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Emotion
Anger
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4th Week of Advent: Love
This morning we are in recognizing the last Sunday of Advent.
Advent is a strange season for Christians because we are looking back to the time before Jesus was born in order to look forward to when he will come back.
It takes some mental gymnastics some times.
You probably know the emphasis of Advent is the same every year.
This year I wanted to stay on those as themes for each Sunday.
Hope, Peace, Joy, and today, LOVE.
Love is sort of the capstone for advent.
It sort of is the overarching theme of the whole season.
Christmas is Supernatural
The allure of Christmas has a strange power over us, even if you aren’t a really spiritual type person.
The season has a kind a draw, a type of “spirit” or “magic,” that makes it every bit as big today, as it ever has been.
Why is that?
Why is it that even in a society that tries to empty the holiday of it’s historical connection to Christ, have such pull on our hearts?
I’ve been entertained this month as people on TV, politicians or pop culture icons try to explain the point of Christmas without revealing the one who it was named after.
They find the “reason for the season” as family and generosity, and food, etc.
Why does Christmas have this magnetism, even in a society that has tried to empty it of its origin in Christ?
The real magic of Christmas is not gifts and goodies, new toys and familiar traditions, indoor warmth and outdoor snow.
What lies at the very heart of Christmas, and whispers even to souls seeking to “suppress the truth” (), is the most stunning and significant fact in the history of the world: that God himself became one of us.
The God who created our world, and us humans at the apex of his creation, came into our world as human not just for show, but for our salvation.
It’s almost comical to see a unbelieving world try to explain an event rooted in a miracle.
The real magic of Christmas is not gifts and goodies, new toys and familiar traditions, indoor warmth and outdoor snow.
What lies at the very heart of Christmas, and whispers even to those ignoring it (), is the most stunning and significant fact in the history of the world: that God himself became one of us.
The God who created our world, and us, came into our world as human not to prove his power, but to be our salvation.
Truly, Christmas is supernatural.
And I believe our culture is starving deep down for something beyond the natural, rarely admitting it, and not really knowing why.
Our jobs are great, but we are still down deep dissatisfied.
We have fantastic vacations, but we never seem to come home completely restored.
We have beautiful homes and smart kids but we can’t enjoy them completely either, we want more for them.
Christmas comes along and taps into something deep in the human soul, it woos us, even when it’s inconsistent with a mind that professes unbelief.
Christmas is supernatural.
And our naturalistic society is starving deep down for something beyond the natural, rarely admitting it, and not really knowing why.
Christmas taps into something arcane in the human soul and woos us, even when it’s inconsistent with a mind that professes unbelief.
Christmas is the holiday that delivers
We don’t understand it fully, but we know there is something there.
That something is what we are talking about today, That thing about Christmas that is drawing us in, is Love.
I don’t mean a feeling of mushy gushiness.
I am talking about Holy Love, perfect love, Advent Love.
The bible teaches this as it describes the birth of Jesus.
Specifically that
God became one of us in order to save all of us.
Paul expressed the incarnation in this way: “In him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” ().
Think of that!
Jesus wasn’t just some special appearance of God.
Nor was he merely a misunderstood teacher of love who ended up getting crucified.
He was God in the flesh—immortal; invisible spirit clothed with human hair, skin and blood; and supported by muscle and bone.
For the first time, God had to breathe, eat, drink, and sleep.
When cut he bled.
He longed for companionship and truly suffered when his friends deserted him.
He became one of us in every sense of the word.
Love - His Arrival - The Incarnation
This is what sets Christianity apart from every other religion.
In no other religion does a god do anything more than tell his subjects what to do to become like him, earn his favor, or give instruction on how, if they’re lucky, they might avoid ticking him off.
In no other religion does a creator god become weak and an indistinguishable part of his creation.
What did Jesus look like?
A regular Joe.
His form was just like ours.
Look around you.
What do you see?
A bunch of ordinary looking people right.
That’s just how ordinary he looked.
If you’d seen him, I doubt you would have thought he was anything special.
He didn’t have any sort of magnetism that would make you take a second look.
He looked like any twenty- or thirty-something carpenter on any construction job.
What did Jesus look like?
A regular Joe.
His form was just like ours.
Put this book down for a moment and look across the room at someone.
That’s how ordinary he looked.
Or, better yet, look at yourself in a mirror.
He looked just like you!
He had eyes, pores, hair, and teeth.
If you’d seen him, you wouldn’t have thought he was anything special.
He didn’t have any sort of magnetism that would make you take a second look.
He looked like any twenty- or thirty-something carpenter on any construction job.
What did Jesus look like?
A regular Joe.
His form was just like ours.
Put this book down for a moment and look across the room at someone.
That’s how ordinary he looked.
Or, better yet, look at yourself in a mirror.
He looked just like you!
He had eyes, pores, hair, and teeth.
If you’d seen him, you wouldn’t have thought he was anything special.
He didn’t have any sort of magnetism that would make you take a second look.
He looked like any twenty- or thirty-something carpenter on any construction job.
He willingly took a servant’s form and was born in the likeness of men.
He was fully human ().
His complete identification with us shouldn’t have taken his contemporaries by surprise, because seven hundred years before his birth the prophet Isaiah spoke of how normal the Messiah would appear: “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him” ().
He willingly took a servant’s form and was born in the likeness of men.
He was fully human ().
His complete identification with us shouldn’t have taken his contemporaries by surprise, because seven hundred years before his birth the prophet Isaiah spoke of how normal the Messiah would appear: “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him” ().
He willingly took a servant’s form and was born in the likeness of men.
He was fully human ().
Even as a baby, Jesus was normal.
He didn’t have some sort of radioactive glow about him.
No little halo or cherubs floating around his head.
No.
He looked like any Middle Eastern infant, wrapped in rags and nursing at his mother’s breast.
He cried just like us.
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