Into the World

Advent 2011 Day 13

John 1:10-18
He was in the World, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.


This continues talking about John being the forerunner for Jesus, but then says that Jesus is the one who declares God to us. John was the one to bring us to Jesus, and Jesus was the one to bring us to God.
This can look like Catholicism, saying that we need to go through someone to get to God, but that is not what it is. We don't need to go through anyone to get to God. That is a wonderful thing about God. He wants us to come to him, as children, without anything standing between us.
The reason for the forerunners; for those who were to bring us to God, was that people were not coming to God on their own. We needed someone to lead us to God.
It's like taking a little kid to see Santa at the store. You're not going to ask the kid what they want, and then go sit on Santa's lap to ask for that (at least your average, normal person wouldn't do that...). But you have to take the child to see Santa. They won't be able to get to the store on their own, and usually, they're a little nervous about going up to Santa, and need some encouragement. And that's where you come in. You put the kid in the car, and you take them to the store, and you encourage them to go up to Santa and sit on his lap (tell them he won't bite, tell them that he'll bring them presents, etc...). But that is really all that you can do. After that, it is their choice whether they go up and sit on Santa's lap, or if they scream and cry and cling to you and refuse to let go until you take them home. Or buy them candy.
And that's how it is with us. John prepared the way for Jesus, but he couldn't make them accept him. And Jesus gave us a way to get to God. But he won't make us go to him. It is our choice. Choose wisely.