The One Who Came For Us
Before anything else existed, there was Christ, with God. He has always been alive and is himself God. He created everything there is – nothing exists that He didn’t make…And Christ became a human being and lived here on earth among us and was full of loving forgiveness and truth.
John 1:1-3, 14 (TLB)
While the Apostle John doesn’t offer the details of the nativity as did Matthew and Luke, these verses contain the very heart of Christmas. God became one of us. He did so to identify with us, to let us know that He understands what it’s like to be human.
But even more, He came for us that He might take us home to be with Him. Such was the extent of His love.
Christian author Steve Brown tells a story that beautifully illustrates this:
She was eighteen and he was nineteen when they met. They fell in love and one year later they were married. Some six years and three children later, she decided while standing before the kitchen sink with a stack of dirty dishes and with a pile of dirty laundry on the floor that she just couldn’t take it anymore.
She dried her hands, put on her coat, and simply walked out the door. In the weeks that followed, she would call home periodically to check on the children, on those occasions her husband would tell her how much he loved her, and he would ask her to come home. Each time she refused.
After a month of phone calls, the husband hired a private detective to find his wife. The report came back to him that she’d been found in a cheap hotel in Des Moines, Iowa.
In an instant he made his decision. He asked for a few days off from work, placed the children under the care of a neighbor, and took a bus to Des Moines.
He found the hotel and made his way to her room. When he knocked on the door, his hand trembled because he didn’t know the kind of reception he would receive.
His wife opened the door, stood there for a moment looking at him in shocked silence, and then fell into his arms. “Let’s go home,” he said.
While on the bus, he couldn’t help but ask her questions that had long
troubled him: “Why wouldn’t you let me know where you were when I called? I told you I loved you. Why didn’t you come home?”
Taking his hand, she replied, “Before, your love was just words. Now I know that you really love me… because you came for me.”
You may be facing all sorts of challenges this holiday season. You may be asking all kinds of questions. Indeed, you may be grappling with many doubts.
But in the midst of all that, let this stupendous truth take root in your soul. God so loved the world…He so loved YOU…that He determined to go beyond simply declaring it in words. He came for you…to be with you and to take you home.
God so loved the world…He so loved YOU…that He came for you…to be with you and to take you home.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, for a love that went beyond words. Thank You for making the sacrifice to come for me.
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