Day: December 21, 2021

In the book of Luke, Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel. He informs Mary that she is going to give birth to a son, though she is a virgin.vShe is told to name Him Jesus and that He would be the Son of the Most High and would receive the throne of David and that His Kingdom would never end. Mary is told of Elizabeth, her relative, and that she also is pregnant with a son in her old age. The point of Elizabeth’s pregnancy was a sign to Mary that all things are possible with God. Mary’s response to all of this? “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.”

I love this perspective but you must understand what she was saying “yes” to. They were going to gossip, accuse her, there could have been a threat on her life for being pregnant out of wedlock. It’s why Joseph tried to put her away quietly, in order to protect her. In the end, this would not be a normal marriage or a normal life. She was going to have not just a son, but THE Son. Mary visits Elizabeth and Elizabeth declares that her baby leaped in her womb when Mary approached carrying Jesus in her womb. Mary realizes the reality of her situation and she breaks the workings of her mind with praise.

Luke 1:46–55

⁴⁶ And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

⁴⁸ for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

⁴⁹ for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

⁵⁰ And his mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

⁵¹ He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

⁵² he has brought down the mighty from their thrones

and exalted those of humble estate;

⁵³ he has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

⁵⁵ as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Here is what I love about all of this: Her praise speaks to every topic you’ve heard today:

To loneliness, Mary is given God’s Son

To hopelessness, God is redeeming His people

To injustice, a captive Israel was receiving a King

To sin, God remembered His people in mercy

 

Jesus offers life for every person who would follow Him.

John 10:10

(ESV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

God sends His Son to save the world, save Israel and to save you and me. God didn’t stop at the nation or the planet. Through what most scholars believe was roughly a 16-year-old girl named Mary, God makes His salvation personal. He looks not just at the world, not just at the nation of Israel, He looks at you.  He looks at me. Time is about to change. BC is about to become AD, hopelessness will turn to hope, punishment for sins will be met with mercy, loneliness is met with God’s presence and injustice is met by a just King. All of this, in a moment at Christmas, where labor pains turn to birth, a baby is born and with each breath He takes, life is breathed into the world, and his breath becomes word and His words become life. Hope spreads from a manger to all of us. A new clock begins to click and almost without notice, the world has changed.

Have you read in Scripture that the return of Jesus is much like this scene at Christmas? He talks about labor pains before He returns. The reason they call it labor pains is because… pain… But these pains lead to something wonderful, and they will give birth to a new reality, a new Kingdom and all will submit to this new King. This time, it will not go unnoticed. Heaven and earth are made new, labor will give birth to His Kingdom come.

It all began here, at Christmas, over 2000 years ago. Let us celebrate what God has done as we remember what Christmas is about: Jesus comes to earth for the glory of God, in order that we may have life.

Merry Christmas!

Luke 2:8-14

⁸ And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

2 Corinthians 5:21 CSB

“He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

 

From the opening syllables of Genesis to the closing chapters of Revelation, we are introduced and confronted with a most problematic reality: The problem of sin. We first hear of it in the garden when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. Where there was once paradise and perfection, such was then cast into dark horror and chaos. When we stop and behold the Christmas story, we have an opportunity to behold our God and exactly how other-worldly wonderful and merciful He is. In that vein, in order to have a proper view of the ancient assassin we know as sin, we must have a proper view of God.

 

How magnificent a God we worship, who in His holiness cannot tolerate sin, but looked upon our bleak situation after the fall and essentially said, “I will have mercy on them.” Further, the Christmas story shows us that we could not and cannot save ourselves, and that we needed a perfect Savior to save us from certain eternal death, from the just wrath of a most Holy God. You see, mankind is no stranger to sadness, depravity, desperation and hopelessness, which is the exact situation God came into as the holy infant, our Lord Jesus. When the divine infant was born, salvation, hope and joy pierced the dark fog of estrangement between God and His people. The sinless savior had come, and therefore making a way for us to not die in our sins. The baby in the manger was the fulfillment of the long-standing promise of God that He would deliver His people from their spiritual bondage and captivity. The first cries of that baby were the opening notes to sin and death’s demise. For sin, the ancient contagion, is no match for Jesus, our ultimate sovereign.

 

Further, our spiritual condition was darker than the deepest depths of the sea, blacker than the furthest reaches of space, so much so that only that which was most pure could satisfy the cosmic debt you and I owed. The Christmas story shows us that we are beneficiaries of a most divine and perplexing exchange between God and humans. He took on our sin upon Himself and we received His righteousness as our own. Where we were once dead in our trespasses, He makes us alive. In exchange, He died the death we should have. Where we were once criminals, having dishonored God, He made a way for us to be His children. He freed us from being slaves to sin and to now be slaves to righteousness.

Sin is the disease and Christ is the cure.

If any of us today find ourselves overwhelmed by sin or have willingly participated in it and know that there is distance between themselves and God, I beg you to not go another day longer in the bondage of the enemy for it will destroy you because Satan is the destroyer. May you allow yourself to fall into the arms of your Redeemer Christ who is also The Supreme Victor over sin and death.

May we all keep our eyes fixed on Him and in all seasons.

Matthew 2:1-12

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem, ² saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose^[b] and have come to worship him.” ³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴ and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵ They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

⁶ “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷ Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” ⁹ After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹ And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

 

I consider myself to be a glass half full kind of person. But when given the “injustice” of the Christmas story… the more I researched, the more I realized we are looking from a glass half empty view for this discussion, if not a glass completely empty view.

Jesus often found himself in unfair situations from the very beginning. He faced many challenges and obstacles that no adults must face. These challenges start with Mary & Joseph. They were faced with Poverty and Hardship. Joseph was stripped of his job. Mary most likely dealt with gossip and rumors being unmarried and pregnant. They had to walk 70 miles to Bethlehem to be counted in the census. They were greeted upon their arrival with no room to be found in a foreign land with just what they had carried with them. They were forced to seek shelter in a stable surrounded by animals.

Jesus was born to face a life full of challenges. He would face hatred towards him, questioning his every move, his every word. He would experience denial of who He was and ultimately betrayal by one closest to Him.

Faith in God’s plan led Mary and Joseph to positive things, their faith rested solely on the first coming of Jesus. They were reassured by God that “everything” would be ok. The new parents still rejoiced even though their situation wasn’t fit for a king. This unfair journey leads to phenomenal things you and I know.

Luke 6:20

Blessed are the poor, for they will inherit the kingdom of Heaven.

 

Jesus Christ, in the flesh, as a defenseless infant had an army of angels who appeared on His behalf. Not to fight with violence but with courage and kindness. Jesus brings promise with him. Jesus brings Hope. Jesus brings Joy.

We live in an unjust world. We all experience injustice at some point. This Christmas season we must remember that Jesus faced the toughest situations. The worst injustice that could happen to someone, happened to Jesus, and He volunteered for it. He volunteered himself to take on the sins of the world so that you and I can receive the gift of eternal life through the cross. I, myself, think that it is unfair for my lord and savior to do that for me. I’m excited because I no longer must be incomplete, but I am allowed to become complete in Christ. In fact, we all become complete when we trust Christ because the most beautiful thing is the hope and joy that came with Jesus.

That’s what we truly needed. Not “materialistic things.” Our hope rests solely on His second coming.

How can so many unfair and dark situations be accompanied by the brightest star in the sky, by the brightest light of our life, and by paving the way for our Savior? That is what Christmas is all about. All of us can know that we received Hope when Jesus was born, but it’s also important to remember the injustice that Jesus had to endure from the very beginning.

Jesus is our Hope today. Jesus is our Joy today. Jesus is our light today and tomorrow.

Oh, come let us adore him, for He is Christ the Lord.