"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst." (1 Timothy 1:15).

Christ came. He came into this word. He came for us, to bring us to the holy, living, mighty God, translated into terms that we can understand. In Christ we see all of God we need to know: to know the Son is to know the Father.

But this is not the only reason for his coming. If this were all, our Christian gospel might be little more than a declaration, a manifesto announcing to us all that this is the kind of God with whom we have to do. Such a manifesto can be encouraging: it is surely good to be told that the God who is in charge of this universe has the character of Christ, his love, his purity, his care, and his compassion. But it can also be unnerving and even depressing: how can we relate our lives to such a God? How can we bring our shabby selves into that dazzling light?

There is no gospel, no really good news, in the announcement of who God is without any indication of how we can be related to Him. What we need is not simply the confidence that Christ brings God to us, but also that He can bring us to God. In Bible terms, we need not only a Revealer but a Saviour.

"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners". To know Christ is not only to hear the manifesto of God, to know that when we have seen him we have seen the Father. It is to be delivered, to be liberated, to be brought home to the family of God. His advent was salvation for the world.

Christ came. He came from the heart of God to save sinners. The opportunity is here again, for us to get it right, and to receive this Christ as our own.

Sincerely,


Floyd McPhee