He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Colossians 1:15
I want you to try to imagine what the world would be like without the birth of Jesus Christ. It’s beyond our imagination, but just try to picture it. We certainly wouldn’t know God as we know Him. In fact, we’d be fortunate to have even heard about the God revealed in the Old Testament.
So what changed on that first Christmas so long ago? Well, when Jesus Christ came, the Bible says He was Immanuel… “God with us.” God was no longer a distant deity. He was no longer an unfathomable, unapproachable image. But God became flesh and blood; God was with us! That’s why Jesus would later say, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
When Jesus was born into the world, He was God! He wasn’t a man acting like God; not even God acting like a man; but God who was fully man and a man who was fully God! When Christ was seeing, that was God seeing. And when Christ was walking, that was God walking!
If Jesus hadn’t come, and if He weren’t God, we’d never have the knowledge of God we have today. So thank God today for sending Jesus to Bethlehem all those years ago so that you might have a clear picture of a God who loves you unconditionally!
THANK GOD FOR REVEALING HIMSELF TO YOU THROUGH JESUS SO THAT YOU COULD BE SAVED BY KNOWING HIM!
“And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,” Luke 2:25–27
If you have small children or grandchildren—or if you have ever spent any time around young people—you know that patience and Christmas don’t necessarily go hand in hand. There is a constant looking at the calendar, counting down the days, and occasional expressions of wishing “Christmas would just hurry up and get here already!” (That’s true for some of us adults as well.) Most of us find it difficult to be patient. We want things to happen on our schedule, but God wants us to trust Him with the timing as well as with the results.
We are not told in Scripture how much time passed between the message given to Simeon that he would live to see the Messiah and the birth of Jesus, but it appears to have been a considerable length of time. When Simeon met Mary and Joseph at the Temple, where they had gone to dedicate Jesus as the law commanded, his prayer of thanks and praise included an expression that his life was complete. He had dedicated himself to living in obedience to God and waiting patiently for what had been promised to Him.
God does not move on our timetable. Peter wrote, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8). But God does always keeps His promises.
Today’s Growth Principle:
We can and should have full faith in God, even when we do not see Him working right away.
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).” --Matthew 1:23
Right now, millions of people around the world are preparing for Christmas. Some are planning for parties and family gatherings. Others are frantically shopping for the final items on their Christmas list.
You may even have a few last-minute preparations to make, too.
So many people are consumed with the usual Christmas activities. But do they really know what is Christmas really all about? Is it a myth? Is it about merriment? Is it about money and merchandizing?
The answer is that Christmas is a miracle. An amazing, life-changing miracle that happened long ago—and that continues to happen in the lives of those who know Christ.
The first miracle of Christmas is that Immanuel came. And according to our verse today, Immanuel means “God with us.”
The very presence of God in Jesus Christ came to earth. It’s unbelievable! Impossible! Unthinkable! Heaven’s royalty walked down our streets. He became flesh and dwelt among us.
And the Prince of eternity still knocks on your door today. That’s the glorious truth of Christmas.
Wrap your mind around the truth that God himself stepped out of eternity into time… for you.
“And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2:16–19
In the book A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens told the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miser who cared for money instead of people. Over the course of the story as Scrooge is forced to look back over his life, and consider the future, he undergoes a major shift. Scrooge commits himself to a new course of action. He declares: “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!”
The true message of Christmas is not meant just for a few days in December, but for all of our lives. The world around us urgently needs the Good News that Jesus’ coming to earth offers. We live in a society that is becoming increasingly hostile to the truth. Christmas frequently becomes a battleground as lawsuits, protests, and boycotts are used by some to try to force their vision and preferences on everyone.
But keeping Christmas does not require that others agree—it simply requires that our own hearts are where they should be. Mary lived in a nation ruled by a foreign occupying force, under a brutal king who would soon order the murder of all the boy babies in Bethlehem in an attempt to kill her son. She gave birth to her baby among the animals because there was no one willing to take her in. Yet circumstances could not take away what she kept in her heart.
Today’s Growth Principle:
When the true meaning of Christmas is in our hearts, it changes everything about the way we live.
“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9–11
When the angel appeared to the shepherds that first Christmas night, he brought “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10). But while the Good News is for mankind, we are not the primary focus of Christmas—God is. The great host of angels came to sing the praises and glory of the God who had planned our salvation and was providing the means whereby we might escape the penalty of sin and spend eternity with Him in Heaven.
The message of salvation is to be given to all, and all who receive it in faith reap the amazing benefits that come from accepting the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Yet we must never forget that salvation is all of God. We do not earn it, deserve it, or somehow find ways to contribute to the process. All of us were sinners, hopelessly lost and apart from God when in love He reached out to us and offered us salvation. In the great hymn “Rock of Ages” Augustus Toplady expressed this truth:
Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling; Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless, look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Saviour, or I die.
There are no good works we can do to merit salvation. We simply acknowledge our sinfulness, believe in Christ’s sacrifice, and receive His gift. Because salvation is completely God’s work—not our good works—He alone receives honor and glory when the gospel is presented and the lost are saved. Jesus said, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:8).
Today’s Growth Principle:
The best way to glorify God at Christmastime—or anytime of the year—is to proclaim the message of salvation.
“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” 1 John 4:9–11
A pastor once told me the story of a couple who separated after having tremendous marital difficulties. The wife moved out, and at first the husband didn’t even attempt to locate her. However, the pastor and his church family were able to lead the man to Christ and he began to realize that he had not been a good husband. Finally, after a prolonged search, he found his wife two counties over.
He wrote her letters for several months, but she did not respond. As Christmastime approached, he decided to go to the motel where she had been living and ask her to come home. To his delight she agreed to go with him, and they began to work on repairing their relationship. He later asked her why she agreed to go with him. She said, “Before, you just sent letters. This time you came personally.”
If God had not taken the initiative to bring about our salvation, no one would be saved. Paul wrote, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:10-11). But God’s love was so great that He sent His Son to be the sinless sacrifice to purchase our redemption. This is the foundation of our salvation. Jesus left Heaven and came to find the lost so that we could have a restored relationship with Him.
Today’s Growth Principle:
God did not wait for mankind to come to Him—instead He sent His Son to seek and to save us.
Let God Lead You to Life
by Joyce Meyer - posted December 18, 2016
I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses; therefore choose life. —Deuteronomy 30:19
In John 16:8, Jesus said the Holy Spirit would "convict and convince" the world about sin and righteousness. He didn't say anything about the Holy Spirit bringing condemnation. He said He brings "demonstration . . . about sin and about righteousness." The Holy Spirit reveals the results of sin and the results of righteousness so people may understand which path to follow. He makes clear distinction between right and wrong, between blessings and curses, between life and death so people can ask God to help them choose life.
People who live in sin have wretched, miserable lives. I occasionally run into people I knew years ago and haven't seen in quite some time. Some of these people have not been living for God and the rough, rugged lifestyles they have chosen have taken a toll on them. The sour, sad, miserable choices they have made are visible because sin has left them looking sad and often older than they are. They are unhappy, negative, and discontent individuals often filled with bitterness because their life has not been a good one. They fail to realize that their life is the direct result of bad choices they made.
The result of sin may be observed everywhere. The line between those who love and serve God and those who don't is becoming quite clear. God pleads with us to make right choices, ones that will lead us into the life He desires for us to enjoy. There are two paths before each of us; a broad path that leads to sin and destruction and a narrow path that leads to life (see Matthew 7:13-14). I encourage you to choose life today and every day.
