Advent Devo 12/3

Why Christ Came

           

The incarnation of Christ is one of the greatest mysteries to ever behold... And yet, much of our belief system rest upon it. Why did Jesus come? He tells us why He came when Mark recorded Him saying, "to seek and to save the lost."

Why did He come the way He did? Why as a human? Hebrews 2 gives us that answer. Becoming fully human was the only way He could die. Think about that. Let it resonate within you. Most people spend their lifetime looking for ways to avoid death, or at least to postpone it as long as possible. Jesus came as His number one mission to die. God came down to die. The only way He could achieve that is to become one of us, truly, wholly, one of us.

Why did He have to die? Hebrews tells us that too. Only by dying could he break the power that death has upon us all. Only by dying Himself could he take away the devil's greatest weapon and turn it into the gateway unto Life. I know that in the midst of this happy season of preparing for family, partying, buying gifts, enjoying those Lifetime/Hallmark Christmas movies, and singing songs about Grandma getting run over by reindeer it is so easy to focus on us. Advent calls us to focus on Him.

However, the Christmas sermons and even the best of Advent devotionals, designed to help us remain true during this season, can also sometimes forget to draw us back far enough to see the whole picture. We aren't remembering just the baby in the manger. We aren't thinking only about Jesus coming again. We must remember the purpose for which He came the first time: to die.

This is usually what we focus our thoughts on during Good Friday, but perhaps it is good to remember it during Advent too. God left heave, wrapping Himself with flesh, becoming of the same substance that He formed Adam to be...down to the molecular level. Jesus experienced everything about humanity that we all experience. And then He laid it all down and submitted His own body, His own glory, His own humanity upon a Roman cross.

For us.

Us.

We who know nothing but how to sin. We who had brought death into the world to begin with. We who have crafted and invented the most tortuous ways to inflict pain and bring about death toward our fellow Creation. We who have so mismanaged our own time given to us to live, move, and Be upon this planet... We killed the author of Life.

And in return... He loves. He forgives. He renews. He offers Life.

But don't despair, we know that Easter tells a different ending than what would be expected. We also know that because of the death of Death, we are offered Life.

Because of Jesus, we are no longer slaves to fear, not even the fear of death.