Missing the Creator (Ninth Day of Christmas)

Last updated on: January 4, 2019 at 9:14 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

Missing the Creator (Ninth Day of Christmas) 2019-01-04T09:14:34-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew Him not.

Jesus was here and most of us missed Him. That’s not surprising, since most of us miss Him still.

He made the world, but the world was changed by men and so the world did not recognize the Creator when He came.

There are quite a few reasons for this blindness. We are annoyed with prophets, wise men, and people who point out our errors (even if gently). We often kill them: tyranny hates correction. Socrates to Martin Luther King the words of the prophets are often written in their own blood.

Just because God speaks to us does not mean we (all) would wish to listen. I do not always wish to listen since God insists on being God and being Good, Truth, and Beauty. If we wish to putter around with our vices, half-truths, and personal preferences, then we reject God. When this turns out badly, God affirms our choice, then we blame God for “punishing” us for letting us have what we freely chose.

We make errors, intellectual and emotional. Doing the best we can, broken as we are, all of us can misunderstand people, arguments, and evidence. Culture can make this harder. Jesus has been badly served by those of us who claim to love Him. Civilizations composed of Christians have betrayed His teachings and this can make knowing him harder. The world system erects false-Jesus and bids us worship.

Many reject a false-Jesus and never truly reject Jesus. There is hope here for us all. The world, at the level of being, groans under the yoke of our false world-system. The world-system can never know Jesus, but nature does. The Heavens, where we cannot go, declare His glory and rejoice at His birth.

Caesar does not even know God is born in Bethlehem. Tyrannical pagan Rome does not know Jesus.

God is good, just, and loving. Of course, nobody comes to Paradise without Jesus and His good work, but He is loving and so waits our consent. There is tension here: we must consent, but sometimes we are ignorant, mistaken, or confused. There is hope though, because Jesus persists, gently, now and at the hour of our death. There is, one can assume, clarity as we slip from death to life. A good God speaks clearly and so we choose. CS Lewis pictures this possibility in his novel That Hideous Strength. This much we know: a good God will damn no man for an honest error.

We all must admit that even this is not so easy: our motives are mixed. Sometimes we want to misunderstand, we hide our desires behind an intellectual facade. God help me, I at least have done this. The good news is that Saint John does not just point out many of us missed God when he came, but that truth came with grace.

God knows we need grace, I need grace, and joyfully grace is given. There is, we can trust, grace for our errors.

The greatest hope is that the world missed Him. He made the world: nature is good. Men made a world system that breaks nature and breaks us. We need not be part of that world order. We can opt out. If the system of this age, this broken age, missed Jesus, then we do not and should not participate. This is great glorious goodness . . .

Christ is Born!

Glorify Him!

————————————

A Christmas series on John 1: 1-14 (Links will not be active until the piece is published. All active by January 5, 2019).

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.

Spiritual Reflections

Previous Post

January 1, 2019

True Light in 2019 (Eighth Day of Christmas)

Next Post

January 3, 2019 Missing One of Our Own (Tenth Day of Christmas)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the highest holiday in the Orthodox Christian year?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Pascha (Easter) Epiphany Pentecost Nativity

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »