The Beginning of the Season
As we head into the Christmas season, I like to take time to remember a few things that the “commercial Christmas” just doesn’t get…
The Christmas story is amazing. Not that God sent His Son (that does amaze me) – but that the second Person of the Trinity – Almighty God! came to earth in a “great descentâ€
The timing and circumstances of the greatest event in history are amazing also.
The world that Jesus was born into was under the thumb of the Roman Empire. There had been great turmoil for centuries, but only a few decades before the birth of Jesus, the Empire entered a time of relative peace, “pax Romanaâ€. Roads were built and travel was, for the most part, safe – travel was safer than it had been in recent times.
Jesus came to earth knowing that He would die a shameful death, but the life that Jesus was born into was as shameful as the death that He died. The “birthing room†was more of a cave and the “manger†was probably more like a hole in the ground.
Why is this important? Because Christ started His human life in the same way that we do. The Son became human and in His humanity became our complete connection to God. Christ is our only mediator; we need no other. He is the bridge that spans the gulf between us and God.
Through Christ, there is a radical redemption. Redemption, like in a pawnshop; we were trapped in sin and Christ came to redeem that which was His.
And, through Christ, we are like Mary. Like Mary (a peasant girl) it makes no difference to God what our background is.
Like Mary, when the Holy Spirit does His work in our lives, the seed is in us. We, like Mary, become a miraculous vessel of the message of salvation.
The story of the babe is followed by the story of salvation. And we, the body of Christ, are a part of it.
Let us remember, this Christmas season, that we carry the seed. The seed (the story of salvation) that we plant will be watered by another.
The story of the babe in the manger is the perfect time to plant that seed.
Yes, Christmas is my favorite season of the year. I pray that God will help me to plant the seeds this year and that He will make it grow.
This is lovely Ellen. How true and wonderful that God chose the perfect timing yet still humbled himself. We are so blessed to have this truth and this is the perfect time to share all that He has given us, both physically and spiritually.
Ellen,
The Son became human and in His humanity became our complete connection to God.
Wondrous isn’t it! What a wonderful way to approach Christmas. Blessings to you.