This Christmas, we remember the gift that God has given us through the sending of His Son.

Transcript:

Today's scripture reading comes from Hebrews chapter two verses 14 through 18. Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of the death, of death-- that is the devil-- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason, he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he may, he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Among the bills and junk mail, we sometimes find a Christmas card from a loved one when we go to the mailbox. Words on a paper, perhaps stringing along a connection once enjoyed in person, but now separated by distance. The only thing better is their presence-- and by that I don't mean their gifts, I mean actually seeing them face to face. I love words, but people are better than words. Love falls short of its fullest form in the abstract. A mountain of words cannot compare with the experience of being those, being with those we love and who love us.

We know this and, and more importantly, God knows this. This is why in the beginning, when God created human beings, we find him present in the garden with Adam and Eve-- we were created to live with God and to share in his holiness and his goodness as those made in his image. But the man and the woman chose a different path. Satan in the form of the serpent persuaded them that they should desire to be their own gods, living life on their own terms apart from the wisdom of God. Every one of us has followed in the footsteps of Adam and Eve, our hearts so corrupted that none of us do what's right. At the end of the day, we always fall short of the perfection that's needed for us to be able to dwell with God. None of us can close the distance and make amends. And so we live, we sin, and we die.

The good news of Christmas is that our story doesn't end that way. The good news of Christmas is that while we couldn't close the gap, God can, and he has done just that. At Christmas, God gives us his son. The triune God, sends his son to us. Why? Because he loves us.

The Apostle John in 1 John chapter four, verses nine through 10 says this, this is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

You see, we don't get into God's good graces by our motion towards him. He doesn't send his son to us because we were loving him. No, we were, we were hateful. We despised God. We rejected him. And yet God loved us even when we didn't want to have anything to do with him. God makes the first move in bringing us back to himself, and that move is substantiated, not in him giving us some teaching. Not by giving us some policy or handing down some form of technology. The substance of his love for us is manifest in the person of his son. He sends his son so that we might live through him.

Now, you might ask how, how is it that we live through the Son? The way in which we come to live through the son of God is by the sacrifice that he offers, the atoning sacrifice that he offers for our sins. Again, our problem, the great human problem is we have divided ourselves from God by our sinfulness, by the evil that we welcome into our hearts rather than God himself. And so there's this question of, well, who can make amends? Who can make us one with God again?

And this leads us into the mystery of the incarnation. When we say that Jesus is the Son of God, we are not merely saying that Jesus is the most highly favored human being. Now, you could say that, but you can't merely say that 'cause Jesus is more than a mere man. We are saying that Jesus is the one and same person as the Son of God, the Son who has eternally existed, the Son who shares in the full divinity of the Father and the Holy Spirit, the one God who is also at the same time, three persons. On Christmas, God does something that was unprecedented.

Turning to Hebrews one, verses one through verse three A, the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews tells us in the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

Notice the differentiation that's being introduced here. If Jesus was a mere prophet, he wouldn't really be anything all that new. There's been prophets in the past. What the writer of Hebrews is saying here, though, is Jesus is different. Yes, God spoke through the prophets in the past, but now he sends to us his son. The son is the radiance of God's glory. He is the exact representation of God. In fact, the writer says that everything that exists was made through Jesus. It's passages like this, and others across the New Testament that leads us to understand that the son is in fact fully God. He's not a demi God, he is not half God. He is fully God because everything we would say about God applies to him.

The son of God became human, miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Not half human, fully human, while also fully divine.

Now you might ask, well, why is that necessary? Why? Why do we have to get that all sorted? That he's not half and half, but he is in fact fully human and fully divine? Why is it necessary that he become one of us? If we go to chapter two of the epistle to the Hebrews, we're taking some distance in understanding why.

As was read earlier, verses 14 through 18 in chapter two, since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death-- that is, the devil-- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels whom he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he's able to help those who are being tempted.

We can come to understand why the incarnation is necessary, why it's necessary that the son take on human flesh and become fully human even while he is also fully God, when we fully grasp the human situation. When we comprehend that we are captives to death and sin, no one escapes death, and no one escapes death because all of us are sinners. Yes, we judge ourselves relative to one another. We say, oh, well, that person's really bad. That person's not. That person seems good to compare to that person. But the standard is not each other. The standard is the holiness of the God whom we were created to reflect.

If we are going to be liberated from this captivity, it's necessary that someone would arise who is innocent, who can't be found guilty. It's necessary that there be found someone who is righteous, who doesn't fall prey to sin. It's necessary that there be someone who can break death's power. And that someone needs to be human because the debt is a human debt. It must be paid by us. And sin is a human corruption, something that's infected and, and spoiled us. And death is a human affliction, something that must be broken at some point in the record of humanity, that one of us would not be given over to death forever.

We need someone who can not only stand above the rest of humanity, because this could apply to just an individual. You would think we need someone who not only can stand above the rest of humanity, but who can also bring people to God. Otherwise, we could say, well, that's great for that person, but what ,what about the rest of the world? Is there hope for the world here? We need someone who can realize our human destiny and make it possible that we can become who we were created to be: men and women who share in the holiness of God and who can live with him forever.

That destiny was forsaken by Adam and Eve, but Jesus is born to achieve it. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:22 says, for as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. And the all there that Paul means is those who turn to Christ. Anyone who turns to Christ can begin a new life. Not just in the quality of this current life that we enjoy now, but in this life which is to come through the resurrection of the dead.

The baby born in the manger was born to accomplish this. Only the son of God can help us. Only him, because no mere human is up to the task. All of us are corrupted by sin, guilty, and unable to defeat death. Not one of us can save ourselves, nevermind trying to save the rest of the world. As much as we try, people try to say, oh, I'm, I'm gonna be the one. I h...