Advent Day 1

Advent Day 1… Why?

Why do we have a need for this Child Whose birth was foretold and Whose birth we celebrate every Christmas?  Why did this little One need to be born with the express purpose of dying? Why did He need to be a blood sacrifice for us?  To do any of these questions justice would take volumes, but here is my attempt at putting just a tiny scratch on the surface…

God made man in His own image, and God made man with the purpose of being in a personal, loving relationship with Him. God loves us and has loved each one of us since before the foundation of the world. He longs for us to know Him, love Him, and experience His overwhelming love for us. But love is not something you take….it is something you give and receive freely; otherwise it is not love.  When God created us, He created an environment where the choice would be ours to give that love or withhold that love. This is the domain He created for man to make that choice…earth. This is why He had to give Adam and Eve the choice with the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He had to give them the choice to obey or disobey. He did not create programmable robots. If He did the relationship would be a lie, and God cannot and will not lie.

Now, do you think that for a moment God was surprised by the choice Adam and Eve made to disobey Him? Umm…no.  He created them with free will and with minds of their own. He knew the journey man would embark on with that first sin. He knew ALL before He spoke the first word of Creation. He already had His plan for how He would bring about the possibility of our redemption. I say possibility because it is still with the same stipulation He had all along. We must choose to have a relationship with Him. It is our choice.  He is not going to force us to live in His presence for eternity. God is a gentleman through and through.

So, why a baby? Why a blood sacrifice? Now I am going to sound like a parent….because GOD said so!!

First of all, God is a holy God. God is pure, perfect,  just, and righteous. His holy nature is one that will not allow for sin to be accepted. Picture oil and water, or light and darkness.  In order for sinful man to live eternally with a perfect, pure God we would need to be redeemed from our sins. The redemption for our sins would have to be given by someone perfect, holy…someone equal to God in purity and worth.  It would have to be given by One in Whom there was not even a hint of sin to be found. In other words….GOD.

Why a baby? Why a human being?

“Therefore just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people because all sinned…. Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people….so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Romans 5:12, 18, 21

First Corinthians 15:45 tells us, “So also it is written, ‘The first Man, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

Sin and death were ushered in by one man, the first Adam, but the defeat of sin and death would be ushered out by another Man, the last Adam. So, our perfect Creator God would become flesh, and enter into His creation as a helpless babe. He would become flesh so He could become the ULTIMATE GIFT to us. 

Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  In other words, He came to save us from eternal death and damnation. He came as the atonement for our sins.

But why a blood sacrifice?

Leviticus 17:11: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.”  

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God had to shed the blood of an innocent animal to cover them.  Can you imagine the grief Adam and Eve must have felt watching one of the precious, innocent animals that had been placed in their charge having to be put to death because of their actions….their sin. When Cain tried to find his own way to make his sacrifice by a method other than the one God had ordained, it was rejected. God had established how sin was to be covered. When Cain offered Him fruit this was trying to find another way, his own way by his own works, to become acceptable and in relationship with God. But we don’t get to choose the way to forgiveness. Our sovereign God has already declared how this is to be accomplished. Jesus said, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”  

Why a baby born in a manger? Why a blood sacrifice? It is God’s perfect plan for our redemption. It is His Ultimate Christ-mas gift to us for eternity. Merry Christmas!!