December 21st, 2022
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“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.” What a promise from the prophet Isaiah, that God was going to send His son, who would be Emmanuel, which means God with us. Micah said of Him, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall One come forth to Me the Ruler in Israel, whose going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity.” Job, while crying out to God said, “There is no mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.” What Job was crying out for was the incarnation that we celebrate during Christmas. God becoming a man meant that God was making it possible that humanity and divinity would be brought together in His Son Jesus. In doing this, God bridged the gap between fallen man and a holy God. The greatest gift ever given to humanity was lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes. God was invading earth in the form of a little baby. His mission was to seek and to save the lost. We can never forget that this child, grew up as a sinless man revealing the will of the Father, was crucified on the cross shedding his blood for our sins, was buried and raised from the dead on the third day by the glory of God. This is the good news of the gospel. No wonder the angels proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward all men.”
One writer said, “Is it any wonder that if the Son of God may become a Son of Man, that the sons of men may become sons of God?” This is the great exchange. Jesus became what we were that we might become what Je is. He became sin that we might become righteous, He became a curse that we might be blessed. He left heaven and came to earth, that we might leave earth and go to heaven. He took on human nature, that we might take on the divine nature. God‘s great love is expressed in his willingness to leave the glory of Heaven and be born in a manger in Bethlehem. He was not born in the great palaces that this world had to offer, but it was in a lowly manger. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake’s he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.” In Christ, we are now rich in mercy, rich in grace, rich in forgiveness, rich in purpose, rich in forgiveness, rich in acceptance, and rich in love. Major Ian Thomas said, “The life that Jesus lived qualified him for the death that he died. The death that he died qualified us for the life that He lived.” For believers, we celebrate this wonderful truth year round. May you have a very blessed and Christ filled Christmas.
