Here are some thoughts to mediate on today about the mystery of CREATION and the mystery of Jesus and the mystery of incarnation. First, a look at the introduction to the gospel of John.
John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”
This incarnate God was there at the beginning. God was revealing God’s being from Day One. The incarnation was not an afterthought. The nature of God was and is being shown through all of CREATION.
Romans 1:20 “From the beginning, CREATION in its magnificence enlightens us to His nature. CREATION itself makes His undying power and divine identity clear, even though they are invisible.”
There is a hint, and perhaps more than a hint, of the Divine in all of CREATION. And, especially, within each human. This revelation of God has been given to all, not just to those who know about Jesus.
Romans 2:14-16 “When outsiders who have never heard of God’s law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our CREATION. There is something deep within them that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to God’s yes and no will become public knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every man and woman.”
Jesus, as God among us, shows us even more of what God is like. When we welcome Jesus, we welcome God. When we see the nature and character of Jesus, we see the nature and character of God. And we join Jesus and all of CREATION in waiting for More, in living in the Spirit of Jesus, in living in the Spirit of Love, and in anticipating even More.
From Romans 8: “God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all….Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells – even though you still experience all the limitations of sin – you yourself experience life on God’s terms….The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in CREATION is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both CREATION and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens all around us as we observe a pregnant CREATION. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within….Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along….God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored.”
So, this Advent, this Christmas, let’s not only welcome Jesus, but open our eyes to the way God is moving around us and within us, and continue to anticipate the More.
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