Merry Christmas to everyone! Let's prepare our hearts to receive Christ during Christmas
The true meaning of Christmas is about possibility in the midst of the impossible. It is not the kind of possibility that comes from a confidence in our own skill, knowledge, ability, or a positive mental attitude. It is possibility that comes solely from the fact that God is God, and that he is the kind of God who comes into our own human existence to reveal himself and call us to himself. It is a possibility that is so surprising at its birth that we are caught unaware, and so are left with wonder at the simplicity of its expression in this infant child. It is a possibility that is easily symbolized by a helpless infant that has nothing of its own by which to survive; yet an infant that, because he is Immanuel, God with us, will forever change the world and all humanity. It is this same God who has promised to be with us, with his people, with the church and with us individually, as we live as his people in the world.
It is not just hope, as if it were wishful thinking that things will get better when they cannot. It is hope incarnated into flesh, a hope that can be held in a mother’s arms, a hope that expresses a reality that will live beyond endings and death itself. It is the hope, the possibility, that springs from impossible and insignificant beginnings, infused with the power of God through the Holy Spirit, that will blossom into a light to the nations.
It is this possibility, this God, that we celebrate at Christmas. And we do so with a confidence born, not of our own desire for it to be so, but from the birth of a child over 2,000 years ago, a child who was the Son of God!
The meaning of Christmas seems to be forever in danger of being obscured by all the commotion and promotion of the season. Perhaps we continue to ask the question for fear that the answer will be lost, or already is lost, in the shuffle.
Hopefully, someone's heart will have been opened up to the love of Christ for them. Only time will tell.
Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5
A joyful heart is good medicine, but depression drains one's strength. Proverbs 17:22
if you pay close attention to wisdom, and let your mind reach for understanding,
Proverbs 2:2
For he will not often consider the years of his life, because (AC)God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart. Ecclesiastes 5:20
Then fill me with joy by having the same attitude and the same love, living in harmony, and keeping one purpose in mind. Philippians 2:2
And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said to them, Why reason you these things in your hearts? Mark 2:8
All the ends of the earth will remember and return to the LORD. All the families from all the nations will worship you. Psalm 22:27
John 1:14, "And the word was made (became) flesh, and dwelt among us."
Which Word was it that became flesh? It was the same Word that already was in the beginning. We read in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word! ----- This phrase is rich with truth! It means that if we were to roll back the curtain of time we would find the Word. He was already there before the beginning. When was the beginning? We don’t know, but if ever we got back there we would discover that the Word was already in attendance. And this same Word became flesh; this Word became one of us, not to damn us, but to rescue us. Is this not a good reason for thankfulness this Christmas? Is this not cause for praise and adoration? God and man in one glorious person! God in flesh appearing, mighty to save! What rich and heart-warming truths to meditate upon.
Look at the manger and behold your God! It is staggering! Here is incontestable proof that God is not angry with His people; God is not frowning at us; God is not against us. He’s for us. He loves us passionately! Look and listen, there are no threats being issued from the manger. God has become one of us! Through Christ, His favor is resting upon us! Well may we sing “O come let us adore Him!”
God became a human, a real human, yet a sinless and perfect one and as a man He was, "holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners" (Hebrews 7:26). And this is the way it had to be because only a sinless sacrifice could rescue sinners like us from the wrath which is to come.
And so it is that here in the manger we see the arrival of our representative, made human so that He could become our substitute. This Child of Bethlehem is the unfolding of the eternal purposes of God. In this child, God’s passion for us is fully displayed.
When we consider that this little one would go on to pour out His blood for our sins and would redeem and reconcile us unto God then perhaps, as we meditate on Him, our song will not only be “Joy to the World” but also “Hallelujah, what a Savior!”
And that’s the Gospel Truth!
Have a good day!
