Advent Week 4: Love

"Weak and wounded sinner, lost and left to die, raise your head for Love is passing by."

The above is from the song "Untitled Hymn" by Chris Rice, my all-time favorite Christian pop song. That line speaks so deeply to my heart, I suppose because I was once a weak, wounded and lost sinner who had given up on life. Only Jesus could turn a life around so completely. Such love is incomprehensible to me. It’s like trying to ponder the lengths and depths of the universe. It simply can’t be described, but only accepted, experienced and shared.

When I think of all the times I have sinned against God and man, it makes my head spin and my stomach churn. To know that I directly contributed to the suffering of Jesus on the cross produces an ache in my heart that can only be alleviated by Christ Himself. My Father sent His one and only Son as a humble infant, so that He could walk in my shoes. As a person, Jesus was perfect in every way, a healer, a teacher, a servant, a friend. Yet despite His perfection, despite His willingness to love me unconditionally, I rejected Him, sometimes vehemently. My Father knew that His one and only would die an unspeakable death. God’s Son was beaten, spat upon, His precious flesh nailed to a cross so that little, insignificant me – a weak and wounded sinner – could live. Love seems too dispassionate a word.

I recently read a beautiful narrative by Beth Moore describing God’s sacrificial love: "John 3:17 tells us God gave His Son for the salvation of people by sending Him into the world. You see, God only had one arrow in His quiver. The most perfect arrow ever to exist. This arrow was a masterpiece, priceless to Him. Cherished far above all the hosts of heaven. Nothing could compare. His only heritage, His only Son. But as God looked on a lost world - desperate, needy, and in the clutches of the enemy - His heart was overwhelmed. Though we sinned miserably against Him and few sought Him, God could not love us less. Love reached sacrificially into the quiver and pulled out the solitary arrow. The quiver would now be empty. His cherished arrow in the hands of hateful men. Yes, God so loved the world, but God also loved His only begotten Son with inexpressible, divine affection. The divine dilemma: two loves. And one would demand the sacrifice of the other. Only one weapon could defeat the enemy of the soul - God's arrow. He positioned the weapon, pulled back the bow, steadied His grip, aimed straight for the heart, 'And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger.' (Luke 2:7)."

Christmas is the day to celebrate the night that love descended from the heavens to walk among us and set us free, but each day of our lives should be Christmas and Easter in one. Because Jesus was born in human flesh, we know that we can come to Him with anything. Because Jesus chose the cross and claimed victory over sin and death, we can know that we are not lost and left to die. Jesus pursued me to the depths of my sin and despair, humbled me, and lifted me up into life. Against all odds, against all logic, Jesus has shown me that I am someone worth dying for. So are you, friends.

Love has come in swaddling clothes to a manger. Let us come and worship Him at Christmas and always. Let us allow God’s arrow to pierce our hearts anew, and let us become a human arsenal in His divine quiver. Let us "come to Jesus and live."