by David Chadwick
You can’t have good news without first having bad news. You can’t come to bring light unless there is darkness.
Jesus came to the cradle and the cross. He came to give abundant life and to destroy the works of the devil. He came to bring light.
He also came to bring judgment. This reason for Jesus’s coming is a bit more solemn, but nevertheless is true and needs to be noted during the Christmas season. He could never have offered mercy without first bringing judgment.
Jesus told us that his message would divide people, even family members (Matthew 10:34). Among friends. Within society and culture. Think especially of the persecuted church worldwide. It has already happened. It will continue to happen. Jesus told us it would.
Look at the following Bible verses.
Jesus said in John 9:39, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” And in Matthew 10:34, he says, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
Jesus came to bring judgment upon this world so that the blind will see and those who think they see will become blind. What does this mean? It’s referring to spiritual sight. Jesus came to open up people's spiritual eyes so they can walk in truth. He also came so that people who walk in darkness--evil and sin--will be judged. We live in a world where it seems that people get away with anything and everything that’s sad, bad, and evil. But one day Jesus will bring perfect justice!
As for division with family and friends, please know during this Christmas season that Jesus knew it would happen. It’s one of the reasons that he came. One day, he will make all things new. He will overcome all evil. In heaven, there will be no division. Only perfect unity. In the first coming, he came in love, but in the second coming, he will come in judgment and justice. His love and judgment fit perfectly together.
Until then, we have the church. The family of God on earth. And for those cast out by an unbelieving family, there’s a new set of brothers and sisters in Jesus’s church.
That’s the power of the Christmas story.