Christmas Devotional: John 1:14a (Continued)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us

We spent some time on this verse last Christmas, and I would like to return to it again this year, because I think it is one of the most important Christmas passages in the entire New Testament. You see, the whole point of Christmas and what we are celebrating is Incarnation. God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, took on human flesh and made his dwelling with us. God entered into His creation in order to redeem it. But why?

Everyone has a theory about what’s wrong with the world. Just ask! You’ll hear everything from global terrorism to politicians to Hollywood to video games–even religion! But the answer to that question is really very simple: sin. We are all at heart sinful, fallen creatures, at enmity with our Creator. We think ourselves worthy of the best, and deserving of good, but in fact we are, as Scripture puts it, children of wrath, deserving nothing more than eternal punishment. We have rebelled against God, and the penalty for our rebellion is death, both physical and eternal. This is the just judgment of a holy God.

But God is also merciful. Yet how can a just and holy God show mercy to wretched people who have earned nothing but the very pits of Hell, and still be just? Sure, God can withhold His wrath, but on what basis? If sin’s debt is not paid, then where is God’s justice? If there is no accounting for sin, then God winks at evil, and the moral foundation upon which our understanding of right and wrong rests disappears. If God can let sin go unpunished, then He is, in essence, endorsing moral anarchy.

The answer is in the Incarnation. God the Father sent God the Son into the world, born a baby in Bethlehem’s manger, raised in an earthly family, knowing the trials and turmoils of mortal life, and yet keeping God’s law perfectly. He walked in our shoes, but in the way we should walk. Where we failed to obey God, Jesus was obedient. Where we missed the mark, Jesus nailed it. And on Calvary’s cross, Jesus became the spotless, blameless, unblemished sacrifice on our behalf. He gave up his life, so his pure life could be ours. As the apostle Paul puts it, he who knew no sin became sin, so we might have his righteousness. When we come to Jesus, confessing our sins, and trusting in him alone for our salvation, we are laying the filthy rags of our lives at the foot of the cross, and taking upon ourselves his pure robes of righteousness, purchased for us by his blood. This is what it means when Christians talk about Christ’s propitiatory sacrifice. He lived a perfect life, in complete obedience to God, and died a guiltless death, so that we can be reconciled to God. By dying on our behalf, Jesus pays the penalty of our sin, and satisfies God’s wrath, and His justice.

Without Christmas, we would all perish in our sin. But because of Christmas, we have hope. In Jesus, God and sinners are reconciled. May we never lose sight of this glorious truth. And may it be true of you this Christmas.