Dayspring

For many of us, Christmas is our most treasured and favorite season of the entire year.  With every bright light that is hung from house eve to Christmas tree, the month of December becomes beautifully illuminated. Presents will continue to appear under the boughs of the tree until the great crescendo on Christmas morning which leaves behind a huge pile of wrapping paper, colored bows and ribbon.  But for many, December will be a bleak reminder of personal loss and tragedy. So when darkness falls upon us and we find ourselves wandering through “The valley of the shadow of death”, where should we turn for hope? 

Before Jesus was born to Mary in Bethlehem Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin also delivered a baby and named him John. His father Zacharias, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied in Luke 1:76-79 that his son would prepare the way for the coming Messiah. In these verses ,Zacharias went on to give this prophecy about Jesus  “with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.” 

In Luke 1:79 the passage speaks of the Messiah as a “Dayspring” from on high. The Greek word for “Dayspring” literally means “dawn”. In the Old Testament book of Malachi 4:2, God speaks through another prophet saying “But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings.” It’s clear that the coming Messiah would bring healing and be a great light to a very dark world. God compares Jesus to the sun as it rises above the mountains at dawn. We have all seen a great sunrise in our lifetimes where the sun’s rays beam over the horizon, piercing their way through the early morning darkness. So no matter how dark our immediate world gets, there is always still hope and a very bright future with Jesus. 

Jesus is the world’s only true hope. In this fallen world there exists so much pain and suffering that somewhere, at sometime we all experience it. One of the biggest questions I have ever been asked is “Why would a loving God create evil or allow it to sprout up in the first place?” These are questions that have been pondered by millions of people for thousands of years and are at the heart of our need for a Messiah.  In Malachi 3:18 - 4:2 the text says “Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one does not serve Him. ‘For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,’”  

Bob Dylan once wrote these lyrics “You’re gunna have to serve somebody, yes you’re gunna have to serve somebody, it might be the devil or it might be the Lord, but you’re gunna have to serve somebody.” These simple words may well be the answer to the question “Why does evil exist in the world?” Because we were given “Free Will” we make real choices that affect other people. Our choices will either affect a person in a positive-loving way or a negative-harmful way. It’s this unique ability “to choose” that sets us apart from a simple programmed machine that does whatever you tell it to do. God wants us to choose Him, to desire Him and begin a journey in a relationship with Him. 

 Jesus is Godly perfection embodied in human flesh. He loved all people, especially children and would go out of His way to encourage, help or heal them. Children would often run to Jesus and leap into His lap seeking His attention.  He once said that it would be better for someone who harmed a child to have a millstone tied around his neck and drowned in the depths of the sea. The Lord came the first time to offer forgiveness, God’s grace and mercy at the cross. 

However, there is a day of reckoning coming for all men when the Son of Man will rise again to the world, judging both the living and the dead.  All of us will stand before the Lord God one day. Every human being ever born will bow their knee to our Great God! Some will bow out of love and some will bow from compulsion but all will bow their knee. My prayer for you this holiday season is that you will find the greatest gift of all is not underneath your Christmas tree but in the hope that is in God’s only Son.