“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. — John 3:16-19 (NIV)
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” — John 3:36 (NIV)
When was the last time you held a newborn baby in your arms? Jane and I had the privilege to meet our new grandson, Henry, during Thanksgiving week. When we walked into our daughter’s home and saw him for the first time in person, we couldn’t believe how small he was. Now, 8 lbs. and 9 oz. is no small baby, but after many years of not being around a newborn … you just kind of forget how tiny even 8 lbs. and 9 oz. is! He was just a peanut! So, that was one word that came to mind—peanut…
Another word that came to mind when we held him for the first time was … precious, because the birth of a baby is such an amazing gift. We know the science behind conception and pregnancy and birth, but all of that seems insufficient to fully explain the miracle of new life… Tiny and cute are other words that often come to mind. Such little fingers and toes, such little ears and nose…
And surprise is another word that comes to mind, especially when it came to the announcement of our daughter’s pregnancy… But then Henry Joseph was born … and their whole world changed; they just can’t imagine life without the new addition to the family…
The news of Jesus’ birth was certainly a surprise—maybe more like a shock—to Mary and Joseph. They were just two good Jewish kids, minding their p’s and q’s, when the news of a baby came like a bombshell into their lives. Surprise! They weren’t prepared. The nursery wasn’t done yet! They hadn’t planned on something like this happening to them … right now, but God certainly wasn’t surprised. Jesus’ birth had been planned since the time of Adam and Eve—since our first human parents turned their backs on God and needed a way to get back to God—some way to save them…
Precious. Tiny. Cute. All perfect descriptions of a newborn. And, folks, when Mary and Joseph and others who came to the stable where he was born saw Jesus for the first time, these were probably words they used to describe him too! (Or, as a onesie my new grandson received says, “This is what HANDSOME is all about!”) I’m sure all these descriptions were what the baby Jesus brought to mind too! But one thing that didn’t come to mind when he was a baby—something that later on would describe Jesus perfectly, was … DANGEROUS! Has that ever come to your mind as you held a brand new baby?
Though Jesus probably didn’t seem dangerous to his mother and father and the shepherds who came to see him—a tiny little baby lying in a stone manger filled with straw and swaddled tightly in cloth—this baby was different. This baby was God in the flesh—the King of kings, Lord of lords, Ruler of all; the all-powerful, eternal Creator himself, who was sent to earth to live amongst humanity … with a dangerous mission in mind! I want to begin today by talking about this characteristic of God. Folks, did you know that…
All of Scripture Speaks of the Dangerous Nature of God. The Bible tells us that God is dangerous—dangerous because he’s a mighty God with powerful plans and expectations of his children. Now, I’m not saying that God is manipulative, with any plans that might harm us; quite the contrary! God is the King of kings who only wants the best for his people … and the Ruler of all who wants to bring all people into his kingdom. God so loves the world that he calls us to live our lives to the fullest; time and time again we find God calling his people into roles they’d not imagined, challenges they resisted, and dangerous territories they’d not anticipated. Let me give you a couple of examples…
In Genesis 12, God calls Abraham to leave “your country, your people, and your father’s household” (v. 1, NIV). At that time, Abraham didn’t see God’s master plan for his life, nor could he imagine the blessings that lay ahead. He had to rely on faith and the promises of God, then travel into unknown territory. Surely God’s call on Abraham’s life must have seemed a bit dangerous…
I’m also most certain that Moses considered God dangerous as well. He was minding his own business, out tending his father-in-law’s sheep, when God called to him out of a burning bush and said: “‘I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’” (Exodus 3:10-11, NIV). Remember that Moses was a wanted man … in Egypt—wanted for murder. Returning to the scene of the crime, so to speak, would be a very dangerous assignment. He felt ill-equipped to lead a nation or to speak for God, and yet God called him—specifically. And Moses was obedient, putting his life in God’s hands. Dangerous…
Then there was Jonah. Jonah knew something of the dangerous nature of God. God called Jonah to “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me” (Jonah 1:2, NIV), but Jonah feared his calling and decided to try and run away instead. But, folks, as Jonah soon found out, you cannot outrun God. Jonah’s reasoning? He didn’t want the people of Nineveh to experience God’s forgiveness, love and mercy … because they were his enemies. Talk about a dangerous assignment! But God had a fishy way of getting Jonah’s attention, then redirecting Jonah back to the purpose for which he was called. And Jonah finally obeyed, even though there were danger signs all over the place…
Folks, in scripture God continually pushes those he’s called into dangerous situations, at the same time equipping them to carry out his purposes. While they probably wouldn’t have volunteered for these God-sized tasks, in the end they accomplished all God asked them to … with God’s help…
- Abraham was surrounded by non-believers in the midst of a culture that grasped at every false god available, but the one true God changed his name and used him to make a nation of believers…
- Moses was afraid of his own shortcomings, but God blessed him and used him to free his chosen people from their bondage in Egypt…
- And Jonah wasn’t willing to go where he was called, but God pursued him and used him to take the Word of God to a disobedient people…
From the beginning of time, God’s been a dangerous God … who’s stretched people beyond what they thought they could ever do on their own! But, what they all found out was, there truly is no place safer than in the center of God’s will for us … and Jesus knew that too; here’s the second thing today…
God Sent Jesus On a Dangerous Mission. Even Jesus found himself in the midst of God’s perfect will (a good place to be) … with a dangerous mission to accomplish!
It’s no understatement to say that Jesus’ birth shook the world! That night, while the heavenly choirs sang “Glory to God in the highest heaven….!” (Luke 2:14, NIV), there was a shudder in hell! While the shepherds worshiped at the manger and Mary’s heart leapt for joy, there was a great fear in the nether regions below. Satan and all of his followers quaked with fear when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. His coming was dangerous for them, too! Do you remember when Jesus said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34, NIV). A battle was raging…
Jesus was dangerous. It’s so easy to get lost in the precious, tiny, and cute baby Jesus born at Christmas 2000+ years ago … and forget that his coming was a part of spiritual battles that were happening then … and are still going on today! With our scientific, practical minds, it’s often hard for us to acknowledge those spiritual battles. It’s easy to presume that all that exists in this world is just what we can see and feel and experience in a concrete way. Remember, though, what the Apostle Paul wrote: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12, NIV). Jesus came for a fight…
Jesus was dangerous. Even as a baby, he was dangerous—so dangerous that Herod went and executed all the male babies in Bethlehem, fearing this king he’d heard about might someday take over his kingdom…
Jesus was dangerous and at times he showed it. We prefer, many times, to think of the compassionate Jesus, but there was another side of him too—all this being true to his character. He had the capacity for righteous anger. Any time anyone—especially if they claimed to be a Godly person—behaved in a way that was opposite God’s character, he got angry … and everyone knew it…
- When he found the Pharisees more concerned with the letter of the law than a man who needed healing, Jesus became very angry (Mark 3:1-6)…
- When he saw religious leaders abuse God’s law for their own purposes, he became angry (Matt. 15:3)…
- When he went to the Temple and saw the money-changers cheating the poor who came to worship, he became angry … and overturned their tables saying: “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers’” (Matt. 21:13, NIV). And he proved himself dangerous…
Jesus wasn’t what they expected either; he wasn’t born in a castle, but in a stable; he didn’t come wearing a crown, but a carpenter’s apron. He just wasn’t what they expected! But Jesus was dangerous AND he wasn’t at all what they expected, which brings me to another aspect of God’s dangerous character…
With God, We Need to Learn to Expect the Unexpected! An encounter with the living God is a dangerous thing—dangerous for those who oppose him, but also dangerous for those who love him and follow him…
Their encounter with God was dangerous for Mary and Joseph, an unmarried couple with a baby on the way. Mary’s pregnancy was scandalous for them and their families, but they were willing to trust God and obey his plan. They placed their reputations on the line in order to receive the blessing God had for them. Dangerous stuff…
Encountering God was dangerous for the disciples as well. Let’s not leave them out of the story. They dropped their nets to follow this unconventional rabbi … who threatened the very nature of their culture. But the disciples gave up everything to go out with him and to heal the sick and preach the Good News…
Encountering God is dangerous for you and me too. Why? Because Jesus expects his followers to join him in his work here on earth—to become agents of his truth and love, to bring light and life into the darkness of this world. An encounter with Jesus is always dangerous … because Jesus has big things in mind for us, and it’s probably going to be more than we ever dreamed of or expected…
Have any of you ever been to the Vatican? The great works of art on display there are breathtaking! And one of the masterpieces on display there is Michelangelo’s Pietà, a marble statue of Mary holding Jesus after he was crucified. In 1972 it was vandalized by a deranged man who attacked it with a hammer, smashing it and destroying the original beauty that Michelangelo created. Vatican artists immediately went to work repairing it. Slowly, over the years, they patiently, painstakingly worked on this scarred masterpiece, recreating and restoring the statue to near-perfect condition.
That’s exactly what God wants to do in our lives—to recreate and restore our lives that’ve been scarred by a fallen world and the work of the Enemy. But being recreated and restored by Jesus is dangerous. It doesn’t mean he wants to just polish us up and tweak a few minor things here and there. When we invite Jesus into our lives, he wants to restore us to the original beauty God created; and that requires commitment & submission to the work of God’s Spirit, who pushes and pulls us as we’re transformed…
Jesus is dangerous today because he wants more for you than you’ve ever wanted for yourself; he has higher ambitions for you than you’ve thought of, bolder dreams than you’ve dared to dream. So often, we want Jesus to come into our lives to make our lives nicer and more comfortable and pleasant. And God wants to do that too but he says, “Yes, I can do that, but I want more!” Jesus is dangerous because he didn’t just come to smooth out the wrinkles of life; rather, he came to refashion you into his image … and that will make us dangerous too—dangerous in love! Jesus wants us to become dangerous tools of love in his hands … for the good of the world.
Ours is a wonderful, dangerous calling! “For God so loved the world that he sent us….” He sent us the precious, the tiny, and the cute … but God also sent us the dangerous one. He wasn’t afraid to walk into the dark crevices of this world and be the light and share God’s love … and neither should we. God is dangerous. That’s what we’re supposed to be about during this season of Advent too. Ours is a wonderful, dangerous calling! Won’t you join me?