God with us

My Advent thoughts.

This season on the traditional church calendar: the first season of the church year, importantly is about 'God with us'.

The incarnation of our Lord is the highlight of this, as we celebrate his nativity on 25 December. But it is only one, albeit, the pivotal one, of the five movements of God's dwelling with us.

They are: Creation, Tabernacle/temple, Christ, Church, New Creation.

If you are fitting this to a teaching cycle, you could either handle Creation in the week prior to Advent, or combine together either Christ and Church, or Church and New Creation; either paring could be argued as acceptable.

1. Creation

God shows his dwelling with us in two ways in the creation account: that he acts concretely in the stream of historical time and material space that we are in as his Image-bearers; and that, as his Image-bearers 'like' him are created for fellowship with him.

In Gen 3:8 is that here God is doing what love does: seeking the beloved. God is in this passage demonstrating the consequence of 'imageness' (communion with the creator) and instantly its inversion in his being turned against by his creature's rejection of him.

2. Tabernacle/temple

In drawing out Israel to be his people God has a purpose: dual, I suspect. Firstly to demonstrate who he is towards them (the loving God of grace), enacted in calling them into the fellowship for which humanity was created, and to be his people to those around; negatively as the instrument of his judgement against the Amorites, etc, positively as the vehicle of the proclamation of his grace.

The purpose is unfolded in the ceremonial tabernacle/temple where God's presence is represented amongst his people. The cosmos-as-temple is because of sin, contracted to this 'circle of grace' and fellowship.

In this it is the vehicle to bring Messiah to the cosmos, the world, and his salvation from our own perditious choices.

3. Incarnation

God takes on human nature and form to be in his Creation and to deal with our sin, dying to resurrect to show his victory over the forces of darkness.

4. Church

The church is called to make disciples: proclaim and grow disciples in community of the faithful; being, thereby 'salt and light' in the dark world.

5. New Creation

Our destiny as the church, in all its members, is to worship God forever in his New Creation; as the old is done away with and a new material/spiritual world is made. In this world we worship God in our renewed state: acting, thinking, relating in step with his gracious love as we, with him in Christ, rule the new world: that is; be responsible for it under God's perfect auspices.