Speaking Our Language

 "In these last days [God] has spoken to us by his Son..." (Hebrews 1:2)

We used to have a pet possum. Well, it wasn’t really a pet – it lived under our house. For a long time, we didn’t like possums, until someone on the internet said they eat bugs (i.e. roaches), ticks, snakes, and other things we don’t want around our house. So they are a free pest control service.

Anyway, Opie decided to make our crawl space his home. And since Carol is an avid bird feeder, there was always an ample supply of bird food that had fallen on the ground, and so Opie would come out at night and find some snacks in our backyard. Eventually, Carol started to leave a dish of meal worms on the ground outside our kitchen window. Really, Opie was Carol’s pet.

Every once in a while when we went out at night to let the dogs do what dogs have to do before going to bed, we would happen upon Opie in the backyard. But Opie would run away from us. We tried going out without the dogs, but Opie would still run away. I think he was scared of us.

We tried speaking to Opie in a calm, sweet voice: “Don’t worry, Opie. We won’t hurt you. We just want to be your friends.” Opie would just look at us, then run away. He didn’t want anything to do with us. At some point, I remember wishing I could speak possumese, so I could communicate with Opie in a language he could understand.

Cute story, but I bet you’re wondering how I’m going to impart some great spiritual truth with a possum, am I right? Well, here goes.

For centuries after Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, humans had a communication problem with God. God spoke through people like Moses and the prophets, but with little result. Really, all God wanted to say to us was that God loves us and wants to fix our sin problem. Finally, God came to us in human form. If we can’t understand a God we cannot see, maybe we can understand a God who communicates himself to us in flesh and blood.

"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us..."

Jesus of Nazareth is the way in which God has chosen to communicate to us in our own language – in human form. As the apostle John said, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the only-begotten, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). And the writer of the New Testament letter to the Hebrews puts it this way: “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various way, but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son…” (Hebrews 1:1-2).

You see, through Jesus Christ, God did for us that which Carol and I were unable to do for Opie – God became one of us, in order to communicate his love and grace and salvation to us. Through Jesus, God has spoken to us in a language that we can understand. Through Jesus, God has declared his eternal love in human form.

Jesus – the Word Made Flesh, the Incarnate Word, Emmanuel, God-With-Us – Jesus is God’s love message for you and me.

Don’t run away from God. God loves you. That’s exactly what he says through his Son, Jesus. He’s dying for you to hear that he loves you.

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Postscript on Opie: We were worried that Opie would have a hard time when we moved, so we asked some friends to trap him and take him out into the country, where he could live in a more proper habitat. Mission accomplished! 

He's sooo cute! Photo credit: Carol Wilkins