The secret is out. The truth is that God had never wanted it to be a secret in the first place. From the get-go, the Lord had intended for everyone who would ever live to know how much they were loved and what a delight they are to the One who created them. What’s more, God had intended His creatures to treat each other with the same kind of love and respect He had for them.
But almost as soon as creation began, darkness started to creep in. Darkness took hold in people’s hearts and minds. Darkness that looked like selfishness and rebelling against God’s gentle love. Darkness shrouded dreadful ways of treating each other…at least the people who did the dreadful things thought they were shrouded. Between the first two people born, murder erupted when Cain killed his brother, Abel, and thought God wouldn’t know. But God knew. It spiraled out from there. It broke God’s heart.
And yet, God didn’t give up. For every choice someone made that hurt someone else, God felt the pain, too, but He didn’t give up. The Lord kept forgiving, kept rebuilding, kept inviting new folks to share the love that had been there since the beginning. Until finally, God made a decision. God made a decision to enter into His own creation, to become fully human, Himself. And so, in Jesus Christ, God revealed what life was really all about – love and fellowship, serving and blessing each other. God came in Jesus Christ to make sure the secret got out once and for all.
St. Paul knew it. St. Paul shared it. In his Letter to the Romans, Paul rejoices that it is his privilege to share the good news of God’s love and salvation: “Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, but is now disclosed….” During Advent we prepare for the good news of God’s love to be unleashed in Jesus Christ. We prepare by remembering and doing what God has done from the beginning – share His love with the world in every time, place, and way we can. That time is now. So, welcome Jesus into your heart and share His love with the world, this season and every season. Thanks be to God – the secret is out!
~ Senior Pastor, Bryan Brooks