God Has Spoken

CHRISTMAS DAY

Isa 9:2-7; Hebrews 1:1-9; St. John 1:1-11

"GOD, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son."

The Christian God is unlike the pagan idols of whom the prophet Jeremiah criticized, saying, "Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak" (Jeremiah 10:5). No, the God of Holy Scripture is the God who speaks. He spoke into being the created world and all that dwells within it.

Through the spoken Word, He revealed his plan to reverse the curse brought about by our parents' sin, Adam and Eve. In the garden, God said that from Eve would come one (a man) who would crush the head of the serpent, that wicked creature who beguiled and deceived them into transgressing the Word of God.

He spoke a sure word to Abraham, promising him a posterity as numerous as the stars in the sky. And to David, a man after God's very own heart was promised a king whose throne would be established forever.

In times past, God spoke through Israel's prophets who foretold of One who would come "a child, a son who would bear the government upon his shoulders; one called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace."

One miraculously born of a virgin, the promised seed of Eve, of whom the Angel Gabriel said, "would be great and called the Son of the Highest," the One whom the Lord God would give the throne of his Father David to reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom, there would be no end.

Yes, in times past, God spoke in various ways, through prophets, priests, and kings, of a future day when he would come and begin to make things right. And all of human history has existed in a never-ending Advent season of waiting and anticipation, hoping for the revealed promises of God to finally be realized; awaiting the full disclosure of God's redemptive plan- made known without ambiguity or shadow. "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

On this Christmas Day, God has spoken to us majestically and definitively, and by a far more excellent Person than in former days, for today he speaks to us by his Son; not a merely a prophet, nor a priest, or King, but a Son, born of woman, born into history. Our Lord Jesus Christ's incarnation is the final announcement and revelation of salvation to this broken and weary world. Yes, "In these last days, he has spoken to us by His Son." And, through His Son, God the Father speaks words of life.

On this Christmas morning, God desires to speak to us of the wonderful things he has done in Christ, that we might know and acknowledge what great a gift we have received. For the very day in which the eternal Son, the Word which was with God from the beginning, took on our flesh and became man that he might dwell amongst us poor miserable sinners, is the very day in which the tyrannical trajectory of death and decay was redirected towards renewal and life; towards eternal life.

"In Him was Life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." On that first Christmas day, the light of life, the True Light, shone into the darkness of death; the day-spring from on high visited us, bringing salvation to men through Jesus Christ, God, and Man, the One born to pay the price for our sins as a perfect atoning sacrifice to bring peace between us miserable sinners and our loving Father in heaven.

The Christ-child was born into the world to die for sinners. By his obedient death, he would purge our sins that we might be reconciled back to our Father. And by the One, faithful, and obedient Son, we too, by faith, are made sons and daughters of God. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

In Christ, God speaks to us not as slaves, not as enemies, but as sons and as daughters. Through Christ, we have obtained sonship: born again by the graciousness of God. A rebirth only made possible by the pre-existent, divine, and eternal Word of God manifested in the flesh, through the birth of Jesus the Christ, the True Light Who has come into the world.

And by this light, both our hearts and minds are illuminated, no longer confounded in understanding, no longer lost in darkness, but rather, seeing and understanding without fear. Because the Father loves greatly, he sent his only begotten Son… He sent His Son: not an angel, not another earthly king, neither did he send a prophet.

Rather, His Son speaks a final message of salvation and eternal life. The Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things and ruler of this world. This same Son, who with the Father, created the world is the express image of His Father, in whom is the brightness of God's glory; who upholds all things by the word of his power; who sits at the right hand of the Father, in the highest place of preeminence and authority.

He is vastly superior to any created thing. He is even higher than the angels, for his name is far greater than any other name in heaven or in the earth: for He is called Son. The Son was born of a virgin on this day to reconcile sinners back to their Father.

In the birth of Jesus, the world was given not only a real and tangible picture of God (If you have seen me, you have seen the Father) but the very reality of God: Emmanuel, God with us. "And the Word was made 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."

And "in Him is life." You see, LIFE IS the reality of God: in him, and him alone is life abundant and eternal. Friends, open your ears: hear the Son of God made flesh for your salvation. The One who proclaims to us this day, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life."

In these last days, God has spoken through his Son. "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." Behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: on this day, a savior is born, and life has come to a dying world. Amen+