God is coming… what should we expect?
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
The scholars’ query: How can an infinite and holy God reveal Himself to finite and sinful man?
The seekers’ question: What is God like?
Philosophers, kings, theologians, priests, sociologists, presidents and chiefs, historians, and people of every culture and ethnicity have been grappling with questions like these for over three thousand years—some without reaching any final conclusions. Inductive speculation has not brought humanity any closer to a meaningful consensus. Humanity’s search for the Divine has been like the story of the five blind men trying to describe an elephant. One feels the tail and says, “An elephant is like a rope.” Another explores the leg and exclaims, “An elephant is like a tree stump.” A third feels the trunk and describes the elephant as a snake. A fourth feels the body and says, “The elephant is like a wall.” The fifth man feels the ears and declares, “An elephant is like a large leaf.” Our postmodern commentary would pronounce them all correct—but in fact, they are all wrong.
The world’s search for God has revealed a fatal flaw. We are the blind men who only see a part and then take the fragment we behold and make it into an absolute declaration of the whole. The truth of the matter is this: we cannot discover Him. He must discover us; we can only hope that God will want to do so. This is why the Christmas message is so important.
Christmas declares, “God has become man in order to take up our case.” What takes place in this act of inconceivable mercy is the free overruling of God over our ignorance, arrogance, and sin. But this is not
an arbitrary overlooking and ignoring;
not an artificial bridge-building;
not a covering-over or hiding;
but a real closing of the breach, gulf, and abyss
between God and us, for which we are responsible.
At the very point
where we refuse and fail;
offending and provoking God;
making ourselves impossible before Him; and
in that way, missing our destiny;
treading underfoot our dignity;
forfeiting our rights and
losing our salvation;
At that very point, God intervenes as man.
In Luther’s famous words:
“He ate, drank, slept, walked;
He was weary, sorrowful, rejoicing;
He wept, and He laughed;
He knew hunger and thirst and sweat;
He talked, He toiled, and He prayed
so that there was no difference between
Him and other men, save only this— He was God, and He no sin.”
The Old Testament prophets revealed the character and attributes of God, but it was Jesus who clearly revealed the person of God. The New Testament writers (all but one were Jewish) declared that Jesus revealed God so perfectly that He is described as
the image of the invisible God (Col 1.15),
the radiance of God’s glory, and
the exact representation of His being (Heb 1.3).
When the disciples wanted to be quite sure about the person and presence of God, Philip said to the Lord, “Show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” The apostle John records Jesus’ startling response, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14.8–9).
We have seen His glory. These words have staggering implications for the world’s search for God. They beckon us to recognize that in Christ,
God has discovered us.
The quest is over;
our sojourn has a destination.
His name is Jesus.
Simply and clearly, Jesus reveals to us that our God is our Father as He shows and demonstrates to us
our Father’s nature,
our Father’s attributes,
our Father’s purposes,
our Father’s love for us,
our Father’s blessing,
our Father’s justice for all, and
our Father’s desire to bring us into a personal and loving relationship with Himself and others, which is destined to last forever.
Those who wish to know God and this life that He offers us must now begin a new pilgrimage that follows God’s journey among us. In 19 days, our quest will begin (afresh) at His cradle.
Happy Advent…
