He came. . .
Perhaps in the annals of time, the two most significant words were these. What was lost in Eden found light the moment He came. We often bypass the importance of that time when The Door was opened to the world. The decay of flesh; with its carnal applications, had cast a long shadow on the earth. Our modern view, cloaked with conveniences and superficial concepts, limits our comprehension of the destruction of sin. Humanity was in a downward spiral. A silent heaven combined with a listless sacrifice became the immeasurable distance from God to man.
And yet, He came.
John spares no feelings in the matter. Jesus came to His own, but His own received Him not. It was akin to a city in famine rejecting a bounty of food: A people in drought declining the free flowing waters from a mountain spring. His own did not receive Him. They looked past Him without appeal or inquiry. All they would ever need could be found in Him, but they denied Him entry into their lives and their loss rippled through the ages.
The redeeming verse, however, followed the heartbreak of their rejection. John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
He came for you and for me. He came for as many as would receive Him. To those who welcomed Him and who would believe on Jesus’ name, to them He gave power. John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Our birth was not that of Abraham’s seed. We were not the descendants of the Covenant, but through the Name of Jesus and obedience we were born of God. Jesus called it being born again (John 3). All of it happened because He came.
The trappings of this season cannot tell the story. Christmas is paused, when God wrapped Himself in human form and became the Lamb slain to recover what was lost. The primary meaning of Christmas is not about gifts, food or family. Those things are just byproducts of our rejoicing. Christmas is the recognition of a God that loved us so much, He gave His only begotten son. He gave, when He came.
Pastor Jeffrey Harpole
