The Heart of God Revealed
December. Advent and Christmas. Two seasons of the Church Year that fall in this month that speak the truth of God’s Word and reveal the very heart of God: that God became man in order to save man from the condemnation he brought upon himself and the doom eternal that approaches man in this cursed and fallen world.
God becoming man to save man. Islam finds that teaching abhorrent and those who hold to it worthy of destruction at their hands, as are all the enemies of Allah as we have repeatedly seen and will continue to see in the name of their made up god and manmade religion that knows nothing of the True Living, Triune God’s heart. Those who hold to the teachings of their false prophet hold to nothing more than another form of natural, fallen man’s works-righteous religion with some incredibly sad, abhorrent and deadly consequences. And they know nothing of God’s sacrificial, unmerited love for them in sending His only ever-begotten Son into our very flesh in order to be their and all of mankind’s savior from our sinful guilt. God born to die that we might never die. In Allah, they know nothing of the love, forgiveness and reconciliation with the True, Living, loving Creator.
God becoming man to save man. The world of fallen man around us finds the incarnation and birth of Christ ridiculous (and offensive, certainly nothing to be on display in the public), at best a quaint fable meant to make some moral point of generosity and reminder for showing good will and love toward our fellow man – that is until they dare to get in the way of our “Black Friday” selections. How incredibly sad that the season that is to focus on God’s most precious gift to us in His Son has for so long in our society become the focal point of materialistic gain in the name of red suit theology which again is all about works righteousness (you receive based on how you live, whether you have been naughty or nice – the EXACT OPPOSITE of the Gospel of Christ where God gives His greatest gift to us without ANY merit on our part, indeed while we were still sinners and His enemies, truly “naughty” ones!).
And perhaps in response to these and other sad twistings of God’s work and gift to us, it seems there is even a growing movement of “atheism”, of the attempted rejection of the spiritual for the secular, ignoring that we are hardwired for spirituality, for a relationship with God no matter how much they ignore it, and they will fill that void with some form of spirituality whether they realize it or not.
In a time when the Good News of Jesus seems to be increasingly forgotten or deemed irrelevant, or twisted or watered down to fit popular culture’s politically correct approval meter, we might be tempted to withdraw or worse, change our message. But this fallen world is the same as it always has been since that first bite of forbidden fruit – that is, its need remains the same: Repentance and Forgiveness. This will only come by clearly, boldly, and lovingly proclaiming the Law and Gospel – proclaiming the Word in all its entirety and purity – or as we also state: Speak the Truth in Love.
God became man to save man – to save those caught in Islam, materialism, secularism, paganism, atheism, or other forms of fallen man’s natural religion of works righteousness. By God’s gracious word alone, He has opened our blind eyes to His Truth and breathed True Life back into our spiritually dead being through faith in His blessed Son’s Incarnation, death and resurrection – trusting in that payment for the guilt of our sins. He has shown us His heart and brought us back into His family. And now He works through His Church, us, to shine this light of God’s Word to all who so need to hear it This month, indeed every month, all need this Good News proclaimed – all need to have the True Living God’s heart revealed to them – of God becoming man to save man. Pastor
