Be Born in Us Today

Advent is a season where we remember the prophecies foretelling Jesus’ coming and anticipate the day when He will come again.  We live in between those times, so where exactly is Jesus now?  This is a surprisingly difficult question to answer because we see Jesus in many places at the same time, but for very different reasons. 

“I am with you always”
Where is Jesus?  Right here. 
I find a lot of comfort from these words of Jesus in Matthew 28.  It reminds me that I am not alone.  Wherever I go, whatever I’m doing, Jesus is with me.  It’s easy to feel alone, even when you’re around people all the time.  Who can we approach with our deepest sorrows and fears?  Who will truly celebrate our joys and successes?  “I am with you always” says Jesus.  Jesus is with you, walking beside you.  He will never leave you, nor forsake you.  More than that, he understands what it’s like to be us.  Jesus walked this earth.  He is Immanuel, “God with us.”  Think of how amazing that is.  This is what Christmas is all about!  God is with you. 

“and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty”  
Where is Jesus?  Up there. 
We say it every time we confess the Apostles’ Creed.  Jesus ascended to heaven and is sitting in the throne room alongside His Father.  The comfort I receive from this truth is altogether different than Jesus being with me.  There are so many powerful forces in the world that seem invincible.  I certainly can’t stop them.  It wouldn’t be so bad if those forces were promoting good, wholesome, moral, peaceful things.  They’re not.  Next to all that power, the teachings of Jesus and the influence of the church could seem rather weak.  But Jesus is God.  Jesus is victorious over sin, death and the devil through His death and resurrection.  Jesus reigns from above.  No matter what happens, Jesus wins. 

“I am in them” (John 17:23)
Where is Jesus?  In me.
It’s kind-of a weird thing to say, isn’t it?  Jesus is in me.  We have become such concrete thinkers, so scientific in our approach to reality, that we struggle to grasp the spiritual significance of such a phrase.  Simply put, it means that the life, death, resurrection and teachings of Jesus are so much a part of who we are that it’s inseparable from any other part.  The love of Jesus flows through you like the blood that flows through your veins.  Much like the food that you eat nourishes every cell of your body, so also the Word of God becomes so integrated into your life that it is simply who you are.  The spiritual presence of Jesus in you is just as real as anything else we experience in the world.  I know that’s hard for us to comprehend, but it’s true.  It’s one of the beautiful messages of Christmas.  The same Jesus who was born into the world as a true man can be born in your heart and change you from the inside out.  It’s the message behind one of our favorite Christmas carols:

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in. Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Immanuel!