Hello friend,
The message of Christmas is about the love of a sovereign God who saw a need and sacrificed His Son to meet the need. Mankind has needed a savior since the fall in the Garden of Eden as a way to return to God and restore the fellowship as initially planned. Over and over, the consequences of the fall could not be avoided by mere routines and rituals, leaving the question of who could mediate for the people before God, and how to access God; a burden too heavy and expensive to manage. As we go about celebrating today, here’s the gospel surrounding Christmas:
But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Galatians 4:4-5 (NIV).
In the midst of today’s celebration and this season, I hope we take some time to reflect on the eternal love of our Savior, chosen to be born of a woman like us, who lived among us, taking upon Himself the human and divine nature. His mission was to serve as the ultimate sacrifice, to suffer and die in our stead, that we can regain access to the one true God.
I hope we don’t treat today and this season as a checklist of what gifts to wrap, what recipes to cook, what well-composed text to send, and what prime selection of a family picture to post. Those are great to do with the best intentions, and I love the joys we share. Still, in the middle of our festivities, I hope we take some moment to reflect on what it means for the beloved Son to be born in such a lowly state, and how the Kingdom of God is established here on earth on the day the Lord was born!
“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men! Luke 2: 14 (KJV).
