Advent: December 11th

​The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.' And the LORD said to me, 'They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. (Deut. 18:15-18)
 
In this passage, Moses prophesies that someday God would send another prophet like himself who would come “from your brothers.” He would be an Israelite. And when this prophet comes, God says, “I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command.” In other words, this prophet will speak the very words of God and “to him you shall listen.”
 
Fast-forward 1,500 years and we read in the Gospel of John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:1, 14).  Christ not only spoke the words of God, but Christ is the Word of God, the word become flesh. To refer to Christ as the Word of God means that Christ is the greatest and clearest revelation of the God of creation. Moses may have spoken God’s words, but Christ is God in human form. Christ not only reveals God’s will to humanity, but he shows us what God would be like if he were human, what he would talk like, behave like, love other people like, and what it means to perfectly live and do God’s will.
 
But most importantly, Christ reveals God’s grace and truth to humanity. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17). The Law in the Old Testament could never save sinners. The Law cannot fix people; it can only tell us we are broken. This is because no one can ever live up to God’s holy and perfect standard. This standard does not change with the coming of Christ. Jesus commands, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). God demands perfection in order for us to have eternal life. But how is that possible? It is possible through the perfect life and death of Jesus Christ. Jesus came into the world to live the perfect life of obedience to God’s Law on behalf of those who place faith in Him, and to offer the perfect sacrifice for our sins, and to communicate and demonstrate perfectly to us God’s will for our lives. Advent is about celebrating God’s grace and truth revealed to the world!

Photo by Max Beck on Unsplash