Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Christmas Victory

Read 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 50-58.

 

“Death has been swallowed up in victory. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” –1 Corinthians 15:54, 47

Good Christian friends, rejoice with heart and soul and voice;

Now ye need not fear the grave:

News, news! Jesus Christ was born to save!

Calls you one and calls you all to gain the everlasting hall.

Christ was born to save, Christ was born to save!

 

Did Mary know, as she held baby Jesus in her arms, that her son would wage a war with the powers of sin and death?  When we think of the nativity scene we often picture “Hallmark” cards: a mild and rosy-cheeked Mary cuddles with a sweet baby boy, as Joseph lovingly gazes over Mary’s shoulder upon the glowing halo-framed face of Jesus.  While the Holy Family likely had tender moments on that miraculous day, I wonder if they knew that they had just entered a war zone.  Jesus was born to fight and destroy the evil powers that separate us from God.  Jesus was born to win a victory over death itself.  The same baby who was laid in a cattle trough for a cradle would spend his final hours of life nailed to a cross, breathing words of peace and forgiveness so the world might be freed from the death grip of sin.  Christ was born to save.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul spells out the victory we have in Christ.  After Christ died, he defeated the power of death when he was resurrected from the grave.  Christ was born to save, so we place our hope in Christ’s resurrection.  Paul tells us that through Christ’s resurrection power we too will be resurrected for eternal life.  “I will tell you a mystery,” Paul says, “we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”  This is the hope of Christ’s second Advent, when he will come again to establish God’s Kingdom on earth.  The resurrection power of God will raise us to new life so we may enjoy the wonders of God’s eternal Kingdom.

 
As we imagine the tiny baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes, let us remember that this same baby holds the power to destroy death.  This is the reason Christ came: to topple the powers of evil in this world and defeat the greatest enemy of all, death.  Thanks be to God, Christ was born to save!                                                                     
                                                                                                                                       Laura Johnson

God of Advent, walk ahead of me, helping me keep sight of your vision of peace. May I hold peace in my heart and pray for peace in our broken world. Amen.