A Light That Changes Everything | Hope named Jesus
Pastor Kyle Veach
There’s nothing quite like waking up in the middle of the night, walking through your familiar bedroom, and slamming your toe on the bedpost. You know the room. You know the layout. But in the dark, even what’s familiar becomes confusing.
That moment captures what many people quietly carry—life makes sense on paper, yet something still feels dim or unclear. That’s why I love Christmas. Not because of the decorations or the music, but because Christmas is God saying, “I see the darkness, and I’m stepping into it.” It’s a reminder that God sent His Son into a world that needed real light. Click the link above for the full message.
Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, Isaiah wrote,
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2).
Then came generations of silence and waiting. When Jesus finally arrived, He wasn’t just another teacher. He was the fulfillment of the very first thing God ever created. In Genesis, before there were oceans, mountains, or people, God spoke light into existence.
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3).
Light came before everything else because nothing grows or thrives in darkness. From the beginning, God set a pattern—when He steps in, darkness doesn’t win.
JESUS AS THE GREAT LIGHT
Humanity has tried to create its own light for thousands of years—fire, candles, oil lamps, electricity, LED screens, stadium lights, phone flashlights. Light used to be rare, expensive, and fragile. Now it’s normal. But human light can only do so much. It can brighten a room, but it can’t brighten a soul. It can help you see what’s around you, but it can’t deal with what’s happening inside you. Isaiah didn’t prophesy that a new idea or invention was coming. He said a great Light was coming.
Only Jesus can expose lies, heal shame, redeem broken stories, and bring direction to a life that feels stuck. Jesus isn’t artificial, adjustable, or limited. He is the Light of the World.
When Isaiah spoke about the Light, he wasn’t imagining electricity. He was pointing to a Savior. And in Luke 1, that Light breaks through when an angel appears to a teenage girl in Nazareth—an ordinary town where nothing impressive seemed to happen. Gabriel tells Mary she will give birth to Jesus, the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:26–33). It’s a simple scene, but it reminds us how God loves to work: quietly, unexpectedly, and in places people overlook.
LIGHT COMES WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT
When God chose Nazareth, He chose a place most people ignored. When He chose Mary, He chose someone young, unknown, and without influence. And when He chose to bring Jesus into the world through a virgin birth, He chose a situation that seemed impossible. But this is how God works. Light often shows up before we’re ready for it.
Some of the brightest moments of God’s work begin in the hardest places—during a difficult diagnosis, in a marriage that feels like it’s hanging on by a thread, or with a child who seems completely unreachable.
God doesn’t wait for your circumstances to be perfect. Hope doesn’t wait for your life to be organized. Hope shows up right where you are.
A seed reminds us of this. Growth begins underground before anyone sees anything. The real work happens in the dark, out of sight, long before there’s fruit. God often does His best work in those hidden places. This is why John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Darkness has never beaten light—not once in human history. Even the smallest light is enough to shift a room.
Timothy Keller once wrote,
“Jesus didn’t come to the best people; He came to the broken people. Grace always finds you in the place you least expect it.”
That’s the heart of this first truth. God moves in the places you assume are disqualified.
LIGHT BEGINS SMALL BUT GROWS STRONG
Light rarely arrives fully formed. Most of the time it starts small. Think about a child learning to walk—wobbly steps, falls, and trying again. The steps aren’t impressive, but they’re progress. Faith works the same way. Mary didn’t wake up one morning feeling “highly favored.” She grew into that identity through normal, everyday faithfulness.
The sunrise is a good picture of this. If you look outside at the very beginning of dawn, it doesn’t look like much is happening. But minute by minute, the sky changes. We would never judge the sunrise by its first few minutes, yet we judge God’s work in our lives that way all the time. When something God has started feels small, we assume nothing is happening. But dawn always grows.
This is what Proverbs 4:18 is getting at:
“The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.”
God’s work in you gets stronger as you keep walking. Hope can start with a quiet whisper from God, a nudge, a moment in worship, or one small act of obedience. Don’t underestimate the beginning. Small obedience sets the stage for big breakthrough.
Eugene Peterson famously described spiritual growth as “long obedience in the same direction.” That’s how the light grows. A simple prayer to begin with is: “Jesus, grow the small thing You’ve started in me.”
LIGHT REQUIRES A “YES” FROM US
Mary didn’t experience breakthrough because she heard an angel. She experienced breakthrough because she responded:
“I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).
Her “yes” opened the door for everything God wanted to do through her. That yes didn’t remove difficulty—it brought misunderstanding, pressure, and a complicated road. But it also brought purpose, joy, and the arrival of Jesus.
Hope isn’t passive. God often waits for us to say yes before the next step becomes clear. A.W. Tozer said it well:
“The moment you make up your mind to obey the Lord, He gives you the power to follow through.”
When God leads you, you don’t have to understand every detail before you respond. Your yes creates room for His light to grow.
A simple prayer for this moment is: “Jesus, my answer is yes.”
The Light Has Dawned
This is the message of Christmas and the message of our faith:
There is hope, and His name is Jesus.
The Light has dawned, and it’s shining on you, your family, and your future.
Further Resources
The Purpose of Christmas — Book by Rick Warren
In the Manger: 25 Inspirational Selections for Advent Book by Max Lucado
“The Light We Need to See” - Article by Jon Bloom
