From the Start (Advent Day 2)

“In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God and He was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make. Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to the world” John 1:1-4
As we start to pause and reflect as we await the coming of Jesus what better place to start that at the start. In the beginning. In the beginning Jesus “already existed”. He was not created. He was with God and He was God. He was there as the earth was formed. As stars were placed in the sky. As animals of every variety were thought up Jesus was there in the midst, creating everything that there is. He was involved in our story from Day One. From before we were involved in the story He was there. Before Adam and Eve first took breath Jesus was there. And life itself was in Him.
Christmas is not the arrival of Jesus into the story. The Bethlehem stable was not His first appearance into God’s masterplan. Jesus was there from before the beginning. He loved us from the start. Jesus was never plan B for a fallen world that had rebelled against God – He was always plan A.
The first Christmas was not when God first decided He loved the world enough to send His Son. He has always loved us. It was simply when He decided the time was right. The people had been waiting a long time for their promised Messiah. And despite their repeated rebellion and rejection of His commands God never stopped loving them. When the time was right the plan that had always been in place (as we shall see as we continue reflecting through Advent) was put into action, and the Father, who never gives up on us sent His Son from heaven to touch earth.
So as we remember the wait for Jesus’ first coming and await His return, as we struggle with trials and pain, as we wrestle with unanswered prayers, the resounding message of the Christmas story is one of hope. God hasn’t forgotten His people. He has always loved us and always will. His plans have been in place from the beginning, and His timing is perfect. We can hope, for we know the end of the story. Jesus came, and He is coming again!