The Christmas Tree (part 5)

I am the light of the world (John 8:12).

When you decorate your Christmas Tree, do you top it with a star? Many people do. The Christmas star is a very special decoration, because it reminds us of God’s Son.

Jesus refers to Himself as the bright Morning Star. The nighttime sky is filled with many points of light, but the brightest of them all is the planet Venus. As dawn approaches, all other stars fade from sight; only Venus remains visible. Because of this, Venus has been called the Morning Star, because it heralds the start of a bright new day.

How appropriate, then, for Christ to be called the bright Morning Star. Our world was shrouded in the darkness of sin, a terrible night that just went on and on. But hope was coming; that hope was sent down to earth by the God of the heavens. He sent His Son to be born among us, bringing hope to the hopeless. Jesus’ arrival heralded the dawn of a new day, a bright future where sin is forgiven, death is conquered, and heaven is opened. Christ was born to close the rift between sinful man and holy God. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. He is the light in the darkness promising the arrival of a bright new day. He is our bright Morning Star.

In view of this, it’s really not surprising that wise men from the east were led to the newborn Savior by following a star. That Christmas star brought them to the presence of God’s own Son, where they offered precious gifts and knelt to worship Him. The Christmas star invited them to approach God and be welcomed.

John writes, The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (John 1:5). Sadly, we forget the significance of the bright Morning Star. We still live in a world darkened by sin. We get wrapped up in seeking pleasure and dealing with pain.

We forget that Christ has changed our lives, and that worldly pleasures and hurts are temporary shadows that will soon disappear. And so we need the Christmas star to point us back to Christ this year and every year. He is the bright Morning Star that changes everything by ushering in a new day—a day when the darkness of sin is banished forever by God’s magnificent light. That is the message of Christmas.