Advent 1 He's On His Way Back

[HKHaugan]

Advent 1 He’s On His Way Back

Matt.12:6 Jesus said, “But I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple (KJV).”

Which is really greater? Is it the building, the people, the leaders, the institutional forms and rules under which they operate, or the One for whom the building, the institution and the people exist? Another way of putting it, are the forms more important than the substance? Are the structures superior to the One who initiated them?

If you look at any corporation, business, organization, club or social gathering, what are they really there for? Initially, they were created to meet a human need. Of course the profit motive is there but it is the idea and the need that plow the furrow. But when you consider the enormous change from the first wheel to space ships there is something greater at work.

All human enterprise is really an extension of the human body so that the physical comfort, security and creativity of the person in the body are enhanced. Invention is the extension of intention. The car, the airplane, the boat extend our ability to travel beyond the limitations of our feet. Telescopes, glasses, binoculars, microscopes, movies, cameras increase the ability of the eyes. Sound systems help hearing. Computers magnify our thinking ability. Massive agriculture frees us from the soil to pursue other areas. All our physical senses are magnified.

The very fact that they enhance physical existence suggests a greater mind and a greater invisible force is at work to benefit a struggling humanity. We could go on and on. All of this is certainly in line with God’s Genesis commandment to rule the earth and subdue it. In the overall picture it is like mankind is trying to return to Eden but an Eden man makes. However, not the one God planned or has waiting for us in His Son.

But here’s the rub, when our religious, political, economic and educational structures, the foundational support system for our whole human enterprise, are separated from their spiritual source, when they are secularized, they only self-destruct. Our world, our culture, is melting because of secularization, its political correctness and the de-spiritualizing of all our social institutions. What we are looking at is a massive caricature of Adam and Eve taking the devil’s advice to think and act apart from God and His Word. We must realize we are now in the land of Nod, east of Eden and a flaming sword keeps us from reentering.

But there is one more aspect. Within the physical body there is a personal consciousness. You have the soul, the mind, the heart and the spirit of the person. God created the forms so that, as persons, we could experience the very being, the essence and the fullness of God through a relationship with Him and others. So everything visible has a personal, relational and spiritual purpose, a goal of fulfillment. The problem arises when the forms, their maintenance and leaders become more important than the one who initiated the whole process in the first place. They become temples erected to glorify man apart from God. This is idolatry. This is the product of sin and its spiritually isolating force. This is the work of sin’s author, the devil. Recognize it for what it is.

Preparing for Christmas is not only celebrating Jesus’ birth but also anticipating His return. We are in between birth and return, created, chosen and called for God’s purpose. To know that you were created and chosen with a specific calling means that God also provides the power to live out the calling. Now is the time to pray for specific direction for your specific calling in your specific part of the world. Celebrate the birth of Christ by preparing specifically for His return.

Hints on this next time, as we look at John the Baptist. Stay tuned……….