Sin. It mucked things up. THE THING we wrestle with every day of our lives that causes us such distress and harm. And inwardly we know, “This isn’t how things are supposed to be.” However, even amid our sin, God pursues us.
The First Sin
Adam and Eve cave. They take a bite. And at the very beginning of humanity, sin enters in. And if we end the story here (as so many do)…we would miss the story of JESUS unfolding before our eyes. By stopping short, there is no hope. The lost believe this earthly world is the end.
Read Genesis 3: 8-13. The remainder of Scripture serves as a story of how God overcomes and rescues us from sin by sending His Son, JESUS, who is the face of God. And in the coming days, we will look at various accounts of Scripture that depict our fallenness of man and the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God. A love for His people to partake in His glory (John 1:3). But not only to be partakers (observers, beneficiaries) but also to savor and enjoy Him through a personal encounter.
The Purpose of Advent
This is the purpose of Advent. To experience Jesus anew so that our eyes open to who He is and who we are. Then, we realize that we were made to see and savor His glory. That is my prayer for all of you! I pray that you will relish, delight in, treasure, and love Jesus more!
As we look around, we should not be shocked at the sin we see far and wide. For without God, we all are lost. Sinners sin (Rom. 3:23). There is no good outside of God (Psalm 16:2, Romans 7:18).
But then…
God shows up. And ahhhh…this might be my favorite verses in the Bible.
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?
God Pursues You
God doesn’t leave. He doesn’t withdraw. He doesn’t throw His hands up in the air. Instead, he “passes over our sin” (Rom. 3:25) as a foretelling of someone who would take our place on the cross. Throughout the pages of Scripture…with every turn…we are seeing glimpses of JESUS.
We are seeing God calling us into a personal relationship. Not because of anything we have done or ever could do. Simply because He wants to. God desires to have an intimate, private, one-on-one kind of relationship with YOU! Every day, God pursues you in His Word.
[Jesus said] I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.
I️ made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
A Call to Relationship
God shows His pursuit of us by sending us, Jesus. May our love for JESUS grow so deep that it overflows by leaps and bounds to those around us so that they see JESUS too! I pray our love goes way beyond our half-hearted human capacities, enticing others to want to know what we have.
Are you spending time with God daily? Are you savoring in His love and glory? If not, what needs to change?