On Christmas

"...and the Word became flesh and lived among us..." - John 1:14a

This is what has filled my thoughts this season as I reflect on the birth of Christ.

Our youth pastor put it in great perspective last night: The birth of Christ is more than just a sweet story of a mother having a child. This birth fulfilled the prophesies of the old testament. This was the answer to 400 years of silence from God. This child would radically change everything.

This year, I wanted to really understand Christmas. I wanted to look past the glittery balls (which, if you know my knack for shiny things was really difficult), past the tasty, tasty holiday treats, past the gifts and the visits from family and the week long vacation from work.

I wanted to quit hearing the "keep the CHRIST in CHRISTmas" crap (because, really... when did saying that bring people to salvation?). I wanted to quite hearing how A.F.A. was suggesting that people only shop at stores that use, "Merry Christmas". I was sick of Christians acting like they were making this holiday about Jesus when they were really just being annoying, religious, and stupid. I wanted the truth to resonate:

Emmanuel- God with us.

This is where we remember that God came down to earth to reconcile us to him. He would experience life as a man void of sin, and after 33 years of being called a crazy by most and being followed by drones of people who thought he was a freak show, would hang on a cross and take the punishment that should be ours so that we can know community with God.

David Platt in his book, Radical, tells the following story:

"...I was engaged in a conversation with a Buddhist leader and a Muslim leader in [the] community. They were discussing how all religions are fundamentally the same and only superficially different... I listened for awhile, and then they asked me what I though. I said, 'It sounds as though you both picture God (or whatever you call god) on top of a mountain. It seems as if you believe we are all at the bottom of the mountain and I may take one route, you another, and in the end we all end up in the same place.' They smiled as I spoke and replied, 'Exactly!' Then I leaned in and said, 'Now, let me ask you a question. What would you think if I told you that the God at the top of the mountain actually came down to where we are? What would you think if I told you that God doesn't wait for people to find their way to him, but instead he comes to us?' They thought and replied, 'That would be great.' I said, 'Let me introduce to you Jesus.'"

I want to recognize our hope for salvation has been born. This is the gospel. The birth we celebrate is the coming of our King, the one who would conquer sin and death. He would free us from the laws that we could never uphold. He would tear the curtain in two.

And when I remember that, when I let that sink in and settle... nothing else matters. Suddenly, I don't care about "doing" Santa because I don't need a happy man in a red suit to make this holiday "magical" and "exciting". Christ's coming is more than I can celebrate. It becomes more than enough.

I want to see my family and not only enjoy their company, but I want to love them in a way that says, "I love you because Christ loves me." One of my favorite worship songs at church says this: "and this is love, amazing love. not that we loved you but that you loved us." It never fails to bring me to tears.

This is love.

"For God so loved the world that He gave his only son..." -John 3:16

My hope is that I would come to understand these truths.

 ¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. -Colossians 1: 15-20