"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:8-14 (NKJ)
As "Christ"mas approaches it usually finds me refreshing my knowledge and understanding of what I believe that it is that we as "Christ"ians should be celebrating in our observation of the event of Christ's birth. I do this in part because it was so much more than the baby Son of God being born. It was the first act of a holy and self sacrificing rescue plan being played out. It's a rescue opportunity that has the power to save even the most pious of mankind, makes loving appeal to the most lowly among his number, and is offered equally to the most wealthy if they're willing to humbly accept the value that it offers over their worldly treasure.
I think that John 3:16 is probably the most familiar verse in the bible to most people. It reveals the depth of Father God's love for mankind, though marked by sin, by the offering of His only Son begotten of the Holy Spirit, as a sacrifice to redeem them. But if that verse is only known by itself, I believe that we miss much.
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:14-17
In the 21st chapter of the book of Numbers, the people of Israel became impatient with Moses and God and complained against them both. Now the people of Israel were already being punished for their having sinned against God by being forced to wander through the wilderness. Now they were daring to complain about their punishment and also ungratefully against God's provision for them at the time. Not surprisingly, God responded by sending a plague of deadly snakes among them. When they repented and confessed their sin to Moses, they then asked him to intercede for them with God on their behalf. So God instructed Moses to make a bronze snake and put it up on a pole so that anyone that was bitten could look to the snake and be saved from the venom. Jesus, knew that He came to be lifted up on a wooden pole similar to that snake in Moses' day inorder for those who would be willing to look to Him to be saved from the poison of mankind's sin and from God's righteous anger against them because of it. Putting this in proper context with preceding biblical prophecy regarding Christ's coming leaves us with the understanding that Jesus knew why He was being sent.
"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth." Isaiah 53:4-7 (NKJ)Jesus didn't come for worldly celebrity or some popularity campaign. It wasn't so that He could enjoy the pleasures to be found in His own creation. No, He came to be falsely accused, tortured, beaten, humiliated, and finally, brutally murdered in one of the most excruciating ways that mankind knew at the time in order to pay the penalty for the sin recorded against US. Jesus knew this ... but knowing, He still came. The love of the Christ to come against all that He knew that He would suffer, itself speaks volumes of a divine love that we did not deserve. By itself, just this willing expression was a pure and amazing gift - one that marked the entrance of God's Son onto the pathway of a plan of mankind's redemption made even before mankind was created .
"He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:10-14 (NKJ)
I know that I am beleaguering points that we as true followers and lovers of Christ already know, but I believe that if we're truly to experience the joy of the event and the gratitude that the grace of it should extract from us, it's incumbent on us to recall and hold in our hearts and minds, not only the birth of the God Child, but the horror of what He came willingly to free us from and the horror that He knowingly chose to accept and come in spite of, in order to give us the most precious expression of His own love for us and the love of The Father as well.
I seek to find within me in particular this Christmas, yet also at most times, the adoration beyond adoration for my Christ, the awe of the mystery of a love beyond anything that we ourselves can understand, the joy found in those condemned to death at the arrival of The Savior to set them forever free, the reverent respect for the God who reigns sovereignly and in perfect, righteous character - who owes us nothing but still has compassion for such far lessor beings as we, and the true gratitude due to Him for as long as His eternal gifts bless us and far beyond as well. If I am able to attain these things in great experience with our God in my Christmas observance, I believe that it will have been a blessing for both He and me as it well should!
What we as believers of God and followers of Christ proclaim to celebrate in Christmas stands in direct contrast to what worldly spirits promote ... and yet if we're not careful, I worry that we might become unintentionally complicit in their simple aims of common pleasure that don't necessarily include our God. We're surrounded by godlessness on all sides in the world along with all of the trappings and attitudes that go with it. I pray that OUR celebrations are focused and based on something far different than that of those caught up in the world. We're called to stand apart from the world even while we occupy it, so I pray in earnest that our observation is not Xmas, but very much "Christ"mas - so that our celebration is an experience held in intentional relationship experienced with our God, rather than just being the passing of another "holiday".
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