The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it. 1 John 1:2

In 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine dominated the world’s attention. As the magnitude of the catastrophe became apparent, officials scrambled to the critically essential task of containing the radiation. Lethal gamma rays from highly radioactive debris kept destroying the robots deployed to clean up the mess.

So they had to use “bio robots”—human beings! Thousands of heroic individuals became “Chernobyl liquidators,” disposing of the hazardous material in “shifts” of ninety seconds or less. People did what technology could not, at great personal risk.

Long ago, our rebellion against God introduced a catastrophe that led to all other catastrophes (see Genesis 3). Through Adam and Eve, we chose to part ways with our Creator, and we made our world a toxic mess in the process. We could never clean it up ourselves.

That’s the whole point of Christmas. The apostle John wrote of Jesus, “The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us” (1 John 1:2). Then John declared, “The blood of Jesus, [God’s] Son, purifies us from all sin” (v. 7).

Jesus has provided what His creatures could not. As we believe in Him, He restores us to a right relationship with His Father. He’s liquidated death itself. The life has appeared.

How might you be trying to clean up your own mess? How will you give your struggles to Jesus today?

Loving God, thank You for sending Your Son into this world to clean up my mess.

Learn more about having a personal relationship with God.

Ezekiel 47-48; 1 John 3

The word life in John’s writings means more than physical existence; rather, it describes the vibrant, rich quality of joyful fellowship with God—“the eternal life, which was with the Father” (1 John 1:2). Divine life transforms human life from mere existence into something more, as light transforms darkness (John 1:4-5). Through our bond with Jesus, believers in Him access that rich life—so that “our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). And believers’ fellowship with God also draws them into “fellowship with one another” (v. 7).

Monica La Rose