While I was once again thanking Father God for His Son – it came to me that one reason Jesus came into this world as a baby being born, born of a virgin at that, is so that we all would have it not only recorded in history, but remembered each year and celebrated.
If Jesus was just a man then why would His birth be celebrated all over the world each year? Jesus was more than just a wise and moral man. He is not like any man that gets celebrated for what they did for people. Do we give gifts to each other on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday? Kids get the day off but I’m sure they aren’t celebrating at home for what this great American president did in ending slavery.
I’ve been talking to my Father God about His Son, asking when Jesus, after coming into our world, knew His mission for coming into the world. They all (the God-head) agreed in Heaven prior to Christ’s birth on earth, but I’m pretty sure that as a newborn baby or a curious toddler – Jesus wasn’t thinking about His death.
I wonder when Mary and Joseph started talking to Jesus about what God had told them about who Jesus is. When did Jesus first understand? Was it when He was almost 30 years old when He came to be baptized by His cousin John, and when the Holy Spirit (the dove) ascended on Him? None of us really understand our God-given purpose until the Lord anoints us with His Holy Spirit.
Did Jesus make the connection that He was the ‘fulfillment of the Scriptures;’ the Scriptures that Israel’s leaders read each Sabbath in the temple about “the Christ?” We know from reading the Gospels that Jesus once said to them that He was the fulfillment of what they had just read in Isaiah about the Savior of the world. We also know the reaction it got from the Pharisees and Sadducees because they “did not recognize the time of His coming.” These blind guides of God’s people (as Jesus called them), and Christ’s own brethren, called for His arrest and then felt relieved when Jesus died on the cross. For us it is a “bitter-sweet” taste because if Jesus wasn’t born, and He didn’t die as He did, then we would have no salvation and no hope for peace on earth – good will towards men. Doomed to eternal damnation!
I enjoy making a big deal over the birth of my children and grandchildren. To me their birthdays are very important to celebrate. And I also believe that Father God wants a BIG DEAL made over the birth of His Son each year; not with ‘material’ gifts but with our gifts of praise for what He’s done and still plans to do according to His promises. Giving Him our humble renewing of our vows to Him, because as sinful humans we tend to forget that Jesus is our “first love,” the most important person in our life. We give Him gifts every time we share HIS GIFT OF LIFE with others, and pray for people to believe.
Do you realize that there has never been anything or anyone written about – as much as Jesus Christ? Not one person has had as many books written about them as the Son of God has. Not any event that has ever happened on the earth has been written about as much as the life of Jesus Christ.
The one thing I simply love in how Jesus came into our sin-sick world as a helpless baby is that we get to remember Him each year for His ‘miraculous’ birth and how our Father God protected that whole process from when He seeded into Mary the physical life of His Son – all the way through to Christ’s resurrection back to His Father, after His death on the Cross.
Each year we get to celebrate Him. How many birthdays of any of our dead loved ones are celebrated each year? I don’t know anyone who celebrates the birth of a dead loved one. Most people ‘remember’ the death of their loved ones but they don’t ‘celebrate’ the day. But we do celebrate the death of our blessed Savior, and why? Because He opened the way through His physical life, His death and resurrection for those who honestly and fully believe in Him, to live with Him forever.
We all love remembering the birthdays of our loved ones, but how much more should we show our JOY and PRAISES over the birth of the Savior of the world? Imagine how it hurts our Father God to hear us make such a BIG deal over Santa Claus and to go into debt buying gifts for each other, without ever acknowledging His Son as He deserves.
I love what this Christmas card says and it’s ours from Mike and I – to you all:
JESUS – No longer a babe in a manger low
Not just a figure from history….
No longer the Nazarene carpenter
Nor just that teacher from Galilee….
For Christ is risen and reigns on high in glorious majesty!
So now His redeemed shall worship Him throughout eternity.
Celebrating our glorious coming KING of Kings
with you this Christmas season!