Advent Day 22: Light takes on flesh
1 Timothy 6:12-16
12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 14to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
I John 1:1-5
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
Walking in the Light
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Growing up in a card playing family I love a good game. So now with my kids playing Uno is a highlight of my week. But in teaching them I must show them what to play and when to play the cards. When teaching them a game I’ll play “open” meaning with my cards laid face up for all to see. Then they know when I can beat them with a “draw four” or “reverse.” Often I will give them grace (as they tirelessly ask for, for they know it is hard for a preacher to resist that petition) and not play a devastating blow. But even if I don’t play the winning card they still know that I can.
For some reason this analogy popped into my head when I read I John 1:1-5. For this text shows us one aspect of God very clearly. God has shown his cards. In other words he has revealed himself. The ultimate trump card has been played in Christ. He has been laid down (i.e. sacrificed for us). He is the devastating blow to sin, Satan, our enemies and anything that is contrary to his will.
I John 1:2 tells that life was “made manifest” and we have “seen it.” God in revealing Christ as the Savior of mankind has played his hand open. He has never shied away from his desire to provide a redeemer for our salvation. Early in the third chapter of the first book of the Bible Christ is promised to come (Gen. 3:15). Then the picture gets clearer as we know he will be born as a child King (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7). And finally we were able to see him with our own eyes, look upon him and touch him (I John 1:1).
So Christ has been made manifest or apparent. God does not hide from us when we hid from him. Rather he does the unthinkable and comes to us. As we grow closer to the celebration of Christmas think about the astounding claim of how God, in Christ, has come to us. J.B. Phillips has said “there was no advertisement, no publicity, no special privilege; in fact the entry of God into his own world was almost heartbreakingly humble. In sober fact there is little romance or beauty in the thought of a young woman looking desperately for a place where she could give birth to her first baby. I do not think for a moment that Mary complained, but it is a bitter commentary upon the world that no one would give up a bed for the pregnant woman – and that the Son of God must be born in a stable.”
There is no god like the Christian God who shows his cards to us in Christ. For this appearing of the Lord shows us that God dwells with us. Importantly in dwelling among us he doesn’t lose his majesty any more than me playing where my kids can see my cards robs me of my intellect. He is still “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light.” His revealing of himself only makes him more wonderful and beautiful.
So what encouragement does this give us today? It means that we can’t outplay God. Because he revealed his hand (in fact his strong arm of salvation) we see that we are out manned. We don’t have enough cards to play to beat him. Our moralistic cards don’t stand up to his card of holiness. Our therapeutic cards don’t stand up to his call to righteousness. Our card of sin e.g. “I’ve done too much for God to forgive me” doesn’t stand a chance to the trump card of God’s grace in Christ.
Because we see his hand we know that our self-righteousness will not win. Friend its time to lay down our cards to admit that we are defeated. For when we quit trying to outwit God then we can enjoy God. Life has appeared, touch see and taste the grace of God in Christ the one made manifest for us.
