"If we could condense all the truths of Christmas into only three words, these would be the words: God with us. We tend to focus our attention at Christmas on the infancy of Christ. The greater truth of the holiday is His deity. More astonishing than a Baby in the manger is the truth that this promised Baby is the omnipotent Creator of the heavens and the earth!"
~ John F. MacArthur, Jr.
Several years ago, having spent most of my life up to that point very involved with my family in our local church, I began to wonder what we really were doing, after all. I mean, really . . . . . don't you ever ask yourself that question? What's all of this about, and what do we think we are doing with this "church" stuff and "Christian Life" business. Does it make any difference? Is it really as important as we make it seem? And yet, for all of the talk about "grace" and "forgiveness," and our ongoing discussions about living a life of commitment to the Lord - I wasn't convinced that we were that much "different" from everyone else. What is REALLY going on around here anyway, I wondered.
Every where I looked there was the pretense of perfection, that just didn't quite seem right since NONE of us are perfect. I seem to remember the words of the Apostle Paul saying someting like, "There is none righteous, no not one." Well, of course that is true, otherwise we wouldn't need a Savior if we could get that part right on our own! But in puzzling this one through in my little brain, I realized that we were all pretending because that is what was expected of us. Well . . . . no one would admit to THAT, because we could all quote Ephesians 2:8 - 9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - not of yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." But there was still this sneaking suspicion in the back of my brain that if someday I slipped up and made a mistake (you know one of those REALLY BIG mistakes, because some sins definitely are worse than others!), and if anyone ever discovered that I wasn't perfect after all, it would be all over. I would be abandoned by all the other perfectly pretending Christians.
Well, eventually I had the opportunity to take a few classes in Biblical studies and theology, mostly just to try to understand why it is that so many of us were saying one thing and doing something very different. I'm not sure I ever discovered the answer to THAT particular question, but one thing I remember discovering was the concept of the Incarnation. Of course, I already knew the story of God sending His Son the Lord Jesus to be our Savior, John 3:16 and all. But I finally had the chance to think about the "why" behind that eternal, historic event. Why would a Holy God do that? And why did He come to earth as a Baby instead of, say, a great big brute of a guy with a deep, gruff voice to put us all in our places? Well, I'm no theologian (gave THAT up very early on in my educational journey because I really don' t like to argue that much) - but it seems to me that this was the PERFECT plan. I guess so! Since He is God, His plan probably is perfect, even if I'm not and can't quite understand it all.
And it is perfect because we need to be reminded that even the Glorious, Infinite, Eternal God of the Universe was willing to be humble. And because He knew that we needed to know, in our human finiteness, that we have a God who understands our limitations. And one thing I did realize that was quite helpful . . . . even if lots of people around me couldn't quite cope with my imperfection, God was not surprised! Actually that Baby in the manger, one and the same God of the Universe, came to earth because He loves us so much, and He cares so much that He was willing to become as one of us. Kind of like God with skin on. We're kind of simple that way, and need a little nurturing once in a while. So, when I read the ancient text, "Cur Deus Homo," and I was able to begin even finitely to comprehend His amazing grace and love, it made sense . . . "Why God Became Man." He doesn't turn His back on us, ever, even when we sin. That's the whole point of the baby in the manger. And that's why I celebrate Christmas. The eternal God came down here, right HERE, to fix our brokenness. Even when we pretend to be perfect, because we might be able to fool some of the people all of the time, but not only does God know all along about our failures, He took care of THAT problem a very long time ago. Truly, God is with us!
Please stop by Jennifer's blog, Scraps and Snippets, and you will find all of the other IOW participants this week.
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