It has been said by many people, “there are no atheists.” More specifically, each person has a “god” that he or she knowingly or unknowingly worships. This deity may have a name, but essentially, whatever or whoever takes priority over everything else in life, or whatever serves as the ultimate source for one’s guiding principles, that, in effect, becomes a person’s god or idol.
What kind of God do Christians follow? Let us begin with a quote from Fr. John Meyendorff, former dean of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary. Fr. John once wrote that, “God is not an idea to be understood, but a Person to meet,” specifically, the Person of Jesus Christ.
Such a critical and defining statement. It is one thing to believe in reasonable ideas and principles. It is quite another to encounter the Person Who embodies Christian doctrine, Who not only spoke the Truth about God and man, but Who said, “I am the Truth…” (John 14:6)
Our personal encounter with this Incarnate Lord reveals the depth of God’s love for creation, that He is love itself (1 John 4:8). At the same time, Jesus brings us face to face with a God Whose actions seem foolish, unacceptable to many: they do not fit man’s general perception of how the Almighty should behave, what He should look like (1 Corinthians 1:23-25).
After all, what kind of God is born in a cavern and lies a manger of beasts? What kind of God takes upon Himself the frailties of human existence and unites Himself to sinners? What kind of God accepts abuse at the hands of servants, as well as a cursed death upon the cross? Furthermore, why would anyone follow such a God Who teaches that in order to live we must die (Matthew 10:39); that we are to repay hatred and cruelty with kindness and prayer (Matthew 5: 44); that we are to love as He has loved, when that very kind of love is what led to His own Crucifixion? (John 13:34).
Metropolitan Anthony Bloom wrote that, “The gods of antiquity, of philosophical discourse, were always images of the greatness of man, or of the greatness which man could perceive or imagine in a superhuman being. What no religion, no philosophy, ever dared present was God as experienced by the Christians, a God Who becomes man, suffers and empties Himself of His splendor (His glory) in order to become fully and completely accessible to us.”
This unique divine revelation is precisely what we celebrate on Christmas Day, “what no religion, what no philosophy ever dared to present…,” a God Who identifies Himself completely with His creation; Who is not ashamed to call us brothers (Matthew 12:50); Who becomes everything that we are – apart from sin – so that we may become by grace everything that He is (Hebrews 2: 14-18; 2 Peter 1:3-4).
The Advent of Christ, therefore, is not only God’s self-revelation to the world, it also reveals man’s destiny. Again, Fr. Meyendorff states that, “in God, man discovers his own humanity because he has been created as an image, an icon of (the Creator) and in Christ, man sees divinity as the true norm of humanity.” The closer he gets to Jesus the more man becomes truly himself. Conversely, the farther he is from Christ, the less human he becomes.
St. Paul communicates these same messages in terms of wealth and poverty, that man acquires authentic beauty and strength by way of God’s humility. Paul says, "Brethren, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9)
In this context, rich refers to the life of glory for which we were created, revealed through the Incarnation. Here, we are far from the simple, popular notion that, “Christmas is for children.” Indeed, Christmas is for the simple and pure of heart. It is equally for “mature audiences only,” those who can appreciate the full implications of “God made man.” Easier to accept the cozy, sentimental Christmas message on Hallmark greeting cards, than to hear a call to repentance, to a refashioning of the human spirit, “for God is with us” (Emmanuel; Matthew 1:23).
The implications of the Incarnation are vast. God Who is rich in His divine existence, became poor – emptied Himself, took the form of a servant – so that we might share the wealth of His glory. This is the God in Whom Christians believe. This is why the faithful sing repeatedly on major feast days: “Who is so great a God, as our God? Thou art the God Who doest wonders” (the Great Prokeimenon). Such wonders are found not merely in the majesty of creation. They are reflected in renewed spirits, the transformed hearts of those who follow the true God, Whose omnipotence and majesty are revealed through a life of perfect humility and love.