The Beginning Of Something Incredible

I get concerned with how we romanticize Christmas and the manger. Forget about how Santa Claus has impinged on the significance of Christmas and consider what we do to it. We aren't even accurate. Joseph and Mary weren't poor. They were in a manger out of desperation  because there was no more room in the town, not because they had no money. And there were not three wise-men at the scene. First, they showed up about two to three years later at Joseph and Mary's home, and second, we have no idea how many there were. But there inaccuracies are nothing compared to what all our private and public manger scenes do to the way people see Jesus.

When we celebrate Christmas we are not celebrating a baby but God's insertion of himself into his own creation. We celebrate the King of kings, Jesus, who became the firstborn of the new creation. We celebrate the risen Lord, who sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. We celebrate what the Father has done for us through the Son:

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:19-20)

That fullness happened through the Spirit at Jesus' point of baptism when the Spirit came upon him. Not a symbolic gesture but the empowering of the Spirit so Jesus could fulfil his mission. The same Spirit Jesus sent to us so we could have the fullness of God to fulfil our mission.

There is more going on than we realize. We keep emphasizing what Jesus has done for us, and we should, but the reconciliation through Jesus was for all things. The Word here stressing that this included all things whether they be on earth or things in heaven. Something beyond our comprehension started that first Christmas morning. It started in the form of a baby but did not stay there so we should not be celebrating a baby on Christmas, but the complete work of Jesus Christ.

Christmas must also be a celebration of the cross and the empty grave. If all God did was become one of us it would have been a wondrous thing but absolutely useless to us. The fact that he became one of us to die for us, to free us from the dominance of sin, and to kick open the door to eternal life is what we are celebrating. We celebrate the birth, the death and the rebirth on Christmas morning and we celebrate the most incredible, powerful, giving, forgiving, merciful, compassionate, supreme Lord of earth and heaven. The Father has placed everything under his feet.

Let's not romanticize any part of Christmas. December 25th is just a date we chose to mark the beginning of a complete package of God's plan. There are lots of interesting facts about how it happened but we must always keep in mind why it happened. On Christmas, wish Jesus a happy birthday but wish it to the King of kings and Lord of lords, not to a baby in a manger. And keep in mind that our sovereign King has always been and will always be, Christmas was only when the Father inserted the Son into the fabric of our history as one of us. A great event but an event that only marked the beginning of something incredible.

Who Do You Worship During Christmas? (part 2)

Don't be mistaken this Christmas, we don't worship a baby Jesus. In fact, the Jesus we worship is beyond the one we read about in the gospels. We get a glimpse of him near the end but we will come to know him so much more as we serve. Jesus of the gospels set for us an example of a life lived to the fullest through the Holy Spirit. But Jesus is a lot more than this. We need to have better clarity on who it is we worship:

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. (Colossians 1:16)

The one who we worship this Christmas is not a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes or even the one who walked on water. Yes, he was that but he is so much more. He is clothed in what we will become when we are called home. He is dressed in eternity which will also be ours. We need to remember that Jesus is the instrument of creation. He is the word with which the Father spoke things into being. By him all things were created.

That's what makes his 33 years with us so much more amazing. We know he is the Son of God and we know he is our Saviour, but I don't think we always appreciate who he is. This one we celebrate this Christmas by placing him in a manger is the one through whom heaven and earth were created. Pretty amazing when you stop to think about it. The one who is responsible for this entire universe volunteered to come as one of us, to rescue us from our own stupidity.

He is responsible for all the things we see; the great waterfalls, the beautiful sunsets, the majestic mountains, the microscopic wonders, the far flung stars. He is also responsible for what we cannot see; the invisible world that so many deny but that is just as real as the visible. The One we keep putting back in the manger is responsible for it all.

This also includes the great powers of the visible and invisible world. When he returns all authorities will bend their knee to him as the reality of his full majesty is pressed upon them. Every authority in the invisible world will yield to him as well. Read the Word, Jesus will not take on Satan, the angels will. Satan is so far beneath the King of kings that the King does not need to face this foe to defeat him. When he returns to take his place as ruler there will be such an army with him that we will finally begin to realize the authority that is our God.

The thing to remember today is that not only was everything created by Jesus but it is created for him. The Father has established the Son's authority and he has placed everything under his feet. He used the Son to create everything and he did it for his Son. Everything belongs to Jesus even if they reject Jesus. It is good to keep that in mind the next time you think of not being nice to someone; that person belongs to Jesus.

This is who I am celebrating this Christmas. Yes, he came as a baby, just like us, but he did not remain a baby. We is the King of kings and Lord of lords, so beyond our comprehension and yet called our friend. He is supreme over everything including your small life and everything in it. There is nothing that comes into your life that he does not know about and nothing that comes against you that he has not permitted. The enemy can't do anything against you that Jesus has not allowed and if he allowed it there is reason for it, even if it is simply to add muscle to your faith. He is sovereign and I trust him. Who are you worshiping this Christmas?