The Nativity of Our Lord: Christmas Day

The Nativity of Our Lord: Christmas Day

December 25, 2023

Text: John 1:1-18

            In the beginning, God, who is Love, created a Temple for Communion with the object His love would fashion for itself, Communion with man, Communion with us.  That Temple had a name: Eden, which means delight.  It was a garden in which God and man could delight in one another’s presence, God giving in love, man receiving in love, responding in loving praise.  Trees for food.  A fruitful patch to tend.  Animals submitting and at peace with man, for his companionship and enjoyment.  A happy and fruitful marriage.  And in the evening, in the cool of the day, walks with God.  Time to bask in His presence.  Time to hear Him, and be heard by Him.  Time in Holy Communion.

            But we know what happened.  The slithering serpent.  An illicit bite.  Eyes opened.  Communion shattered, with God and with one another.  Hiding in fear.  Covering shame.  Blaming and self-justification.  And then, the curse.  Death.  Toil and trouble.  Thorns and thistles.  Pain in labor.  Bread by the sweat of the brow.  Cast out of the garden.  East of Eden.  An angel with a flaming sword.  No access to the Tree of Life.  Cut off from God’s gracious presence. 

            But…

            Clothed by God in the skin of animal sacrifice.  The shedding of blood.  Only this can cover your shame.  And His Promise ringing in the ears: I will put enmity between you, O serpent, and the woman; between your seed and her Seed.  He shall crush your head, and you shall crush His heel (Gen. 3:15). 

            Hope.  The Promise of restoration and life.  Gospel.  One is coming.  God will do it.  By the woman’s Son.  And all our faith must hang on that. 

            In the meantime, Cain.  What a bitter disappointment.  Then Seth, and Noah, Moses, and David.  God’s presence mediated by the blood of bulls and goats, to cover up transgression, and priests who deliver God’s holiness to the people.  There is the Tabernacle, the place where dwells the LORD God with His people, Israel, but hidden in smoke, behind the veil in the Most Holy Place, enthroned between the cherubim.  There is the great Temple in Jerusalem, the permanent Tabernacle… or not so permanent, as the case may be.  Vacated by God’s Glory when Israel’s unfaithfulness reached its full measure.  Destroyed by the Babylonians.  God’s people cast out, exiled east of the Holy City.

            The return and rebuilding.  But still the waiting.  Hoping.  Anticipating.  Eager expectation.  Who will be the woman?  When will her Son deliver us once and for all?

            Waiting on the Word.  The Promise.  The One.  He will crush the serpent’s head.  The serpent will crush His heel.  The shedding of blood.  And once again, God will commune with man.  That will restore us.  That will cover us.  That will bring us back into the Temple of God. 

            “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1; ESV).  Now, finally… “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (v. 14).  In fact, He tabernacled among us, God in human flesh.  The woman, Mary, has given birth to a Son.  And her Son is the Son of God. 

            The Word is now fulfilled, the Promise to those east of Eden.  And in darkness on a Friday afternoon, the angels in attendance, the serpent drives his spiked fang through this Son’s heel.  But in this way, the serpent brings the weight of God down upon his own head. 

            It is the moment upon which hinges the whole history of the world.  From that moment begins the reversal of all that went wrong in Eden.  The cross, the Roman tree of death, becomes now the Tree of Life.  “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19).  And so He does.  And He is only the Firstfruit.  He is the Firstborn of New Creation, our New and Greater Adam.  Even as Adam plunged us all into the curse of sin and death, so this New Man, Jesus Christ, has lifted us out, and up into blessing and righteousness and life.

            He is the Temple.  His flesh is the place where God communes with man once more.  His body is the Fruit of the Tree of Life, and in the day you eat of it, you shall surely live.  Now, in this Man, you can bask in God’s presence.  You have time with Him, to hear Him in His holy Word, and to be heard by Him as you pray in His Name.  The angel has sheathed his sword.  You are no longer cast out. 

            Though it is true, you still find yourself, as we all do here, east of Eden.  There are still troubles and there is still sin.  Nevertheless, the great glad tidings of Christmas are that the curse is breaking.  Christ has come.  There is peace to be had.  With God and with men.  Forgiveness of sins.  Healing of relationships.  Wholeness of body, mind, and spirit.  Fruitfulness.  Companionship.  And yes, delight. 

            We are still awaiting the full manifestation of Eden restored, the coming again of the Son of Man, and the resurrection of all flesh.  But in this interlude, in the meantime, as we wait… declare the joyous news.  Let heaven and nature sing of it.  Let the Church’s proclamation resound.  Let the River of Salvation flow forth from Eden far as the curse is found.  To heal creation.  To restore the beloved in God’s love. 

            One day soon, Mary’s Son will appear again in the flesh.  Salvation will come from the east.  And every eye will see Him.  And with your own eyes you will behold Him for yourself.  Then New Creation will reign eternally.  It will flood every corner with light and life.

            Until then, merry Christmas!  It is as good as done.  Delight yourself in the LORD (Ps. 37:4).  Rejoice, beloved.  Christ Jesus, Son of Mary, the Son of God, is born for you.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.