Matthew 1:20-23 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Continuing Dr. Willie Nolte’s message from the last post, he states that with all these ways that we can miss what Christmas is all about, there must be something that we can do. What is the solution to the problem? The first thing is that we need to see Jesus. Keep Christ in Christmas. Be intentional and pay attention because something is going on and you want to see it. Ask: What is there here in the Christmas story that you maybe have not seen and understood fully in your life? What child is this? That is a whole different attitude towards getting the message. If you are looking and expecting, the message of Christmas is there. Intentionally build time into your schedule to stay focused in hope, peace and love to center in on the meaning of God breaking into time and space (God with us) to have a relationship with us and save humanity. This simultaneously comforts us and rocks our world.
John 8:31-32 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
The second part of the solution is to take Jesus at His word and the Bible as truth. Hear the Word for what it says. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; I am living water; I am the bread of life; I am the way, the truth and the life and I have come to seek and save that which was lost.” If you think about and unpack what is light? What is water? What is bread? What is direction, truth and true life, but the things that we need to find our way ultimately. Jesus says, “I am that!” Christmas reminds us that Jesus came to make all that possible for us. Let’s take a step back and let the Holy Scriptures (the Word of God) speak for themselves and be honest that maybe we don’t know exhaustively everything about the Christmas story and its meaning. With fresh eyes, there is more to learn, more to know and more for God to show.
The third thing is to learn from Luke 2:8-14. Three terms stand out in that passage of Scripture: great joy, Savior and peace. The highlight of the Christmas story is about celebration, salvation and reconciliation. I challenge and encourage you to be very practical and realize that in order for us to truly see and embrace, live and experience what is so obviously there. What is we became the people. that in a new, fresh and refreshed way in this Christmas season, stepped forward and said that Christmas was about celebrating ‘good tidings of great joy which will be to all people”, because it is about salvation and “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” God did that! Jesus did not come so that we put trees in our houses and decorate them with ornaments, not to put colorful light on the eves of the roof outside, or to go to Christmas parties. Literally, Jesus came because humanity was and remains separated from God and our relationship with our Heaven Father broken by our sin. All of us fall short of God’s perfection and that separates us from a Just and Holy God. But God is not willing to leave humanity is a broken state, so God came in the person of Jesus Christ. Christmas is about salvation. God loves us and wants us to experience the full life that He intended for us to live and enjoy it.
It’s not about “once a year” good tiding, but us stopping separation and start reconciling to bring peace on earth and good will toward mankind. It is time. Unless we look for it, we cannot see all or experience all and we will miss it. Step forward because that is what this season is all about. Merry Christmas to all.
In Christ, Brian
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