+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen. +
Text: John 1:13
Theme: Born of God
Dear friends of the Newborn Saviour,
The birth of Jesus is a new beginning for the human race. The lost image of God is restored perfectly in Him. The mystery of Christian teaching is that true faith possesses the eternal benefits of that same restored image through Jesus immediately and completely. Though the kingdom of God advances person by person, soul by soul, fighting against Satan and unbelief tooth and nail- God doesn’t just give blanket restoration to humanity- salvation does not happen piecemeal for the individual. Jesus did not come as an assistant through which we could obtain our own holiness. We cannot master sin.
No one will ever progress so far in their sanctity and holiness that sin will be kept in check. It may appear that way in some outward evidence of conduct. A person’s kindness, gentleness, and the way they think selflessly of others may be exemplary. They may have outstanding devotional discipline and a vast knowledge of the Scriptures. They may forfeit all their personal dreams to spend their lives in service to others. But two things must be taken into account. Firstly, sickness, ageing and death are also the result of sin. Ageing is not a natural- in this context- God-ordained process. It is just one we are familiar with. Secondly, sin involves not only specific misconduct or failure to do the good, but every wayward thought. Even the propensity to consider our own agenda ahead of God’s will is already sin that makes us culpable of eternal punishment. Because it doesn’t seem reasonable to us that such propensity, or inclination, should be damning, we must take God at His word.
Still, there are plenty of tangible manifestations of sin. Were sin actually arrested all thoughts would be pure, bodies would never age and minds would never decay. But the fact that this will never be the case should not cause us to despair or throw up our hands and say “What’s the use in trying to live according to God’s will?” Rather it should cause us to long for the resurrection more fervently. Hope, according to the Bible, involves both the longing and the certainty that we will be released from our bondage to decay1. We glimpse the promise already in the resurrected Christ. This is what John meant when he wrote in his first letter concerning Jesus, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched- this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it.”2
We cannot achieve what is already the finished work of Christ. But that doesn’t mean our spiritual lives should go into arrested development. Even in these old mortal frames we participate in the future promises. Baptism involves mystical incorporation into the newness of Christ. Yes, the oldness of decay clings to a person already at birth. We cannot see it outwardly. All often appears fine and precious. But already the power of the corruption of original sin is at work. Its progress cannot be halted in this life. It can only be mitigated. But it can be forgiven. We can be exonerated of all blame and guilt. Christ frees us from bondage to Adam’s inheritance. He unburdens us from the debt which keeps us tethered to Satan’s will. Consider carefully the words of the apostle today, “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God.”3
On what basis do we have this right? Only on the strength and merit of Christ who was born of the Virgin Mary and not conceived of a human, sinful father, but of the Holy Spirit. It is into this lineage that Christians are grafted. The Spirit’s water overrides Adam’s blood through the power of Christ’s blood shed on the cross. The new spiritual life- the believer remaining grafted into Christ- the true vine, is incorruptible. This treasure is to be exalted above all others. That is why St. John says today, “From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”4 And St. Paul, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”5 And again, the prophet Jeremiah, “The Lord will ransom Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger then they.”6
As God’s ransomed people we are light in a dark world. This is no small task. The light never accommodates the darkness. Believers must live in a secular and profane world. They must be constantly assessing, discerning, and deciding which ways and methods of the world can be of benefit, which can be tolerated and which must be renounced. We can allow no confusion between Christ’s grace and compassion and His intolerance of falsehood and evil. The inveterate sinner is always looking for a way to excuse his sin. We latch on to every possibility of downplaying or dismissing our unrighteousness. In so doing we easily condone the claim that Jesus was soft and accepting towards sinners. No one need to fear God’s wrath because Jesus has come to tell us that God has decided He won’t condemn or judge. The devil would have us believe that the gospel is nothing less than a blanket pardon for all people for all transgressions.
Actually the gospel is something much more. Forgiveness is only free to us because it was immeasurably costly to Christ. Jesus never accommodates sinners. He rebukes their sinfulness and demands repentance. The soul that is brought to a conviction of unworthiness and need then has the assurance that Jesus opens wide the gates of heaven. Divine pardon doesn’t mean that the issue of God’s wrath is side-stepped or ignored- and God doesn’t just get over it- His holiness would not allow that. Rather the scorching fire of His just anger is quenched in the sacrifice of the Child of Bethlehem on Calvary. The necessity of the appeasement is inescapable. This is so not in the manner of the mythical deities of Greek and Romans mythology in which pacification was necessary because the idol simply wasn’t getting his or her way. It was believed that mythical deities demanded veneration at the risk of fickle punishment.
But, dear friends, our heavenly Father desires that the channels be opened so that we can properly receive His love. He desires to give not to take. In the incarnate Jesus we understand God as the divine Giver. He imparts, through His Son, all that we lack. He restores all that has been lost. He does so not out of obligation but of unbridled compassion, sheer mercy, and unwavering consistency to His very being. The giving of Christmas is grounded here: the Child as gift; the Saviour as Giver. Amen.
1 See Romans 8:21
2 1 John 1:1-2
3 John 1:12
4 John 1:16-17
5 Ephesians 1:3
6 Jeremiah 31:11
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