DECEMBER 24TH
Choosing Christmas
Colossians 1:15-20 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 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.
Some people absolutely love going to family Christmas parties. Others...not so much. When we were young, it didn't matter if we wanted to go to a family event or not; we were going. There are many things that we don't have a choice in: what we look like, where we were born, and the color of our eyes. When you were still in the womb, did anyone ask you if you wanted to be born? Did they check with you to make sure you were okay with living the life that was waiting for you on the outside? Of course not! The only person in the history of mankind who ever had a say in whether or not He would be born was Jesus. Unlike every other person who has ever lived, Jesus was born but not created. The apostle Paul reminds us that Jesus was before all things, as timeless and eternal as God, because He is God. "All things were created through him and for him." (Colossians 1:16). That has never been true of any other baby born on earth. Existing outside of time wasn't the only characteristic Jesus shared with God. God is all-powerful, and so is Jesus. "In him, all things hold together" (Vs 17). God is all-knowing, so we can be positive that Jesus knew exactly how it would all end long before He was born as a baby.
Think about that for a second. Jesus, being one with the Father, knew exactly what was waiting for Him on earth. He knew every splinter and bruise He would have to suffer. He knew exactly how many people would mock and abuse Him, that He would have to watch people He loved die, and that He would be beaten and crucified. Yet Paul tells us, "In him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" (vs 19). Jesus didn't leave heaven and glory reluctantly or grudgingly. He was happy to do it... but why? In the next breath, Paul explains that through Jesus, God was pleased "to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross." His love for us was so great that He was happy to take on the pain and indignity of human existence so we could be reconciled to Him. When sin entered the world, mankind reached out to the God we had once walked hand in hand with, but no human being could come into His holy presence because of sin. Because the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Jesus Christ, He could do what no one else could. He could take the hand of God as God. He could take the hand of man as man, and He could place our hand back into God’s, having covered our sins with His perfect blood. In Him, all things hold together, and because of Him, God and man can be together once more. Perhaps the most beautiful thing about Christmas is that Jesus wanted and chose to come, even though He knew there would be great pain and suffering involved with it. Like a mother who goes through the pain of labor, in Jesus' eyes, we were worth it.
Think about that for a second. Jesus, being one with the Father, knew exactly what was waiting for Him on earth. He knew every splinter and bruise He would have to suffer. He knew exactly how many people would mock and abuse Him, that He would have to watch people He loved die, and that He would be beaten and crucified. Yet Paul tells us, "In him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell" (vs 19). Jesus didn't leave heaven and glory reluctantly or grudgingly. He was happy to do it... but why? In the next breath, Paul explains that through Jesus, God was pleased "to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross." His love for us was so great that He was happy to take on the pain and indignity of human existence so we could be reconciled to Him. When sin entered the world, mankind reached out to the God we had once walked hand in hand with, but no human being could come into His holy presence because of sin. Because the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Jesus Christ, He could do what no one else could. He could take the hand of God as God. He could take the hand of man as man, and He could place our hand back into God’s, having covered our sins with His perfect blood. In Him, all things hold together, and because of Him, God and man can be together once more. Perhaps the most beautiful thing about Christmas is that Jesus wanted and chose to come, even though He knew there would be great pain and suffering involved with it. Like a mother who goes through the pain of labor, in Jesus' eyes, we were worth it.