According to John 1:1-18 [NLTse]
1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought Light to everyone. 5 The Light shines in the Darkness, and the Darkness can never extinguish it…
10 He came into the very world He created, but the world didn’t recognize Him. 11 He came to His Own people, and even they rejected Him. 12 But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
14 So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son…
16 From His abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. 17 For the Law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, Who is Himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
Does everyone here know the story of Pinocchio? A toymaker named Geppetto carves a magic piece of wood into a puppet, and the puppet comes to life. Geppetto has always longed for a son and so makes all manner of sacrifices for the Pinocchio, but the animated puppet is attracted to all the wrong kinds of people, ignoring the cricket a fairy has given him to serve as his conscience. Even though the fairy tells Pinocchio that she desires to turn him into a real, human boy, Pinocchio keeps following bad advice and making bad choices that get him into more and more trouble and keep him away from his dream of becoming a real boy.
Finally Pinocchio, having done so many stupid and sad things that he’s made a donkey of himself (literally), he dies helping rescue Geppetto. But that’s when the fairy arrives, and brings him back to life, a real, human boy.
Through a series of strange events I got thinking how much like Pinocchio human beings are. The Bible shows us that human beings were first made to be so alive! and able, and intimate with God, and having an abundance of every good thing. But our first ancestor’s sinned and fell from such grace. Since then we’ve all been born kind of wooden, our lives filled with so much that seems alive, and yet many all too aware there is something missing.
The Lord sends His angels, speaking to us, guiding us, drawing us to Himself, like Pinocchio was given Jiminy Cricket to be his conscience. But our sinful nature is more drawn to listen to our own Stromboli’s (who flatter us, but only want to use us for their own ends) to friends like Lampwick (who don’t know any better than we do) and to Coachmen (who say they’ll give us every good thing but really just lead us into slavery). God says He will give us real life, but we want to do our own thing and go our own way and end up making donkeys out of ourselves…
With Pinocchio in mind, however, I get thinking: But how is a creature who’s born a wooden puppet to know what it means to be a real boy? I mean, as we’ve just talked about recently, in the Scriptures we read that – if we’ve given our lives to Christ – then we are “saints”, made holy by God on account of our faith.
[Pointing to myself] As one guy who used to be a wooden puppet [pointing out] to others: How can a block of wood (while they’re still a block of wood, at least) comprehend what it would be like to be a real boy? It’s like asking how can one who’s always been an orphan (while they are still an orphan) comprehend what it would be like to be part of a family? How can someone who’s never known what it’s like to be a saint comprehend what sainthood-living would be like?
Likewise, the Bible says that if we’re in Christ then we’ve been given “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms”. What does that look like? Can a sinful man or woman comprehend such a thing? Can even someone who’s been given new life in Christ comprehend such truth without being given some kind of special insight from God?
I mean, who here knows holiness enough to live the life of a saint – a holy one – every day? Who here has comprehended the Lord’s provision for us to make the most of every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in your life day by day?
The Bible tells us we are sons and daughters of God. It’s not a metaphor, as though God merely loves us with the love a good parent has for their children. No, almighty God has adopted us, bound us to Himself with a legally binding, eternal covenant to be His sons and His daughters.
And yet, who here fully comprehends what it means to live your life each day as a son of God? [Point to a male believer.] You’re a son of God! [Point to a female believer.] You’re a daughter of God! But do we really understand what that means, when it comes to what we do, how we do it, setting our priorities, responding to circumstances, throughout each and every day…
We know who we are – our new names and our new titles in the Kingdom of God, but we don’t fully know what those names or titles mean for us as we live our lives surrounded by others who haven’t (or at least haven’t yet) been given or received such a rebirth.
And here we are, December 4th: And our preparations and celebrations of Christmas are beginning. And God knows our need – knowing what we are but not what that means – and that’s the gift God has given us that first Christmas. Because we can look at Jesus and know what it looks like to truly trust that “with God all things are possible”. (Matthew 19:26) When confronted with illness or affliction or whatever form of trial or trouble, we can know how we’ve been born again to handle it by looking at how Jesus confronted such things. Across the pages of the Scriptures we can see how the Lord led men and women and boys and girls of faith to live as His sons and daughters through their joys and sorrows and celebrations and hardships.
10 or so years ago when Christians were asking each other “What Would Jesus Do?”, I remember a fellow Christian telling me how ridiculous they thought it all was since when Jesus encountered a sick person He just prayed for and healed them, and since we can’t do that then what’s the use.
But Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.” (John 14:12) Do you believe that? I’m not asking if you can comprehend it: Do you believe it? Because those first disciples believed it.
Across the Book of Acts and scattered across the apostles Letters we read of those first Christians forgiving peoples’ sins, just as Jesus says His followers would be authorized to forgive peoples’ sins. And we see those first Christians performing miracles – healing diseases, casting out demons, preaching in languages they’d never learned to speak before, just as Jesus had said, “You will do the same works I have done, and even greater works.”
What about us? It takes faith. “WWJD – What Would Jesus Do?” It takes faith to do what Jesus would do, faith to believe that God will hear and respond to us – His sons and daughters – just as He responded to Jesus Christ His Son; faith to believe that “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms” is indeed ours.
It takes faith because our Father doesn’t promise us the same outcome that Jesus was given, when we do what He did. And it can take some practice, because we may have wrong motives when we act the way Jesus did. We may not always be sure what Jesus would ask for in a given circumstance at first, so it can take time to live close enough to Him to know better. And, of course, there’s times like when Jesus was in His Own hometown that we may find we can’t do much because of everyone’s disbelief around us…
But Romans 8:19 says, “The Creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” (And that’s talking about sons and daughters of God.) The Creation is waiting eagerly for us to show ourselves to the world: Here we are, sons of God! Daughters of God! How do we reveal ourselves? Well, it’s Christmastime: What would Jesus do? And we reveal ourselves – and we live by faith – when we do likewise.
Of all the gifts God has given us, being reconciled to Him in Christ, and being filled with Him by the Holy Spirit, are the best. What’s the best gift we can give others and the world around us? Keep our eyes on Jesus; living by faith; doing what He did, or what we believe He would do. Let’s bless the world and reveal ourselves.