Who is this Child?

Hi. Again, let me welcome you to OnMission - we are on the Eve of yet another Christmas. OnMission is thankful that you are with us, following this blog and joining with us as we seek to truly know God - as we seek to know this Person whose birth we are about to celebrate and as we wrestle with the significance of His birth.

If this is your first time reading, my name is Howard Edwards; I am an OnMission pastor, and, at least initially I will be the main contributor to this blog. But again, I extend an invite to anyone who might like to help research or contribute directly to this blog to feel free to contact me by email.

As we turn now to reflect on God’s Word, let us pray:

Almighty God, our Father in Heaven:

Give us eyes that see, we want to know You.

Give us ears that hear, we need to hear Your Word.

Give us hearts that Love, transform us so we might Love as You Love.

Amen

Scripture Reading:

Now let us turn to the Bible. These words were inspired by God and written by Paul to a congregation. This congregation lived under the cultural, political and economic influence of Rome - Corinth was restored by Julius Caesar; His vision was to form it in the image of Rome - and he did.

By the time Paul visited Corinth, it was a thriving example of Rome’s imperial grandeur and a centre of Roman paganism and the worship of the Roman Emperor.

Corinthian culture centred on individuals - citizens desired wealth, status, influence and power above all.

Like us today, they were slaves to those elusive gods of fame and fortune.

This culture had seeped into the Corinthian congregation - they were so immersed in their culture that they were blind to its corruption. It is an important caution for us today.

So God sends Paul to Corinth; weak, sick and suffering - it’s completely counter-cultural - this obscure, insignificant man is God’s messenger to the go-getters and social-climbers in Corinth.

Here is part of that letter sent to Corinth: 

"When I [Paul] came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come with superior eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed the testimony of God. I decided to be concerned about nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling. My conversation and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but by making known the Spirit, and, moral excellence, so that your faith would not be based on human wisdom but on the moral excellence (that is the power) of God."

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Today's reflection is entitled, Who is this child?

We have now come to the final day of Advent.

Tomorrow is a day particularly and purposefully set apart for God’s people to gratefully worship Him and to remember and celebrate His lovingkindness toward us… to celebrate the Gift of Jesus.

Tomorrow we will recount the history of a unique virgin birth, we will hear about the fear and awe of shepherds and the celebration of this birth by angels … we will sing the songs of hope, joy, Love and peace… we will ponder the events of that critical moment more than 2000 years ago, and at the heart of all this we will ask the question, do you know this Child in the manger?

This question lies at the very crux of Christmas - who is this child? Do you know Him?

Many “christians” will quickly respond, “yes I know Him.” But then we look around us. If the over 2.5 billion people answering “yes I know Him” actually knew Him, wouldn’t this world look very different? So let us ask again, do we know Him?

This is the most important question we will ever ask ourselves. How we answer reveals who we are; it defines us … how we answer shapes our future. How we respond to this Child impacts our lives in the most deeply and profound way. He changes us - He changes how we think and so how we live.

During Advent we have been exploring the impact that knowing this Child has on us. Some will call these messages naive - so heavenly minded they are of no earthly good. Some challenge the ideas expressed - in theory, it makes sense - yes this is the Way revealed in the Bible - but we live in the real world; a modern world very different from biblical times.

So let us remember who God is.

Do you really believe Holy God, unbounded by time and unlimited by this created reality, is not speaking to us here and now? This then brings us back to that Child in the manger. Do we know Him?

With each word in the Bible, God guides us toward this Child - yet He leaves the question open for our response. Do you know the One spoken of by prophets? Do you know this Child born to a virgin in the city of David, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a feeding trough because there was no other place for Him? Do you know Him?

How we answer is important; our response has eternal consequences.

Confronted by this question, many of us will respond with facts about Him.

Who is He? He is a first century, near east, rural Jew of the tradesman class living under Roman occupation a few miles inland from the eastern mediterranean coast.

Who is He? Some of us will recite memorized church creeds or denominational catechisms.

Others among us will speculate, hypothesize and formulate theories.

Who is He? Depending on your bias perhaps He is a Rabbi? Or a far-east guru? A Judean zealot? A religious fanatic? A rebel? A lunatic? A legend? Or even a myth? Who is He?

Many of us will pivot to the intellectual and the academic.

But then there’s this Child in that manger. The historical and archeological data is frustratingly limited.

The whole narrative defies human logic - the historical global impact of this birth is disproportionate … How can it be? Who is this Child?

Perhaps at this point, confronted by this newborn son wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger some 2000 years ago, we might ask, can we even know Him through the application of human intellect alone?

And here Scripture answers… no, no you can’t.

The answers you seek are not found “in the wisdom of this age” among the intellectual, political or cultural elites. “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man even imagined, what God has prepared for those who Love Him.” 

A word of caution here - God gave us intellect - He is not telling us to turn our brains off - He uses all He created in us to reveal all He is to us - when we know God we know and Love Him with all our hearts, all our strength, all our soul and all our minds. So, clearly there is more to knowing Him than merely knowing about Him. 

In a letter to a congregation in Corinth, we heard Paul reminding them that their revelation did not come through those marks of status and success so highly prized and worshipped in Corinth. It was not a charismatic speaker, powerful rhetoric, “lofty speech”, “enticing arguments”, beautiful prose, enchanting poetry or “plausible oratory.” It was not charm or flattery or glamour. It was not by merely human intellect or emotions that made God manifest to them.

There was something more - it was strange to them - but it was in Paul’s fear and weakness, in his trembling, injury and illness that God made Himself known - it was like a light shining despite the darkness that revealed to them the excellence of the God of this frail broken man. 

To know this Child laid in a manger, the Christians in Corinth saw something beyond the temporary things of this life - those desires that distracted them - those things they worshipped - those things they spent the majority of their time and resources chasing after. There was something real, something consistent, something authentic in the Word spoken by this broken man Paul. From this weakness and suffering God inspired them and in that inspiration He became known to them - there among the nothingness they found Everything..... in all that was shunned and looked down upon among Corinthians they saw and came to know Jesus, God the Son - and Him crucified.

This is the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit. Inspiration that reveals the excellence of God - the Holiness of God - the power in the Love of God … inspiration that engages our emotions, enlivens our intellect, and energizes our strength focusing them precisely on the One true God - the God who is Love. Inspiration generates in us the desire for God alone - to Love God with all our heart, and all our mind and all our body, surrendering all that we are because of all that He is - losing everything with joy and celebrating it as gain.

Certainly knowing about God is essential - it is why Christ followers are sent to proclaim the Gospel. In some, the hearing of this testimony is a spark, it ignites a quest deep within to seek God and along the Way, in what might appear to be the strangest places - in weakness, in hopelessness, in desperation, in sacrifice, in vulnerability, in humility, in fear, in joy, in gratitude, in the form of man, walking among us, in a grave, on a cross, or laid in a manger - we come to know Him. How? That’s the mystery between you and God. How can I or anyone tell you how to fall in Love… You just know that you know Him and nothing is ever the same.

As the sheer weight of all that God is and all that God has done because of His Love, resonates within us, Love becomes the Truth that defines us and the Way that we live. That kind of divine Love enlivens the mind, quickens the heart, and inspires the spirit; the Christ-follower stands in awe and wonder and worships God… when asked why, we might respond, I could do nothing else.

Worship is the only response to knowing that Child in the manger.

Who is He? He is beloved. He is loved. He is Love. He is God…given of God to Love and save His people.

His name is Immanuel - Yeshua - Ιησού - Jesus, God the Son. Come let us adore Him.

Let us pray:

Loving God the Son:

You are the Word of God incarnate - Jesus, help us know You.

You are the Light of World - Jesus, help us see You.

You are Love - Jesus, help us Love You.

You are the Truth and the Way - Jesus, help us follow You.

You are Immanuel - Jesus, help us receive You.

May the blessing of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit be among us and remain with us now and forever.

Amen.