This Advent, we journeyed through the arc of the Christmas story from Genesis to Revelation. The intent was to see the birth of Christ as a promise in Genesis fulfilled, a mystery revealed in John, the dawning of peace in Ephesians, and the heavenly drama unveiled in Revelation.

One of the central themes of Advent is peace. In the Christmas story, who can forget the great company of angels who appeared to the shepherds and proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14)?

The apostle Paul understood that one of the most important implications of the Gospel is the peace that Christ provided. “His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” (Eph 2:15-16)

There are a number of mysteries of the Christian faith, two of which stand at the bookends of Christ’s life; his birth and his death, symbolized by the manger and the cross.

Mystery of the Incarnation - Christ’s birth or the incarnation is, as C.S. Lewis called it, the “Grand Miracle”. It is the story that the Word, who was there ‘In the Beginning” and the one through whom all things were created, became flesh and dwelt among us. And God came to us in a particular way; he wasn’t born into a palace among royalty but instead, born in a manger, to an unwed couple, humble and meek.

The virgin birth has never been a major stumbling block in my struggle with Christianity; it’s far less mind-boggling than the Power of all Creation stooping so low as to become one of us.

Madeleine L’Engle, A Stone for a Pillow