Advent, as you know, is a time for somber reflection about the coming of Jesus. But we are so used to the season that we may not always be in tune with the implications of this amazing reality that God has, in fact, come near. He not only came near,
but in the person of Jesus, became one of us, born of a woman.
C. S. Lewis termed the Incarnation, “The Grand Miracle,” declaring it the centerpiece of the miracles: that from which all others grew and to which all others pointed. He described God’s efforts in terms of a strong man positioning himself to life a large, awkward burden. Carefully and firmly He gets under the weight of fallen Creation, and lifts it, redeeming it at the same time.
There is nothing like this in all of the world’s religions. There is plenty of interaction with humans by the various gods and goddesses, but no real action on the part of the deities to once and for all eradicate their suffering and end their pain. There are plenty of demands from the gods, but no saving effort or sacrifice on behalf of humanity.
This uniqueness prompted the Apostle John to identify Jesus as “the light coming into the world,” which is Life itself (John 1:4). It is why rejecting Jesus means rejecting God Himself. He and He alone is the connection between God and humans. He and He alone died for sins. He and He alone is the expression of God, so much so that to have seen Him was to have seen the Father (John 14:9). He and He alone now lives to intercede for sinners (1 John 2:1, 2).
John puts the critical reality this way (1 John 5:12): “This is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son does not have life.”
Life, eternal life, God’s life, is what we celebrate, and what constitutes the message we must deliver to the nations.
Do you have the Son?
“God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
John 3:17, 18