Merry Christmas! What a joyous day we have the privilege we have in celebrating the birth of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ! In reflecting on this glorious day and what the arrival of this baby means I had a few thoughts....
1) God Himself came to earth!! Friends we are celebrating that our Maker & ruler over the heavens & the earth came to earth! He came to inhabit with his people! He came to lay his life down for us, those who are called according to his purpose. As I read in a devotional this week from a friend of ours, "God would be the great initiator of the invasion of heaven to earth. God had chosen to invade the earth in the most unlikely yet completely common way, through a baby. It is true that this “conception” was miraculous, but this Invader was brought into the world like every other human!! This is the brilliance of the plan of God. The sign given to the earth would be “God’s Sign”. The Son given to the earth would “God’s Son”. The messenger angel sent to announce the birth would be “God’s Messenger”. The timing of the whole invasion would be “God’s Timing”. Why did God choose to invade the earth as He did, when He did and with whom He did? God alone can give answers to these questions. He is the first and supreme witness to the birth of Jesus Christ. He is the only One that has
seen this invasion from its inception. He is the Master-Mind behind this great and awesome plan."
So as I see so many say "happy birthday Jesus" it bothers me that they are minimizing what this birth of a king really means! In thinking of the perspective that God INVADED the earth--how can we even compare this to our human birthdays?? He came born a man but yet he was God--the Creator & King of the universe!! He is so much more significant and bigger than saying "happy birthday Jesus" (which in all honestly makes me cringe).
2) I'm reminded of the depths of my sin & sin in my heart! Whether in the hustle & bustle of the "doing" & loosing sight of what we are celebrating. Or comments or words we may say to those closest to us out of thoughtlessness. Throughout this time I'm seeing more of how wretchedly sinful I am.....and how ever more grateful I am that our great God sent His son to earth, so He could live & die for me. So He would be the one who could cover all of these multitude of sins I'm faced with each and every day! He paid my penalty, and because I believe in Him (who knew no sin) I'm covered in His robe of perfect righteousness! Praise be to God!
3) He continues to amaze me and bless me beyond all measure! Because of this sin, because of what I really deserve, God is so faithful and abundantly gracious to me! He sanctifies me, He carves and molds away at me His creation. I certainly don't deserve such mercy---but because He sent this baby/His Son/King/Savior/Redeemer.......I continue to partake in these unmerited blessings. It's then I can have the perspective to look to what is eternal, to hope in what is to come......God our Creator and Redeemer coming to make all things new! Again here is another piece I read from the advent devotional that same friend sent us this week...."The Incarnation is a dramatic reminder that God is creating a new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1) The Son of God taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) Paul said, “the creation itself is longing for the sons of God to be revealed.” (Romans 8:19)
As we move through this life, we may be confident of this very thing: there is not one place on the planet that will not sing the eternal praises of the Son of God!"
I hope you all had a joyous Christmas.....celebrating the birth or the Savior and because of that the hope we have of what is to come!!!
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