Thoughts for Advent

How the Birth of Baby Jesus Changed Everything

Entertain me. Using one sentence, summarise the story of the Bible. All those hundreds of micro-events and miracles and heroes and villains, what’s the sum of it? What’s the picture that it paints? Some may say that the Bible tells the story of sin being mastered, and others perhaps an explanation of who Jesus is. Or perhaps the tale of a decaying world in need of replacing? I’d like to offer an alternative view.*

The story of the Bible starts in Genesis 1 (the first chapter of the Bible) and ends in Revelation 22 (the last chapter of the Bible). Maybe I am stating the obvious here, but for a long time Christians have behaved as though the Bible’s story begins in Genesis 3 and ends in Revelation 20 - a story starting with sin and ending with judgement. But if that’s the whole story we tell (that we humans have a sin problem that God will one day deal with), we’re missing something. We’ve chopped off the start and end of the Bible; we’ve got the bookends wrong. Actually, the Bible starts in a garden and it ends with a garden. It starts with creation and ends with the new creation. And it is Jesus who is making all things new (Revelation 21:5).

A helpful way to understand the Biblical narrative is to divide the story into four different chapters: Ought, Is, Can and Will. Allow me to elaborate…

“Ought” is the perfect world that God intended, celebrated in Genesis 1-2. The perfect community of our trinitarian God was delighted to create abundantly and generously. In this introductory part of the story we can learn much about who God is and who we are. God’s creation hosted perfect shalom; perfect rightness with God, with ourselves, with others and with creation. This is the world as it should be.

“Is” is the terrible reality of our broken world. Whilst Genesis 1-2 sounds fantastical, the “Is” chapter sounds familiar. In Genesis 3 God’s shalom was shattered. Peace with God became spiritual distance, peace with self became psychological unrest, peace with others was distorted into isolation and peace with creation became physical decay. Christians and non-Christians alike join in feeling that the world, as it is today, is not how it ought to be.

“Can” is the kingdom of God bursting into our time and space through baby Jesus’ birth in a humble Israelite town. Christians today belong in this chapter. Shalom and restoration have broken into creation and we humans have been invited by Jesus into the mission of God. We don’t need to live in the slump of the “Is” chapter; we have been inspired by Jesus about what can be. We hope to be a part of restoration by helping bring full shalom.

“Will” is the chapter we look forward to and it promises that the world will be made new. Today, we live in tension. We rejoice that Jesus and His kingdom broke in, but we recognise too that the fullness of God’s kingdom is not yet here. So, we wait and we hope. We anticipate a time of full shalom with God; of full rightness with Him, ourselves, others and creation.

I hope you find yourself encouraged by God’s story during Advent. Advent is a time for us to hold the “Can” and “Will” chapters together, in gratitude and faith. We remember that Jesus came and that His coming really did change everything. We recognise that Jesus is at work, and that we Christians are caught up in the restoration He is bringing. Finally, we anticipate that Jesus will return, like He said He would. All that was lost in the Garden will be restored. Shalom.

*A special thanks to Regent College and Amy Sherman for her wonderful thoughts on human flourishing