This year (2023), Advent comes to a close with this Sunday
being the only day in the fourth week. In the General Roman Calendar, today is
the last day of Advent, Christmas Eve, and also the first day of Christmas
time. Advent may come to a close, but the
joy of the Incarnation of Jesus has just begun.
While families – yours perhaps – busily prepare for Christmas
gatherings, dinners, and church services, the scriptures remind us of what the
significance of this Christmas Eve means.
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Luke 2:10-11
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of
great joy that will be for all the people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is
Christ the Lord.
What are the most significant words in the Christmas Eve
announcements? “Unto you is born this
day…a Savior, Christ the Lord…”, and “they shall call his name Immanuel, which
means God with us”.
Jesus didn’t come to make a show, to raise an army, to declare
his might. Jesus came for us. God is “with us”…a Savior is born “for us”.
This was the message the Shepherds got that first Christmas
Eve: “When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the
shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see
this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us."
(Luke 2:15).
This is the message of the Bible from beginning to end: “God
so loved the world that he gave us his only begotten son, that whosoever
believes in him will have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
God to us is not a remote divinity…not a “god” like the
Romans or Greeks had who was removed from his people, petty, distant, and unknown. God entered the world to be “among us”…
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his
glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… For
from his fullness, we have all received, grace upon grace” (John
1:14-16).
This is the story of Christmas…this is the story of the Incarnation. God did not send his Son into the world for
the rich and the powerful, for Caesar or High Priests. He sent his Son into the world through the anonymity
of a poor peasant couple. Those whom he
announced the good news of his Son’s birth were “night shift” workers. It is what the Apostle Paul described to the
Corinthians:
“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the
wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what
is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing
things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in
Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption, (1 Corinthians 1:27-30).
“For us, a child is born…Immanuel, God is with us”…
that’s the message of Christmas Eve.
Over and over again, Jesus is personal, relational, present then
and now for his people – the flock he shepherds. He came to us, because he loved us,
and is for us.
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ
died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous
person—though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die— but God
shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died
for us. (Romans 5:6-8).
The Incarnation not only reminds us of God’s great love for
his creation, but it also predicts the restoration and reconciliation of all things
in Christ – especially in our faith.
“What then are we to say about these things? If God is
for us, who is against us?
He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us,
will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring
any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.
Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was
raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who
will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword…? No, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ( Romans
8:31-35,37).
They named him Jesus, for he will save His people from their
sins. They called him Immanuel – for he is
God among us. Tonight, and tomorrow,
gifts will be given and received. We
will be overwhelmed by some, and hopefully, thankful for the love on
display. Yet, as we open gifts, let us
remember that God gave the greatest gift – his Son.
“Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift”! (2
Corinthians 9:15).
O come, O come,
Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appears.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
Peace on this Christmas Eve!
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