The Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one
and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The children at our church have been preparing for a
Christmas program that will capture the manger scene, complete with an actual live
baby. While they were rehearsing, the baby playing Jesus wiggled and squirmed
in its seat, occasionally letting out a cry, as if to let his parents know that
they would be needed soon. It occurred to me that this baby was completely
dependent on his parents. To eat, to sit-up, to move from spot to spot, the
baby required the help of a parent. He was completely helpless. So it struck me
as incredibly odd that God would take the form of a completely helpless
creature as his human introduction into this world. We could argue that it
would have made more sense for Jesus to come in the form of a more independent human
being…at least maybe a teenager our young adult. That way he could have done
more of his work from the very start. Yet he didn’t. No Christ came in the form
of a vulnerable, helpless, tiny wiggling infant. But there was a reason for his
entry as baby. Jesus came to this world
to walk the path that we are walking…the complete path, from start to finish…from
infant to adult. And in that walk, he experienced the very same temptations,
struggles, and hardships that we experience as a part of this broken world. Throughout
his life, he set the perfect example of how one is to live in obedience,
discipline, and commitment to the Father. He never once sinned, never once gave
into the devil, and never once crossed the Lord. In short, he was perfect and
provided the perfect model for how we are to live. It was as if his life
message was a constant, “like this” on how we are to live. And by being perfect
and dying a sinners death, he highlighted the unfathomable depth of love that
God has for us. A perfectly innocent man, free from any flaw or mistake, died
on a cross like a criminal, like a sinner. All for OUR salvation…not his. All for
our benefit, our gain, our redemption. It’s hard to rationalize and make sense
of that…yet it’s real, and it underlines God’s irrational love for us. He
entered this world humbly, quietly, as a seemingly ordinary infant…but he left
his world in a mighty way, defeating death, rising back to life, and ascending
to heaven. May we approach each day eagerly awaiting the promised return of the
Savior…but this time it won’t be as an infant…no it will be as the mighty
Savior, gathering up his people and returning to the Father. O what a glorious day
that will be! To God alone be the glory!
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