In the beginning, God made us. He made us creatures. We belong to Him.
It was the Word who, in the beginning, made us (John 1:1-14). He made us, creatures. “Without him was not any thing made that was made.”
We became a ruined race; corrupt creatures who love darkness.
The darkness has overcome us.
Though we have seen His great light, too often we have gone back to the darkness, seeking to hide in its shadows. We are afraid of the darkness—but we are also afraid of the light. Men don’t come to the light, because it will expose their deeds, revealing us not as the world sees us, but for who we really are: children of the darkness.
Into this darkness comes the true Light. He is not like us. He does not know the darkness. He is not a creature. He is Son, the only Son of the Father. In the beginning, He already was. He is not a creature; He is the Son.
But for us, the Son becomes a creature. Why? To make us children.
America pictures Christmas as children lost in wonder. We tell children fables to give them a sense of mystery. But it is we adults who need to enter the mystery, to become children again.
What does it mean to become children of God? It is like being a creature, but there is much more: we do not simply have a Creator, but a Father. We do not have only a Lord, but in Jesus a Brother. They, with the Holy Spirit, care for us as only family cares.
We have no right, no claim to this family. We do not belong. We do not belong in the house or at the table. We belong in the darkness, outside. By nature we have no right, for we are just creatures. We can no more expect to be welcomed to God’s house, God’s table, than we could imagine that we could climb into the president’s limousine, or stop by the White House for dinner. These places are closed to us. We do not belong, we have no right.
With God, not only do we have no right, we have been openly hostile to Him. His Word we have disregarded, His Law we have scorned. We have been more concerned with our food and drink, our work and reputations, searching for pleasure and contentment, security and certainty in all the wrong places. We go to the darkness, and emerging say, “Never again!” but still are drawn back to it. We have been overcome by the darkness.
But the darkness did not overcome Him, our Jesus, the Word. He comes to pardon, yes, but something more wonderful than we could imagine: He makes us children. “To them gave He the right to become the children of God.”
It defies all reason. A son, an only son, would not seek brothers and sisters. They would share his inheritance. But this Jesus not only allows it, He embraces it, earnestly desiring to share everything He has and is with us. St. Augustine put it this way:
He was not afraid of having joint heirs, because his inheritance does not become less if its possessors are many. Those very persons, since he is the possessor, become his inheritance, and he in turn becomes their inheritance…. Let us possess him, and let him possess us.
What then could be more sorrowful than these words: “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not”? To miss Jesus is to miss everything. The King invites us to share His palace, yet we prefer the things of the gutter.
Still He comes to us in our darkness, urging us to not remain there. Why should He care? Because He loves us. Love is inexplicable. Much more so God’s love. Parents and siblings love despite arguments and rancor. God’s love in this Child cannot be fathomed. So all St. John can say is, “Look! Can you believe how much He loves us?”
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (1 John 3:1–2 NKJV)
To be named a child of God is to be given everything—everything!—in heaven and earth. It also means that Christmas changes us.
Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life. (Philippians 2:14–16 NKJV)
We do not know what is ahead for us in the remaining time of this life. What will the new year bring? Is this Christmas our last? Will I experience success, or be granted the privilege of enduring hardship? All we know is that we have been given the Word of life—but that tells us everything we need to know. We have life, God’s life, given to us. No creature, government, or devil can take that away. What love, that God makes us His children. We have, as His children, what His Son has. Jesus has life, light, love, truth, resurrection. In the Child born for us this day, we have everything already. +INJ+