Advent: December 24th
Only God could do it. We cannot save anyone by our effort or through our will. God sent His son to be our propitiation. This means that God is satisfied to look on the perfect life of Christ as my own. It means that Christ's death was substitutionary. Jesus suffered, not for his own sins but for mine. He "drank" the wrath God had stored up for the sin of the world. Jesus came, not to get rid us of God's good law, but to uphold and live it out perfectly on our behalf. This satisfied the justice of God. I deserve death and hell for God's perfect standards are righteous and good. See, to just be sinless is not enough. We also need to be perfect and holy, always doing what is right to be allowed in the presence of the Almighty God. Jesus not only paid the penalty for our sins( the things we missed the mark on) when he died on the cross. He also lived a perfect life, always doing what was righteous and necessary. Now, after receiving the punishment for the things we have done wrong, he sits at the right hand of the Father(God) and intercedes on our behalf.,. This is why we can pray directly to God and not have to go through a priest or other religious leader. We pray and the Holy Spirit interprets, Jesus mediates, and God hears! How amazing that we have a direct line to God in prayer! What better person of the trinity than Jesus to plead our case before God? Jesus, who has come and put on flesh and lived among us, who experienced all the temptation and difficulty of this broken world, and was faithful even unto death. He understands us intimately. He lived, ate, grew tired, slept, felt deeply, wept tears of grief, had righteous zeal and anger, and longed for God’s people, Israel, to know him as the Christ.(Matthew 23:37)
He loved beyond social and cultural barriers,the great and weak alike.
And He loves you. He has died to provide a way for repentance and renewal. John the Baptist is an important part of the Christmas story from beginning to end. Here, he is an important reminder of the necessity of repentance. What is repentance? Repentance is not merely feeling sorry or conflicted when you do something you know you shouldn’t. Repentance is a turning from going one direction(embracing and perpetuating your own sinfulness) to going the opposite direction. It is an about-face. A change from pursuing fleshly desires and means, to pursuing Godly desires and means. It does not mean that I am perfect, but that I am turning from myself to God. Sin is not something we can fix, ourselves. We must ask God to save us. This takes faith or trust in the character and ability of God. Many of you may have heard of the sinner’s prayer. In it, we agree with God that we are sinners who have fallen short of His glory. We express trust in the life and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Christ’s sacrifice was ENOUGH to cover our sins! We then are often told to “Ask Jesus into our heart.” This means we are asking God, through the Holy Spirit, to come and take up residency inside of us. How and when does this happen exactly?…No one knows, but God. Just as we saw the miraculous and instantaneous interaction between Elizabeth and Mary, we are sure that God begins to do a great work inside of us. The things that once insulated us from God fall to the wayside and only an unexplainable freedom and joy remain. This kind of invitation and change does not come from an agreement that God is real("Even the demons believe and shutter." James 2:19), it is not insurance against hell alone, (Jesus isn't going to be dropkicking anyone through the goal posts of heaven against their will), and it is not a work you do on your own to gain God’s approval and win security. It is about being in relationship from the very beginning. Why else would God send his only son to humble himself so completely, not just by taking on flesh but also by living among us and dying in our place? All that was done, is done to restore the relationship that was lost in the Garden of Eden. We have all chosen our own way. We have all fallen short and sinned against God and against our fellow man. God offers Peace. God gives life.
God Gives Himself. He is Immanuel, God with us!
