Dear family in Christ,
God loves to do the impossible, and He made it abundantly clear in the many Bible verses that will be read around the world this season. The Christmas story is good news because it reminds us how God did the unthinkable to show His love for the undeserving.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14
What was unheard of, is unnatural — and impossible to the point of being absurd — became a sign to humanity that God was at work. Undefiled by the tainted blood of fallen man, the Holy Spirit did a work in Mary, a young virgin, and Jesus was conceived:
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. Luke 1:31,32
This wasn’t the only unthinkable: Jesus, God Himself, became a man like us, to live like us in this sinful world, to endure the same temptations that we face, and be disrespected like the worst of us. He gave up His divine reputation and took on the form of a servant:
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45
Jesus was born to die. That was the purpose of His life on earth. The Son of God — and God Himself — died. The very thought is hard to process for the human mind, and even more so because He died the death of a criminal. But the sin that had Him nailed to the cross wasn’t His, but ours.
And they made His grave with the wicked—But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Isaiah 53:9
Jesus died with the most dreadful, the most repulsive sins of the world laid upon Him so that the lowest of the lowest among us can be redeemed. No sinner is out of reach for the grace of God! Will we ever understand the love of God, Who sacrificed His own Son to redeem the unworthy, the unlovely, and the undeserving sinner?
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8
We can only understand this glorious truth by faith, for it makes no sense, no matter how you look at it. It is because of this love that we have the secure promise of eternal life with Him — and are able escape the wrath that is to fall upon the world.
…how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. 1 Thessalonians 1:9,10
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13,14
Are you facing some impossibilities? The God who specializes in the unlikely and unattainable, did the impossible to make you His child. The birth of Jesus, His coming down from heaven to live like us, and His death on the cross tell you how much God cares about you. He had no guarantee that you would accept His offer of grace, or respond to His love, yet He did it anyway. God is love!
Will you again dedicate your life to Him, and thank Him for the price He paid for your salvation? If you haven’t done so yet, this Christmas is a good time to do so. You may not have another opportunity. Jesus is ready to give you the greatest gift: eternal life!
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8,9
Merry Christmas everyone!
