THE REAL JESUS: JOHN'S GOSPEL | Isaiah 9:2-7 | When Light Breaks Out | Christopher Hall

Описание: *LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS: Why Christmas Had to Happen*

We're not doing the Hallmark version of Christmas today. We're going deeper. Before the shepherds, before Bethlehem, before the manger. The Christmas story doesn't begin with "Once upon a time." It begins with "Let there be light."

John's Gospel starts with light, not a manger. And 700 years before Jesus, Isaiah saw it coming: "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light." John tells us how Christmas happened. Isaiah tells us why it had to happen. Both answer: What does God do when His world is drowning in darkness?

*How It's Supposed to Be*

Light was always the plan. God's first words over the formless, empty, dark world were "Let there be light." Everything functions properly when it lives in God's light. We were created to live in perfect relationship with God, each other, and creation. Living under His rule, in His presence.

Isaiah says it in verse 7: "Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end." A kingdom where government actually brings peace. A ruler whose authority doesn't corrupt him. When you say "Why does everything feel so broken?" that's not you being naïve. That's memory imprinted on your DNA by your Creator. A memory of light.

*How We Get It Wrong*

But Isaiah describes people *walking in darkness*. Darkness isn't something that just happened to us. It's something we chose and adapted to. Isaiah 8 shows what that looks like: people hungry, angry, blaming everyone else. When you forget God is good, you start looking everywhere else for satisfaction. Money for security, success for worth, relationships for meaning, politics for hope. Good stuff, but none of it can bear that weight. And when they fail us, we end up angry at God.

Israel wanted kings like other nations. God gave them what they asked for. Kings who led them into idolatry, war, fear, slavery. All earthly kings fail us. Even Lincoln said, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it." You can't ask a human king to do a divine job.

*The Real Problem*

Isaiah goes deeper: "the yoke of His burden, the staff for His shoulder, the rod of His oppressor." That's not confusion. That's slavery. Sin isn't just fog we can't see through. It's chains we can't break. We're not just lost. We're being held captive. We don't need directions. We need a rescue.

*How Jesus Got It Right*

Isaiah doesn't say people escaped darkness or found light. He says they saw a great light. God didn't shout instructions from a distance. He showed up. "For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given."

You don't send a child into a war zone. Unless the plan was never force but incarnation. God didn't send an army. He sent a baby. He stepped into darkness as one of us. He moved into the neighborhood.

Isaiah prophesied this defeat through broken jars. Gideon's story. God reduced Gideon's army to 300, gave them clay jars with torches inside, and they smashed the jars. Light exploded everywhere. God won through brokenness. The jars had to break for light to get out.

Jesus' body, the perfect jar, was shattered on the cross. When that jar broke, the Light of God exploded into the world. Because He was broken, light breaks into our darkness. Now we carry His light in our cracked, ordinary, fragile jars.

*His Names Tell Us What He Came to Do*

Wonderful Counselor. Supernatural wisdom. Mighty God. Strong enough to break your yoke. Everlasting Father. He never abandons you. Prince of Peace. Shalom, nothing missing, nothing broken.

The weapons of your oppression get destroyed. Sin's ammunition is gone. The war isn't on pause. It's over.

*How Should We Respond?*

Stop walking in darkness. Stop pretending you're fine. The light is here. Stop walking away. Let the government be on His shoulders. You were never meant to carry that 3 a.m. weight. Stop trying to be the savior. Let Him rule.

Rejoice. Not because life gets easy, but because the Light has won. Joy isn't denial. It's defiance. Live as people of the light. Share your story. Love people no one else will love.

*The Only Question Left*

Christmas forces a decision. You don't just admire this Child. You submit to the King. Jesus is King. The Lion of Judah reigning over heaven and earth. Will you keep walking in the dark, or will you step into the Light by bowing to the King?

The Light has come. How will you respond?