Born to Reunite

The birth of Christ that first Christmas morning was all about reunion. It was all about reuniting God with the people of His creation. Christmas, along with Good Friday and Easter Sunday, is all about restoring our relationship with God. Through sin, fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden was broken. Through sin in our lives, fellowship with God continues to be broken and we find ourselves floundering through life separated from God. Through faith in Christ, in His death and resurrection, our sin is forgiven and our fellowship with God is restored. Through Christ we are reunited with God!

First John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." In the verses leading up to that statement we are told, "This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (vs. 5-7).

In other words, when living our lives in sin, or "darkness" (v. 6b), we are separated from God. We do not have "fellowship" (v. 6a) with Him. When we confess our sin to Him, He forgives our sin and restores our fellowship with Himself, as well as with our fellow believers. Then we can begin to "walk in the light as He is in the light" (v. 7). This is what Christmas is all about—a restored relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

This is also what the incarnation of Christ is all about—a restored relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The penalty for our sin had to be paid, but we could not pay the price ourselves. It is too great a price. God had to become a man in every respect, yet without sin. Only Jesus Christ could pay the penalty, redeem us from our sin, and restore our relationship with God. And so we have Christmas—God becoming man.

Scripture does not speak as to how the eternal God took on humanity. It is most likely far too great a mystery for our humble minds to grasp. The fact of Scripture is that God in Christ did become man. John, speaking of Jesus, said simply, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Paul, speaking of Christ Jesus, adds, "Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men" (Phil. 2:6-7).

The truth of Christmas is simply this: God became a man (The Incarnation) to reunite us to fellowship with God. Jesus was born so He could die for our forgiveness and restore our fellowship with Himself. Amen.