Advent 2024: The Christ of Christmas

Who is Jesus? Over the last 2000 years, many people have tried to answer this question: historians, authors, skeptics, teachers, rockstars, celebrities, kings, and more. This question drives seekers to find the answer in many different places and ways. Each of us has been faced with this same question, and we need to have an answer. It’s important. Who is Jesus?

Over the last four weeks of Advent, we have spent time giving a biblical answer. We’ve seen how He brings Hope to the hopeless, Faith to the faithless, Joy to the joyless, and Love to those seeking love. We have looked at the Christmas story and seen the mighty hand of God at work. We have seen God reveal himself to the young Mary to give her the faith to do the hard things and prepare the way for His coming. We’ve seen Mary and Elizebeth’s joy and expectation. We’ve considered the actual birth narrative and looked at shepherds and angels and the ‘Good News of Great Joy for All Peoples” 

These stories are worth our time, but they are also an invitation for self-reflection. Do not let these familiar stories of the Advent season pass you by without taking stock of your own life. Have you answered the question? It is the most important question that you will ever answer. The only question that truly matters. Who is Jesus? Is He Lord and Savior in your life, or is he a nice comfortable story about a baby to bookend your family holiday?

Church, we live in a time of real darkness and oppression, made all the more insidious because our lives are so often shielded from the harsh realities of the curse. Distractions, anxieties, fears, and our abudant desires are constantly screaming at us for our time and attention. Take heart. Deliverance may seem far off, but it is not. Just as Jesus came once to light up a world in darkness, He is coming again.

Isaiah 9 says this about our Jesus, the light in the darkness:

The people walking in darkness

have seen a great light;

a light has dawned

on those living in the land of darkness.

You have enlarged the nation

and increased its joy.

The people have rejoiced before you

as they rejoice at harvest time

and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.

For you have shattered their oppressive yoke

and the rod on their shoulders,

the staff of their oppressor,

just as you did on the day of Midian.

For every trampling boot of battle

and the bloodied garments of war

will be burned as fuel for the fire.

For a child will be born for us,

a son will be given to us,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

He will be named

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

The dominion will be vast,

and its prosperity will never end.

He will reign on the throne of David

and over his kingdom,

to establish and sustain it

with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.

Don’t let this Christmas pass you by without asking yourself who Jesus is. 

He is the Lord of reality. He is a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. He will rule on the throne forever with justice and righteousness. And he loves you.

Let us spend today worshiping our Jesus, our Savior, our Immanuel.