We do a lot of preparation for Christmas -- decorating, buying, wrapping, cleaning, cooking.
The Heavenly Father, pleased to send His Son into the world to redeem sinful men, prepared every prophetic event of this glorious Gift thousands of years in advance. He executed His plan with intricate detail.
He prepared a pagan king to send all Jews back to their ancestors home town to be taxed, thus fulfilling Scripture that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. The timing coincided with Jesus birth.
He prepared a virgin to bear the Christ Child.
Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
He prepared Joseph to accept Mary's pregnancy. He prepared a crowded hotel with an available stable.
The world didn't notice the birth of Christ that night, but the heavenly creatures stood at divine attention, and the angels prepared an announcement to the shepherds.
Speaking at the ladies' Christmas party at church, I shared some of my most memorable Christmases. Recalling the following one always stirs my emotions.
Two weeks before the Christmas of 1996 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The pathology words "aggressive" and "metastatic" (bad cells rushing to attack organs) played in my head again and again as I practiced with the choir for the Christmas cantata.
During the program one of the songs overwhelmed me, and I couldn't sing it.
He was seeking for me
Jesus was seeking for me
Though I knew Him not
Yet He loved me
And was seeking for me . . .
Knowing the hideous crucifixion awaiting Him, why did the Jewel of Heaven leave his Glory and come seeking for me? As I worshipped and praised God, blessings showered all over me, and I forgot about the cancer. God knew how I needed that.
Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul and for delivering me from cancer.
Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
On the first Christmas, earth was not aware of what was transpiring in heaven. As an innumerable company of Angels was waiting to worship the newborn King, a farewell was going on between God the Father and God the Son. Christ fulfilled the mission thirty-three years later on a cruel cross.
Though the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah, the sacrificial Lamb was the centerpiece of God's plan of redemption.
1 John 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the son to be the Saviour of the world.
Mission Accomplished!
But He rose on Easter -- Hallelujah
And He died to save us -- Hallellujah
And He lives forever -- Amen! Amen!
Wouldn't it be great if we could capture the spirit of Christmas every day of the year? The heart of the Christmas celebration is Christ. You may have a tree, open gifts, and eat a great dinner; but unless Christ sits on the throne of your heart you don't have Christmas.
The One born in Bethlehem lives in the hearts of believers, and He wants to live in your heart also.
Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
How do you come to Jesus?
Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth The Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
If you want to know what God the Father is like, examine the life of Jesus as recorded in the scripture.
When we see Christ associating with known sinners, we know He is a loving God. Seeing Him praying for those who crucified Him, we know He is a forgiving God.
When we read the words spoken by Jesus, we see a God of all truth. Seeing the Holy life our Lord lived shows He is a Holy God.
When we see Jesus turning the water to wine, walkiing on the water, calming the storm, restoring sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, causing the lame to walk, the mute to speak, and raising the dead, we know He is an omnipotent God.
The life of Jesus is a clear reflection of the character and nature of God The Father.
John 14:9 . . . He that hath seen me hath seen the Father . . .
This is why we celebrate Jesus coming in the flesh.
Buying Christmas presents isn't always easy. Old people are hard to buy for. They have everything. Rummaging through the toy department becomes a scavenger hunt for age ranges listed on boxes.
Americans have more material possessions than any nation on earth, yet there is no peace in most hearts. They worry and stress out by pressure and deadlines. People need peace more than anything else -- peace in our world, our nation, our families, and in our hearts.
If only I could put peace in a box and wrap it up, but money can't buy peace. It's a gift that only God can give. It's a person, not a thing. You receive peace as a gift from God when you receive the person of The Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The prince of Peace.
Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
Think about it. A virgin. A young girl who had never known a man, carrying a child in her womb. That's a physical impossibility. Can you hear the tongues wagging?
God chose the most unusual sign to mark His divine Son's entrance into the world. Because Jesus had no human father, he had no sin nature.
The miraculous conception of Jesus Christ remains impossible to understand by human reason alone, and God chose not to explain more than He has. Try to understand it and you may lose your mind. Insist on denying it and you will lose your soul.
Human reason can't explain why Jesus didn't call the legion of angles waiting in the shadows to rescue Him from the cross. Human reason can't explain the empty tomb. Human reason can't explain why He died for my sins. But love, grace, and mercy defy human reason. Thank you Lord, for saving my soul.
