Word of the Father now in Flesh appearing (Dec 24)

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” John 1:14
At the end of a long season of waiting advent is coming to an end. The night was dark but light was on the way. Not just any light. The everlasting light of the world was coming. Jesus, the only Son of the Father moved into our neighbourhood to be our redeemer.
We all rebel against God. We all fall short of His standards. From Adam and Eve in the garden with the fruit each of us has chosen to go our own way and has broken God’s laws. We each break different parts, but each of us breaks it. We are all guilty. And the wages of our sin and rebellion is death. Eternal death, separation from God, our Everlasting Father, the Mighty God  who loves us, who wants us.
But we are guilty, stained scarlet but our sin and shame. God is holy and pure. Fallen sinners cannot come near to Him. So we had a problem. We were made for a relationship with God but because of our sin and rebellion we had broken that relationship. There is nothing we could do to repair the relationship. Nothing we could do to wipe out the stain of our sin. Yet God is not a God who gives up on us. When we try to run away He pursues us. He doesn’t abandon us when we turn our back on Him.
From the very start God knew we would rebel. And from the very start He had a plan in place to restore us to relationship with Him. He had a plan to enable us to enjoy eternal life forever. His Son Jesus, the perfect righteous one, the Prince of Peace, the Wonderful Counsellor, the sinless spotless lamb would come and take our place. He would offer up His life as the one complete and all sufficient sacrifice, paying the penalty our sins deserved and giving us the righteousness we could not earn.
The Word who spoke the earth into being became flesh and was born in a humble remote town in Israel. The Father sent His only Son in an act of amazing, costly love, to take our place that we who believe in Him may receive the gift of eternal life. The free gift that cost God his all. The Word became flesh and took the nails into hands that had placed stars so that our debt could be paid in full and our scarlet stains made white as snow as we get purified and made righteous to stand faultless before God our loving Father.
That is the simple message at the heart of the Christmas story. Much more can be said about various elements of the story. Mention can be made of the outcast shepherds who welcomed Jesus or the wise men who brought gifts to Him. But the most important message to grasp is the amazing thing that happened as the Word of the Father appeared in flesh, come to be our atoning sacrifice, come to die for the world so that all who call upon the name of the Lord may be saved. That is the good news of great joy that the angles sang about, That is the message we must proclaim for all to hear this Christmas – we were lost and hopeless because of our rebellion and sin but then the Word in flesh appeared and now man can live forever more because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.
That is what we come to adore this Christmas. Let the message go forth so all can hear it. Come and adore Him, the only One who is worthy. Come and adore Him, let us give Him all the glory – Jesus, the Word in flesh who came to pay the penalty for our sins. Come and adore Him, the God who is not distant but came after us, who loved us while we were still dead in our sin. Come and adore Him, Jesus the One who left the throne of heaven, humbled Himself and died so that we may live with Him forever, our sins forgiven and our relationship with God restored. Come, adore Christ this Christmas!