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3. The Divine Light Has Shone
The message of the coming of the Divine Light is not a mystical religious concept. It is, rather, the promise of God which He gave to the fathers of faith. Read the following passages from the Gospel to judge for yourself that God has indeed pierced the darkness of our world, sending to us His light.
Dear Reader, have you realized that the Divine Light has shone in the deep darkness of our world? Night had fallen on Bethlehem and its outskirts. Every living creature had gone to sleep except a group of shepherds keeping their night-watch in the fields.
Suddenly, the heavens were opened and a penetrating light flashed around them lighting up the night and scaring the shepherds. What increased their dread was the appearance of the Angel of the Lord before them in splendid brightness. And the glory of the Lord shone around them. They fell down, dumbfounded and with eyes blinded. It is the Day of Resurrection, and Judgment Day, they thought! Their sins awoke, accusing them before their sleeping consciences. All their life lay open in its nakedness before them. They were greatly afraid and were trembling with terror. But the Angel of the Lord told them not to be afraid, announcing to them gently: “Fear not! I have come with the message to you that today is born a Savior who is the promised Christ, promised by God through His prophets. He is the mercy to mankind from the merciful God, the One who saves from the Day of Judgment all who trust in Him.” You too will find in this message the secret of enlightenment: Whoever repents from his sins before God, will be filled with the joy of heaven. And whoever receives the word of the Lord in his conscience will realize the joy of his freely given salvation.
Thus, the loving God has prepared for you a great mercy. He is addressing you personally; He will not reject you nor destroy you but will reveal to you His saving purpose.
Have you grasped the secret of the eternal light? Christ was born in a stable in a lowly manger. He took on human form in a humble place so that man will not say: “I am rejected because I am too bad and too small for God to love me.” No! For Christ himself was born like a refugee, rejected by society in order to give each despairing soul hope and a realization that God comes to him, and is close to him and loves him personally.
In one of the Ottoman Sultan’s palaces in Istanbul you can see a glittering cradle for the infants of the ruler made of pure gold. It is decorated with glittering jewels. The names of the princes who occupied this cradle are not known to the world, and this empty golden cradle rests in a corner of one of the museums.
But the lowly Christ born in a poor manger is known through the centuries because He is God’s true sign, the miracle-maker to this day. He is ready to lift you out of your lostness; set you free from the bonds of sin and redeem you from the evils of this world. He will give you eternal life.
The angels of God rejoiced when Christ was born. Their brightness lit up the place where those frightened shepherds sat. The divine light engraved in the depths of their beings the unique knowledge that the promised Christ had come, and that the prophet who was to be greater than Moses had arrived, that the eternal king greater than David had been born. He did not come with weapons of destruction, but with love to conquer death, sin and Satan. He bears all the authority of God, because He is born of His Spirit and He is God’s Word incarnate.
The multitude of believers today confess with great joy that Jesus Christ is their personal Savior, the only effective one. Their songs of grateful praise rise daily from our globe and reverberate in the vast space so that even the stars and planets speak of the glory of God and proclaim His presence and saving power, praising and saying:
When the angels had left the shepherds, darkness once more descended. But they arose at once and went to Bethlehem to see this thing, which had happened. They hurried, stumbling in the dark as they went, but inside them there glowed this new wonderful light. The shepherds found the place, where Jesus had been born and their hearts overflowed with joy. They saw the baby lying in a manger and knelt down and worshipped Him. They departed afterwards into the dark night singing and when they reached the village, they told of the appearance of the angel to the people, and that they had seen the infant in the stable in Bethlehem. The people shook their heads and thought about what they heard. It sounded like a fable invented by the shepherds. None of them believed what they heard about the incarnation of the Word of God. They did not hurry to the child in the manger to bow before Him. It was then that those shepherds realized that salvation was prepared for all men. However, not all accept the message of God. Only those who obey the call are illuminated by it. No doubt, the shepherds were amazed at not seeing any wealth or glory or greatness surrounding the baby. But they believed in God’s Word which had become incarnate, the promised one, lying in a humble manger.
The whole world has not been the same since the birth of Christ. All those who followed Him started observing a new calendar based on this outstanding historic event, which has changed human history.