Redefined Faith
It is incredibly easy for our Biblical faith to become corrupted and to take us down roads that were never intended by the author of our faith to be followed. We substitute religious rituals for a personal relationship with Christ. We take practices and make out of them legalism where what it means to be a follower of God is all about the rules and the keeping of the rules defines our faith. Or, we may elevate "truth" to a place where there is no room for "grace" and we become hard in our attitudes toward others, denying them the very mercy and grace that God has extended to us.
Such aberrations of what God intended for us rob us of our joy and make our "faith" a chore rather than a gift and a blessing. It is why Gandhi famously said in 2016, "I'd be a Christian if it were not for the Christians." He loved the teachings of Christ but he was repelled by the attitudes and actions of many Christians. Many are today as well!
The religious world into which Christ was born had lost much of the meaning of what it meant to follow God. People were not treated as if they were made in the image of God. The rules and regulations of the Pharisees strangled the last ounce of joy from the Jewish people. Legalism had supplanted the meaning of what had been originally taught. The religious show was more important than the attitude of the heart. Rules had been heaped upon rules till it was impossible to even remember them all.
When it says that Jesus appeared as a light in the darkness and came full of Grace and Truth in John 1, that applied to the religious establishment as well. With the incarnation came One from God who redefined what a relationship with God looked like and restored the original intent of what was taught in the Scriptures. It was not a redefinition of what was taught in the Old Testament but a restoration of what God intended and what man had corrupted.
Think of the Sermon on the Mount, for instance. His teaching was radical and countercultural. He said "you have heard it said but I tell you" time and again. And then He would bring them back to the original intent of what God had revealed. What they had been taught was a corruption of what God had originally taught. He redefined prayer, fasting, treasures, worry and anxiety, the judging of others, the generosity of God, the basis upon which we build our lives, and what it means to be blessed in the beatitudes. In each case, He brought the people back to the original teaching of Scripture and scuttled the aberrations that had been allowed to supplant it.
In the incarnation, Jesus showed us what faith really was and meant. It was a relationship with Him and the Father fueled by a love that brought obedience and a life lived for His Kingdom rather than our own. It was a life of repentance and obedience that resulted in a supernatural joy and purpose.
One of the best ways to celebrate Advent is to renew our acquaintance with the Gospels. It is here that we see what faith looks like in real life. It is here that the God of the Universe shows us how to live and how to love Him and those around us. It is here that we see misconceptions of faith tossed aside and the essence of what it means to follow Him demonstrated. It is here that we discover the character of our God in His person in a way that we can emulate and follow.
In the incarnation, Jesus redefined faith and restored it to its original intent. It is something we need to do all the time for we are as easily waylaid as those in His day.
Father, thank you that in the incarnation I can see you as you want to be seen. That I can learn from your example and your teaching and keep my faith genuine and authentic in its character and conduct. Bless you, for your willingness to show up in person and help us see You as You truly are. Amen
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