“The good Lord” – or not?

Podcast: Download (Duration: 23:56 — 16.4MB)

“And the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the town of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord’” (Luke 2:10-11).

These verses awaken Christmas feelings in us. The angel, the joy, the birth, a baby – everything reminds us of Christmas. If you consider these verses in isolation, purely in relation to the birth of Jesus, they sound quite harmonious, peaceful. They speak of a great joy that is to befall the entire nation. Christmas as a festival of joy, a festival of love, a festival of rest and peace – that's how we know it, that's how it's celebrated in this country. A God who is small – we find that very vivid, very appealing.

It's easy to picture this God in the manger: usually asleep or smiling, we gladly accept him as a beautiful display piece for the glass case. He's simply part of the Christmas decorations. And besides, he's also quite sweet. "God won't be so strict about it" or "God will sort it out" – such expressions reveal our (German) image of God. An image of a small God. A God who can't harm us. But can this image of God stand the test of time? Christmas with an image of a small God – that simply cannot be!

Our Christmas image of God

However, there are also biblical passages that describe the coming of Jesus quite differently: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). God as a baby, God as a loving father, God as a shepherd, God as a comforter and helper in times of need—we like that. But God as a fighter, a warrior, as a judge, as one who intervenes in injustice—that seems new to us, perhaps even frightening.

The Gospel begins with the birth of Jesus—a joyous event for us. But the message of the entire Gospel speaks a clear language: “ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18). An either-or, a salvation or damnation, is presented to us. When we speak of Christmas, the entire Gospel must be communicated clearly, and not just the pleasant aspects of the good news emphasized one-sidedly.

The image of Christmas that's burned into our minds—a baby in a manger, and everyone wanting to worship it—is just a small part of the whole Christmas story. But we like this peaceful image so much that we completely ignore everything else, for example, the flight to Egypt a few days after Jesus' birth because of King Herod's plot to murder him. Could it be that our image of God has stopped at Christmas? At least in this country and the rest of the Western world, it seems so. God is love, but he is also justice. God is merciful, but also wrathful. God is multifaceted—not one-dimensional.

Christmas marks the beginning of a worldwide spiritual and moral transformation that continues to this day.

In the story of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, God, in the person of Jesus, is also portrayed differently—differently than lovingly (cf. Mt 21:1-14). At first, however, it begins very harmoniously, just like at Christmas: everyone rejoices at a gentle king riding in on a donkey. An image of a loving Jesus; a loving God—the loving God! That's how we like him best. One who doesn't harm a hair on anyone's head—one whom no one can hurt and who is to be observed from a safe distance: "Don't you dare get down, don't you dare have anything to do with us! We want to worship and pay homage to you, spread our garments before you, celebrate you…" That is enough for us. That's how we like him.

Our Christmas image of God can be described with the following everyday situation: Imagine you encounter a dog and its owner while out for a walk. The dog comes alarmingly close. Because you radiate some uncertainty, the owner reassures you: "Don't worry, he's friendly – he won't hurt you!" This is the image most people, and even some Christians in this country or the Western world, have of God: "He's friendly because he won't hurt you! He's faithfully by my side, he stands by me... when I need him." God is a loving God because he does nothing. We have become accustomed to an image or conception of God in which God is passive.

We've placed Him in a display case, and He watches over us silently. We worship Him, we serve Him, we take sides… Yet He remains passive! A God who has nothing to do with us here, who generally doesn't act here – we postpone His action to the afterlife. There He is supposed to dispense justice, there He will intervene, act, and be our King. There… – but here He absolutely mustn't interfere in my life. People tend toward one-sidedness, even regarding their image of God.

Our image of God at Christmas is being changed.

A God who is only ever loving becomes a passive God, and this image harbors dangers. A God who doesn't act in my life or in the world, we consider dead—sooner or later. If He has no connection to my life, if He merely watches and doesn't intervene—then our faith in Him, in His existence, dies. Then we justifiably hear the following response from a non-Christian when it's pointed out that Jesus died for them: "Oh, you know, He died for me a long time ago!" Our image of a passive God compels Him to withdraw. Through unbelief, He cannot act. And if He doesn't act, faith in Him dies. Only a God who acts in my life—even by rebuking me—is perceived as alive.

The history of Israel, for example, proves this: When God was not visibly at work, they became the target of ridicule, mockery, and often even prey for their enemies. When the nations around them, who did not believe in God, asked, "Where is your God?", it was clear: God's presence had vanished. He was no longer acting on behalf of His people. He was no longer intervening. He was no longer fighting for them. And the nations around Israel saw this quite clearly. And with that, the witnesses to the existence of a living God became unbelievable. From this central question, "Where is your God?", it can be concluded that God is no longer present in a community.

Let us continue our exploration of the story of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem: What image follows the loving image of Jesus? Jesus descends, he steps onto the earth – he is no longer "meekly riding" on the donkey. He is no longer passive – someone to be observed from afar. He acts, he intervenes! An unfamiliar image for us! God stirs things up. He drives out. He is angry. An intervening God, brought close to us here in Jesus (cf. Mt 21:12-13). When God touches the earth, something momentous happens: "He stood still and measured the earth; he looked, and the nations trembled; the ancient mountains were shattered, the hills of old were shaken; he walked in the paths of the ages" (Hab 3:6).

In Matthew 21, we experience Jesus first as a gentle king, second as an intervening judge, and third as a healing physician. After Jesus corrects the image of God as a loving being, the phase of healing begins: "The blind and the lame came to him, and he healed them" (Matthew 21:14). He wants to heal, He wants to save, but first He must change our perspective! He must work on us—often radically—changing our mindset so that we become open to Him. It is proven that people are more likely to turn to God in times of crisis. When God allows times of crisis, His goal is always to show that He is the true God! This is how He has always acted. This action is not only to demonstrate His power, but to bring us, and especially our hearts, into a relationship of trust with Him, because He means well for us. For He knows that this relationship is best for our lives and for our deaths.

Christmas and the entire Gospel

God reveals himself through the Incarnation of his Son, Jesus Christ (cf. Heb 1). The Incarnation of Jesus demonstrates the way God communicates with humanity. The birth of Jesus is the beginning of this path—an expression of God's undeserved grace. And this path is vividly described in the Gospel. God comes closer to humanity than ever before since the Fall. This is the Good News—this is the Gospel. This path begins with Christmas, but it does not end there. The written Gospel concludes with the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. And in between lie challenging, painful days for Jesus on earth. Christmas is the beginning of a worldwide spiritual and moral transformation that continues to this day. It is the Gospel that has lost none of its transformative and saving power.

“The gospel of God is not human thinking about God or human words to God; it is God’s gift to humanity in Jesus […]. In him, God offers humanity his absolute and complete restoration. […] The content of this divine gift is ‘good news’ or ‘gospel.’ Thus, […] Christ presents himself in his message, not a system of thought. […] The gospel of the New Testament has its source, its content, its meaning, and its glory in one person, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Peters & Egelkraut 2005:349ff).

The Gospel, and even the birth of Jesus, clearly point to the necessity of saving mankind.

There is only one core message of the Gospel, and that is Jesus, the Son of God. However, in many Christian parts of the Western world, the Gospel is preached only piecemeal, especially at Christmas – the holiday when church attendance is still traditionally maintained by 25% or 35% of Germans (depending on the source). The personal God, who desires to reveal himself to everyone in Christ, is usually presented in an abstract way. The Gospel is proclaimed as an 'abstract message' that is supposed to be reducible to a basic Christological formula – therefore, people understand the good news less and less and are less and less willing to accept what is being said.

In his farewell words before going to Jerusalem to face arrest, Paul can speak of his own innocence: “I have not withheld anything of what is beneficial, but have made it known to you and taught it […]. For I have not withheld anything, but have made known to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:20, 27). He testifies that he is cleansed of the blood of all (cf. Acts 20:26). In other words, God cannot accuse him of having taught one-sidedly in his ministry and thus misleading people regarding their salvation. He was not guilty because these people, due to false teaching, could not see the need for repentance and were therefore eternally lost. God will reclaim the blood of the deceived from the deceivers—from those who preach only the Christmas-like image of God all year round.

All His actions in the world, His royal demeanor, His judicial and healing work serve only one purpose: to attune us to eternity.

The necessity of communicating the whole Gospel

The Bible presents the Gospel as a crucial necessity for the "eternal future" of every individual. The very birth of Jesus confronts humanity with an inescapable decision: either accept God's grace or automatically rebel against God and be subject to judgment. In biblical terms, this is about "salvation or damnation" (cf. Mark 16:16); "heaven or hell" (cf. Matthew 8:11-12); "life or destruction" (cf. Matthew 7:12-13); "salvation or perdition" (cf. 2 Peter 3:9)—in short, about spiritual, eternal well-being or eternal separation.

The necessity of proclaiming the Gospel completely arises from the clear statements in the Bible, which describe the lost state of humanity without Christ. “It is a situation of urgency of infinite importance, which means eternal glory or eternal misery for countless people” (Peters & Egelkraut 2005:374). The urgent need to communicate the whole Gospel stems, firstly, from the fact that there will be two places in the eternal state of human existence: Heaven with the glory of God’s presence, or Hell with all its horrors in the complete absence of God (:380; cf., among others, Mt 8:11f).

Another fact is that the state after death is fixed and remains eternal: “The Bible knows no trial period after death. Death determines the destiny and establishes the distinctions. A return or a change is neither promised nor anticipated. This is a sobering, a provocative fact” (:382; cf. among others Lk 16:26). And the third fact, which gives rise to the necessity of all gospel communication, is that Jesus is the only door, the only way to eternal life in God’s presence. Therefore, the gospel is not merely a ‘thing’ in the world among others, but a truth through which everything is changed (Zeindler 2016:79).

What holistic evangelism is not about

With Jesus' coming to this earth, God's intention was not to grant humanity a quiet and peaceful life—preferably without painful circumstances. No, His purpose was to show that a person's eternal spiritual salvation is more important than their temporal well-being. When we consider life from the perspective of eternity, this particular decision that a person must make in their 80 or 90 years of life receives greater attention. What good is it to an individual if they experience temporal salvation in its fullness, if their basic social, physical, and psychological needs are completely met, but they lose eternal life—for whatever reason? The few years here on earth are insignificant compared to eternity; they are of little consequence (cf. Romans 8:18).

In this context, the question of "how one has lived" is mathematically insignificant compared to the question "Where will I live after death?" (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:17). The communication of the entire Gospel therefore focuses on the one crucial decision in every person's life: turning away from or turning back to God. Conversion is the decisive turning point in this brief phase of life because there will be two places in the eternal and predetermined state of human existence—heaven and hell. Death determines this destiny, and a return or change of location is impossible. For one's eternal abode can only be decided in the here and now.

The Gospel is therefore not primarily concerned with improving or coping with life. Nor is it solely about awakening joy, giving direction to life, contributing to coping with life's challenges, offering comfort, urging specific action, or simply instilling hope. The Good News is also not solely about enabling individual self-discovery, interpretation of life, or practical guidance. Rather, it is concerned with one goal: the decision about humanity's eternal destiny, a decision made today. The Gospel, and indeed the birth of Jesus, clearly points to the necessity of human salvation.

The entire proclamation of the Gospel is not merely about reaching, addressing, or inviting people. Rather, it is about rediscovering the eternal dimension that beats in unison with God's heart: "Who wants all people to be saved?" (1 Timothy 2:4). However multifaceted the proclamation may be, the many aspects of the Bible's view of the "end of the day" (cf. Matthew 24:13), the "last day" (cf. John 6:12), or the "day of judgment" (cf. 2 Peter 2:3) all share one common goal: humanity's eternal future. At the end of the day, Jesus' coming had one objective: either eternal damnation or eternal glory. Our proclamations must also have only this objective. Otherwise, they remain merely temporally driven.

God thinks in eternal dimensions and gives us the best He had to offer: His Son – as an expression of His infinite love.

God is a wellspring of overflowing love. Beginning with the birth of Jesus, God's love became more visible, tangible, and understandable. God's efforts to show us His love through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are considered worthless when Christmas is reduced to a family celebration, a festival of love, joy, and peace. God doesn't think so small. He thinks in eternal dimensions and gives us the best He had to offer: His Son—as an expression of His infinite love.

For born-again Christians, the full meaning of Christmas unfolds within the context of the entire Gospel, the image of God as He is presented to us throughout the Gospel: as a God who loves, who heals, who punishes. And all His actions in the world, His royal presence, His judicial and healing work, serve only one purpose: to prepare us for eternity. This is the loving, punishing, healing God who always—truly always—means well for us.

Erich Janz
Municipality of Braunschweig