Luke 1:26-38
One of the emails I received this week was entitled: “The Darkness Does Not Win.” Kevin DeYoung begins the article this way:
“The title of this article is hard to believe, isn’t it?
“Doesn’t it seem like every week we hear about wars and rumors of wars, about terrorism or mass shootings, about Christian persecution and cultural degradation? We can look back on this past year and think of loved ones who’ve died, or friends who’ve been diagnosed with cancer. And others who are gripped by addiction or saddled with chronic pain or mired in a depression that will not lift.
“In our own lives, there are too many tears, too many unknowns, too many closed doors. It’s not hard to be discouraged, maybe even despair.
“And yet, the spoiler is true: the darkness does not win.”
He then quotes John 1:1-5: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:1-5).
Following this Scripture, he portrays the power and wonder of light. The article is rich in content and encouraging to the heart. I heartily recommend taking a few minutes to read it this week. You can find it here.
DeYoung draws his article to a close by asking, “Why can we be confident that the darkness will not win?” He answers,
“It’s not because of grandma’s cooking or a familiar Christmas movie. It’s not because dreams come true when we believe, no matter what we actually believe. Our confidence is rooted in history; our faith is based on fact. What we celebrate in this season is not the triumph of the human spirit or the importance of family or the power of positive thinking. We worship a baby boy born in a bloody mess in a manger in Bethlehem.
“That baby was really born, to a real virgin, just as the prophets foretold. He lived. He died. He rose from the dead on the third day. He is coming again. We know that the darkness will not be victorious over the world, because it was not victorious over the One through whom the world was made.”
This fourth Sunday of Advent we will look not at John’s account of the coming of Christ, but we will look at an equally fascinating account from the Gospel of Luke 1:26-38, the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary. I pray, that like Mary we say, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
Come, let us adore him,
Pastor Wayne