Advent– Part 4: Receive Freely and Love All

Jesus is our greatest gift to meet out greatest need. Do you grasp the enormity of this gift? We read in John 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (vv. 1-4; CSB).

A lot could be said about this passage. Take, for example, the use of the Greek word logos, which is translated, “word”. I believe John used it because he knew it would speak to all of his readers regardless of whether they were Jew or Gentile. From the beginning, he wanted all people to understand the tremendous gift we’ve been given.

He writes, “in the beginning was the Word” (v. 1a). That means that the “Word” in the passage is infinite. He writes that, “the Word was with God” (v. 1b). That means that the “Word” enjoys a relationship with God the Father. Indeed, they are one. We read that “the world was made through him” (v. 10). That means that he is Almighty. But perhaps the most significant statements are that “the Word was God” and “in him was life” (vv. 1c, 4). That means the “Word” is divine. 

Later in the chapter, we find out that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (v.14).  That’s the part of the passage pointing to Advent. It points to the gift of Jesus Christ who is finally revealed to us by name in the Gospel of John: “No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side – he has revealed him” (v. 18).

While Jesus’ identity and character as God in the flesh is the major emphasis in this section of Scripture, there is another, equally important, emphasis. If Jesus is God’s greatest gift to meet our greatest need, then we need to receive the gift as he intends for us to receive it. John makes this point clear to us when he writes, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name” (vv. 11-12). 

Unfortunately, I don’t have space in this devotional to go into great depth on the wonderful privileges that are ours as God’s children. It really is one gracious blessing after another. My point is that these tremendous privileges are ours. And we receive them freely from our Father in heaven by believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior and then remaining in him.

I think it’s often a challenge for us to receive anything freely. We think, “what’s the catch?” These days there is always a catch, right?

Have you ever received a gift from somebody without a heads up? Maybe out of nowhere they blessed you with a gift and you felt bad because you came empty handed? Perhaps you even walked away thinking, “Great, now I have to go out and get them something to even things up.” Why do we think that? It was a gift!

Or, have you ever been in a conversation about an upcoming gift exchange where everybody was adamant that there be a stated spending limit? What’s at the root of that decision?  

In part, I believe it’s because we struggle to receive freely. We’d rather work our way for it or earn it in some way—then atleast we feel like we deserve it. Receiving involves humility (accepting a gift you didn’t earn) and trust (believing that you don’t need to somehow ‘make up for it’).  But receiving is the only way to experience real freedom in Christ. We must claim our identity, position and authority in Christ as Gospel truth and then choose to live out of this new identity, not one we manufacture through our own efforts. 

Only after we have received our new identity and experienced our freedom in Christ can we begin to live differently and to love as He does.

John writes in his first epistle, “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (1 John 4:7-10; NLT). 

God’s love and light are at the center of Advent. I invite you to take some time and meditate on all that is yours in Christ Jesus. As we move into a new season on the Christian liturgical calendar, may we focus on receiving freely so that we can love as our Father in heaven has!