the story,
00:19:50.19\00:19:51.69
particularly in some corners
of American Christianity,
00:19:51.69\00:19:55.19
well, sometimes I
get the impression
00:19:55.19\00:19:56.79
that we've started
to think about Jesus,
00:19:56.79\00:19:58.49
the same way we
think about $1,000
00:19:58.49\00:20:01.10
self-improvement seminars.
00:20:01.10\00:20:03.10
Now we would
never say this out loud
00:20:03.10\00:20:04.83
because it sounds so ridiculous,
00:20:04.83\00:20:07.04
but we certainly give
the impression sometimes
00:20:07.04\00:20:09.60
that the natural home for
Jesus is the modern palace.
00:20:09.60\00:20:14.48
Slick-looking preachers,
00:20:14.48\00:20:15.98
who earn tens of millions
of dollars try to convince us
00:20:15.98\00:20:18.05
that Jesus was some
kind of self-help guru,
00:20:18.05\00:20:20.82
who was born to make you richer,
00:20:20.82\00:20:22.52
smarter and more attractive.
00:20:22.52\00:20:24.69
They boldly make Jesus
00:20:24.69\00:20:25.95
the God of personal
achievement and success.
00:20:25.95\00:20:28.32
And I sometimes find myself
wondering if we'd be comfortable
00:20:28.32\00:20:32.06
with the kind of company
that Jesus chose to keep.
00:20:32.06\00:20:35.40
The prophet Isaiah wrote this,
00:20:35.40\00:20:37.43
"For He shall grow up
before Him as a tender plant,
00:20:37.43\00:20:40.07
"and as a root
out of dry ground.
00:20:40.07\00:20:42.20
"He has no former comeliness,
00:20:42.20\00:20:43.91
"and when we see him,
00:20:43.91\00:20:45.17
"there is no beauty
that we should desire Him.
00:20:45.17\00:20:47.71
"And we hid as it
were our faces from Him.
00:20:47.71\00:20:50.51
"He was despised and
we did not esteem Him.
00:20:50.51\00:20:53.25
"Surely He has borne our
griefs and carried our sorrows,
00:20:53.25\00:20:56.28
"yet we esteemed Him stricken,
00:20:56.28\00:20:58.12
"smitten by God, and afflicted."
00:20:58.12\00:21:01.42
Today, the name of Jesus
carries a great deal of appeal.
00:21:01.42\00:21:05.03
And the fact that a
lot of people now recognize
00:21:05.03\00:21:07.30
that something very
special happened in Bethlehem.
00:21:07.30\00:21:10.43
Well, that's a good thing.
00:21:10.43\00:21:12.07
The nativity scenes you see
00:21:12.07\00:21:13.30
on the side of the
road this time a year,
00:21:13.30\00:21:15.44
they're useful reminders
00:21:15.44\00:21:16.91
that something really important
took place a long time ago.
00:21:16.91\00:21:21.01
The joy, the pageants,
the caroling, it's all good.
00:21:21.01\00:21:24.71
And I wouldn't
want it to go away
00:21:24.71\00:21:26.18
because at
least for a few weeks,
00:21:26.18\00:21:28.02
people are willing
to slow down and listen
00:21:28.02\00:21:30.25
and think about who Jesus was
00:21:30.25\00:21:32.79
and how God humbled
Himself to enter human history.
00:21:32.79\00:21:36.73
One of my favorite
songs this time of year
00:21:36.73\00:21:38.69
is the old carol that William
Chatterton Dix wrote in 1865.
00:21:38.69\00:21:42.83
The one that goes to
the tune of green slaves.
00:21:42.83\00:21:45.07
Now I'm not gonna
try and sing it for you
00:21:45.07\00:21:46.60
because I really would like
your holiday to remain joyful.
00:21:46.60\00:21:49.67
But as William Dix
compose this tribute
00:21:49.67\00:21:52.51
to the birth of Christ, he
makes a very important point.
00:21:52.51\00:21:55.41
The first verse, well,
everybody knows it, right?
00:21:55.41\00:21:57.78
"What child is
this, who laid to rest
00:21:57.78\00:21:59.95
"on Mary's lap is sleeping?
00:21:59.95\00:22:01.72
"Whom angels
greet with anthem sweet
00:22:01.72\00:22:04.05
"while shepherd's
watch are keeping?
00:22:04.05\00:22:06.05
"This, this is Christ the King,
00:22:06.05\00:22:07.99
"whom shepherds
guard and angels sing,
00:22:07.99\00:22:10.29
"haste haste to bring him laud,
00:22:10.29\00:22:12.59
"the babe, the son of Mary."
00:22:12.59\00:22:14.96
Now that's a
pretty good description
00:22:14.96\00:22:16.40
of what happened in Bethlehem.
00:22:16.40\00:22:18.10
Most of us associate Christmas
00:22:18.10\00:22:20.24
with the scent of
evergreen branches,
00:22:20.24\00:22:22.17
or maybe that incense
that some churches burn
00:22:22.17\00:22:24.77
on Christmas Eve,
00:22:24.77\00:22:26.17
but the birth of
Christ quite honestly
00:22:26.17\00:22:28.04
probably smelled
more like a stable.
00:22:28.04\00:22:32.31
And what Jesus came to do
was even more humble than that,
00:22:32.31\00:22:34.88
which is what William Dix
moves on to in his second verse.
00:22:34.88\00:22:37.99
The one that not
many people sing,
00:22:37.99\00:22:40.16
"Why lies He in
such mean estate,
00:22:40.16\00:22:42.69
"where ox and ass are feeding?
00:22:42.69\00:22:44.49
"Good Christians,
fear, for sinners here,
00:22:44.49\00:22:46.56
"the silent word is pleading.
00:22:46.56\00:22:48.86
"Nails, spear
shall pierce Him through,
00:22:48.86\00:22:51.07
"the cross be
borne for me, for you.
00:22:51.07\00:22:53.47
"Hail, hail the word made flesh,
00:22:53.47\00:22:56.07
"the babe, the son of Mary."
00:22:56.07\00:22:58.54
Now there's the brutal
reality of the incarnation.
00:22:58.54\00:23:01.81
God knew we'd been
plunged into darkness
00:23:01.81\00:23:04.01
and there was no way out
if he didn't do something.
00:23:04.01\00:23:06.82
So He took on human form
and lived a real human life
00:23:06.82\00:23:09.65
in order to cure our blindness
00:23:09.65\00:23:11.42
and show us what
He's really like.
00:23:11.42\00:23:13.69
And then he took the
penalty for our rebellion
00:23:13.69\00:23:16.06
so that we could
live in the light forever.
00:23:16.06\00:23:19.29
It's such a short statement
in the book of Hebrews,
00:23:20.76\00:23:22.56
"A body you have
prepared for Me."
00:23:22.56\00:23:25.00
But I honestly think
that we have scarcely started
00:23:25.00\00:23:27.30
to understand what that means.
00:23:27.30\00:23:29.87
You'll notice in the
story of the shepherds,
00:23:29.87\00:23:31.44
it was just one
angel who first appeared,
00:23:31.44\00:23:33.98
human beings are so
used to living in darkness
00:23:33.98\00:23:36.48
to not
understanding God's glory,
00:23:36.48\00:23:38.98
that it was almost like the
angels were taking it slowly.
00:23:38.98\00:23:41.98
It starts with one angel
and the shepherds were scared.
00:23:41.98\00:23:44.95
And so the angel says,
00:23:44.95\00:23:46.65
"Do not be afraid, for
behold I bring you good tidings
00:23:46.65\00:23:49.49
"of great joy, which
will be to all people.
00:23:49.49\00:23:52.79
"For this is
born to you this day
00:23:52.79\00:23:55.16
"in the city of David, a
savior, who is Christ the Lord.
00:23:55.16\00:23:58.70
"And this will
be the sign to you,
00:23:58.70\00:24:00.54
"you will find a babe
wrapped in swaddling cloths,
00:24:00.54\00:24:03.37
"lying in a manger."
00:24:03.37\00:24:05.24
A manger.
00:24:06.14\00:24:07.68
Now that was something these
shepherds could understand.
00:24:07.68\00:24:10.28
The long awaited Messiah had
come straight into their world.
00:24:10.28\00:24:13.98
And then when their
fears began to dissipate,
00:24:13.98\00:24:16.02
the sky lit up
with the glory of God
00:24:16.02\00:24:17.82
and all the
angels became visible.
00:24:17.82\00:24:20.82
The Bible says,
00:24:20.82\00:24:22.09
"And suddenly,
there was with the angel,
00:24:22.09\00:24:23.79
"a multitude of heavenly host,
00:24:23.79\00:24:25.29
"praising God and saying,
glory to God in the highest,
00:24:25.29\00:24:28.10
"and on earth,
peace, goodwill toward men."
00:24:28.10\00:24:31.73
It was another
indication of what God is like.
00:24:33.10\00:24:35.27
He reveals himself to
us just a little at a time,
00:24:35.27\00:24:38.51
steadily moving in our direction
00:24:38.51\00:24:40.44
until the darkness falls away,
00:24:40.44\00:24:42.24
and we finally begin
to recognize who He is.
00:24:42.24\00:24:46.35
He approached the
shepherds carefully bit by bit,
00:24:46.35\00:24:48.82
and today He still
approaches us the same way.
00:24:48.82\00:24:52.82
I'll be right back after this.
00:24:52.82\00:24:54.66
- [Woman] Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:24:56.96\00:24:59.36
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers,
00:24:59.36\00:25:02.70
but that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:25:02.70\00:25:05.17
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:25:05.17\00:25:08.27
Here at the Voice of Prophecy,
00:25:08.27\00:25:09.80
we've created the
discover Bible guides
00:25:09.80\00:25:11.94
to be your guide to the Bible.
00:25:11.94\00:25:13.54
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use
00:25:13.54\00:25:16.04
and provide answers to many
of life's toughest questions.
00:25:16.04\00:25:19.05
And they're absolutely free.
00:25:19.05\00:25:21.08
So jump online
now, or give us a call
00:25:21.08\00:25:23.39
and start your
journey of discovery.
00:25:23.39\00:25:25.65
- The scriptures
teach, that once upon a time,
00:25:26.86\00:25:29.06
way back when you and I
had more direct communication
00:25:29.06\00:25:32.39
with God, before
our fall from grace,
00:25:32.39\00:25:35.20
the Bible says, He used
to come visit the human race
00:25:35.20\00:25:37.67
in the cool of the
evening, just to be near us.
00:25:37.67\00:25:41.60
And ever since we
broke that communion,
00:25:41.60\00:25:43.74
he's been trying
to re-establish it,
00:25:43.74\00:25:45.87
because frankly, He misses you.
00:25:45.87\00:25:48.44
All your life He's been
moving in your direction
00:25:48.44\00:25:50.85
one little step at a time,
00:25:50.85\00:25:52.61
revealing
himself as a God of love.
00:25:52.61\00:25:55.55
And the greatest proof
we have for what God is like
00:25:55.55\00:25:58.92
is found in
this Christmas story.
00:25:58.92\00:26:01.42
He spent his first night
in a far more humble crib
00:26:01.42\00:26:04.06
than most of us were born in.
00:26:04.06\00:26:05.73
And he lived in an
authentic human life
00:26:05.73\00:26:07.86
so that you could see
what your life might be like
00:26:07.86\00:26:11.13
if you only paid
attention to the light,
00:26:11.13\00:26:13.23
that streams from the Bible.
00:26:13.23\00:26:14.84
I kind of liked the
fact that this time of year,
00:26:16.04\00:26:18.51
at least in the
Northern Hemisphere,
00:26:18.51\00:26:20.31
a lot of people hang
lights on their houses
00:26:20.31\00:26:22.31
to help dispel the
darkness of winter,
00:26:22.31\00:26:25.11
because that's
exactly what God did
00:26:25.11\00:26:27.55
through the birth of Christ.
00:26:27.55\00:26:29.28
He brought light
to a very dark world.
00:26:29.28\00:26:32.79
[ethereal music]
00:26:32.79\00:26:35.56
So this holiday season,
00:26:50.57\00:26:52.54
I wanna encourage you to
pick up a copy of the Bible
00:26:52.54\00:26:55.28
and have another look.
00:26:55.28\00:26:57.11
For some of you it's
been a really long time,
00:26:57.11\00:26:59.55
but maybe, just maybe, you'll
notice a little light peaking
00:26:59.55\00:27:03.99
through the darkness
that surrounds your life.
00:27:03.99\00:27:06.79
From all of us at the Voice
of Prophecy, Merry Christmas.
00:27:06.79\00:27:10.09
I'm Shawn Boonstra, and
you've been watching, Authentic.
00:27:10.09\00:27:13.50
[ethereal music]
00:27:13.50\00:27:16.23
[epic music]
00:28:00.94\00:28:03.35