Christmas Presence: God's Children


In the magnificent prologue of John 1:1-18, John begins the story of Jesus in the eternal past.  He starts with the Word, who was with God and was God.  He continues by saying the Word became a real human being and lived in the world, showing us what God is like.

In verses 10-13 and 16-18, he tells us that the Word came to his own, and his own didn't receive him. This is one of the greatest ironies of history, because God created the world through the Word,.  Yet when he came, the world turned him away.  Killed him, in fact.  

But not everyone rejected him.  Some believed him, put their faith in him.  To those, God gave the power to be his children.  Through faith in Christ, they were "born from above" (John 3:3), or spiritually born.  In this way, they came into God's eternal family.  

John concludes the chapter by saying that the law came through Moses.  Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  We who have put our faith in Christ and followed him, have received that grace and truth. Now, he wants us to practice them in our lives and spread them in the world.  

During Advent, we celebrate the coming of the Word, who transformed the world by his presence.  Now, in our spiritual births, we experience his transformation, moving from darkness to light, and we join with God in his mission of transforming our world.

One of my favorite Christmas songs, "Sweet Little Jesus Boy," captures this thought wonderfully.  This is one of the best versions ever.


We didn't know who he was.  Now we do, and God calls us to worship him and be like him in this world.

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