Advent Midweek 2 - 2011 - From Heaven Above to Earth I Come

6 How glad we'll be to find it so!
Then with the shepherds let us go
To see what God for us has done
In sending us His own dear Son.

7 Come here, my friends, lift up your eyes,
And see what in the manger lies.
Who is this child, so young and fair?
It is the Christ Child lying there.

8 Welcome to earth, O noble Guest,
Through whom the sinful world is blest!
You came to share my misery
That You might share Your joy with me.

9 Ah, Lord, thou You created all,
How weak You are, so poor and small,
That You should choose to lay Your head
Where lowly cattle lately fed!

10 Were earth a thousand times as fair
And set with gold and jewels rare,
It would be far too poor and small
A cradle for the Lord of all.

Colossians 1: 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by[f] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11He came to his own,[b] and his own people[c] did not receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

 14And 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.

Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today comes from the hymn verses sang, as well as from the following words from John, “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ, It’s amazing!  It’s beyond belief!  It’s impossible!  The God who created the entire Universe, the One who made the stars and the planets, the seas and the land, the One who is so powerful that all he need do is speak things and they exist, is coming to us, to lie in a manger.  The infinite God of the universe will be contained within a tiny, helpless, cuddly human being. 

Ah, Lord, though You created all, How weak You are, so poor and small, That You should choose to lay Your head Where lowly cattle lately fed!  How easy is it for us to just ignore this truth, to disbelieve what is happening.  How easy would it be to doubt this miracle: that God would be enclosed into one person.  After all, if Jesus is really God, then the same God who made all the animals needs his diapers changed.  If Jesus is really God, then he needs to be fed and burped and rocked to sleep.  So it can’t be true, can it?

John writes, “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.”  It’s the truth: the world will not believe that the little baby is God.  The world will not believe that the Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient God of All could be lying in the arms of a virgin helplessly.  And dear friends, all of this crazy talk is easy for us to dismiss as well.  

We don’t want a weak god, but a powerful one.  We don’t want a helpless god, but a mighty one.  We want a god that fits our image of what a god should be. 

But our God must be weak to accomplish what he wishes to.  As our hymn says, “You came to share my misery, That You might share Your joy with me.”  You see, God leaves his power behind for you.  He becomes frail for you.  He becomes a baby so that he can die just like you.  He becomes weak so that he can go to Golgotha, die, and be raised again in your place. 

God comes and shares with us in our sin, with us in our pain, with us in our struggles.  He is Immanuel, God with us.  And he is with us in all things, including our frailties, so that he can suffer and die for sin. 

For our frail God can be beaten and bleed.  Our God can have thorns pushed into his head; he can have nails driven through his hands.  He can die for your sin.  He can die for your doubt.  Just as he will shortly come and lie weakly in the arms of Mary, He will also die weak. 

How glad we'll be to find it so!  Then with the shepherds let us go To see what God for us has done In sending us His own dear Son.  Rejoice, he is coming for you.  Rejoice he is weak to die for your sin.  Rejoice, He is coming, not in power and majesty, but in weakness to save you from sin.  Amen.