And as we have been celebrating this whole season of Advent, the one God sends as his Anointed one....is his son Jesus, the Word of God, co-creator of the universe, incarnated into flesh as a human newborn. This Christ single-handedly changes the whole situation between God and humankind. Jesus, as a human son, makes God known as Father. Not sadistic judge condemning the almost-perfect. Not indifferent engineer of the universe's inner workings. Not narcissistic tyrannical slave driver. Father, just as Jesus relates to him as son.
The Spirit testifies to Jesus' sonship through the miracles he performed. The water testifies to Jesus' sonship through the Father's affirmation at his baptism. The blood testifies to Jesus' sonship through the covenant established in it at the Last Supper. Jesus the Christ is the Son of God, by the testimony of three witnesses. And through Jesus Christ, we learn how to respond to God as a Father. We are given the power, and the example, to become children of God. Our Messiah rescues us from the darkness of God's rejection, and brings us into the light of God's family.
And the family of God will receive a special inheritance – the eternal life that Jesus has demonstrated. In rising from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion, Jesus is the foreshadowing of the plan for ALL of God's children, that they will be raised to eternal life. This is the good news that John heard, saw, looked at, and touched, and shared with us so that his joy, and ours, may be complete.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for sending your Son Jesus to be our Christ, our anointed Saviour. Help us to witness to his light and life, in Jesus' name, amen.