At Christmas, the Creator came into His creation for our redemption
“So it was, when the angels had left them and gone away into Heaven.” Luke 2:15 NIV
My thoughts and comments today declare that “Christmas is about Jesus.”
Can you imagine that first Christmas? The world was as it had always been until it wasn’t, ever again. A humble birth in a common stable. Angel’s singing. Shepherds tending their sheep. Kings arriving. A baby born like all others, yet unlike any other. Christmas is about a Savior. At Christmas, the Creator came into His creation for our redemption.
Luke described the miraculous moment this way, “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good will unto men!’” Read Luke 2:7-20. Imagine the shepherds’ emotions when starlit skies erupted with angelic voices and the glory of God enveloped them. Routine was broken. Fear replaced wonder. The common became sacred. But Heavenly visitations reach well beyond the moment. “So it was, when the angels had left them and gone away into Heaven . .” The songs ended. They always will. The dark of the Judean night returned. It always does. Angels are messengers, but the Savior comes to abide in hearts forever.
When Heaven touches your life, what you do next is eternally consequential. After the angels’ song, “The shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem, and see this that has happened, which the Lord told us about.’ So the shepherds hurried off and found . . the baby, who was lying in a manger.” Luke 2:15-16 NIV. Promptly, they went to find the Savior. Several things in those verses are well worth mentioning. The shepherds encouraged one another with the Good News. The shepherds gave immediate priority to seeing the Savior of Whom the angels sang and hurried to respond accordingly. Angelic visits are momentary while Christmas can change your eternity.
What surprises can also frighten; they might have fled from such a frightening sight and sound. They could have been content to continue their safe, familiar routines. They could have enjoyed the temporary exhilaration, yet been distracted from the preeminent, Heavenly visitation of all history. That would have been tragic, yet exactly that can happen at Christmas today. However wonderful any single experience, the impact should shape your subsequent choices and actions. Those alone determine direction for your life. It is tempting to chase such emotional highs without examining God’s purpose when gracing your life in such pregnant moments.
“So they hurried off and found the Baby.” They responded immediately to a new reality. That’s what they did, and what you and I will do when we understand Christmas. Response releases revelation. Christmas is about more than hearing angels’ songs; Christmas is about seeing the Savior. And having your life changed. Joseph and Mary could never again be the same, nor were the shepherds, nor the Wise Men, nor any of those who have received Jesus in their hearts in the generations since. When you experience Christmas, your life is changed. “Then the shepherds returned [to their flocks] glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told them.” Luke 2:20 NKJV. Christmas changes who you are, not where you are.
Today, I pray for you to rejoice in the Savior not the celebration.
Gayle and I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and His abundance of joy and blessings in the New Year. Thank you for your support and partnership in the ministry of EveryDay Life.
Christian Communications 2016