As of today, I’m almost 28 weeks pregnant with a son. Maybe that’s why I’ve had baby boys on my mind a lot lately. That, and the fact we’re about to celebrate Jesus’ birth. I’ve been thinking about what it must have been like for the Almighty Christ to be born as a virtually helpless human infant, to subject Himself to hunger and fatigue and needing to have His diaper changed. It’s incredible to me that He would take on these limitations, entrusting Himself to very human parents—even ones who loved God—and making His home among more human beings, some of whom hated Him and eventually succeeded in killing Him.
That’s because the world then was a lot like the world is today. No, people in the first century didn’t have iPhones or computers, but they did have many of the same problems we now have. And Jesus came to earth to show them that they didn’t have to live like that anymore.
He came to show them—and us—that we no longer have to be strangers from God…
…no longer have to suffer broken relationships…
…no longer have to be ruled by greed and hate…
…never again have to worry…
…never again have to fear we won’t be taken care of…
…never again have to wonder if God cares.
He came to a world distorted by sin and showed us that it didn’t have to be that way, that even now, in the midst of a messed-up society, we can live in joy. We can walk in intimate fellowship with God and the confidence that this world isn’t all there is waiting for us. We can know that we’re taken care of and that one day, everything is going to be okay. We can know who God is because we’ve seen Him in the person of Jesus.
You and I haven’t seen Jesus with our eyes—at least, not exactly, not in the human form He took on. But we can see Him clearly in the pages of the Bible. We can know what He is like, and therefore, what God the Father is like. We can walk intimately by faith with Him on this earth and then face-to-face in heaven.
I’ve known all these things for a long time. I’m sure you have, too. But until recently, I had never thought about how Jesus came to a world just like mine. The world I live in is full of wars and lying and betrayals, killing and stealing, hate and neglect and selfishness. So was Jesus’ world. He came to a world just like mine. He was frustrated and offended by it sometimes, too. He was angry. And by His words and actions, He showed the world that there is something better than all that, not just in eternity, but right here and now.
Jesus loved and still loves people in the world. Yes, even the ones who don’t please Him. And His way of showing people that things could be better was to come among us, love us, and serve as our example. Too often, instead of loving the world, I roll my eyes at it get disgusted with the way things are going, and complain about it, when what I should be doing is pouring out Jesus’ love.
Maybe you can identify with me. Maybe you, too, have a hard time loving a world like this. But Jesus didn’t, and doesn’t. He knew exactly how to show love to us. And He wants us to show that same love to a world that desperately needs it.
Does Jesus’ love show through you and me? Do people see our lives and realize how much Jesus loves them? Even people who are “undesirable”, or who do undesirable things? I pray that they do.
May you and I become more like Jesus, especially in the way we show love to those He has created.
John 3:16—For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.