Advent Week 4 2023

The Grand Miracle is what CS Lewis called the incarnation of Jesus Christ; God becoming a man. Christmas! From the moment that Adam disobeyed God in the garden of Eden, humanity was plunged into sin, and into enmity with God.

Romans 5:12 ESV

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

At the moment of sin in the garden, by Adam, God would have been justified in wiping out humanity from the Earth. Instead, in His graciousness, God responded with a plan that he would send a son of Adam to crush the head of the serpent who had deceived Eve, which in turn led to Adam’s great sin. That son of Adam would have to represent both God and man to reconcile the enmity that had been brought about by Adam’s sin.

Since Adam, every person born has been born into sin-sickness, and it’s terminal. Each of us is born with the nature to live out the identity we were born with, to be enemies with God. Not long into biblically recorded human history, sin became so prevalent on earth that every intention of the thoughts of the hearts of men was evil continuously. Gen 6:5

Genesis 6:5 ESV

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

In case there could be any question that mankind didn’t just need a do-over, God wiped out almost all of humanity in the flood, but spared Noah and his sons, and his sons’ wives. But once again mankind fell into discord with each other and with God. So, God called out of Ur, a man named Abram and chose Abram and his son Isaac, and his son Jacob, whom God renamed Israel, and his twelve sons to be his people. God in culture rated in his people, a law with which they could make a down payment so to speak