Jesus's Gaze Was Upon Us
I love entering into the Christmas season. When I step into the streets and gaze at the lights and join in on the festivities, it’s magical.
It’s the one time of year we hear songs about Jesus over the loudspeakers in the marketplace and cafes. Even the season’s commercialism creates an atmosphere of joy and cheer. The storefronts are filled with lights and glitter and gold, and they include manger scenes of the birth of Christ.
It is all because of who we are celebrating, not what. Jesus Christ.
What is Christmas without seeing a production about the birth of Christ? Rick and I went to an incredible production of the Miracle of Christmas at Sight and Sound.
I am easily distracted and get bored quickly when I’m watching a movie I’ve already seen. It’s not the same with the telling of Christ’s birth. In fact, I don’t want the story of Christ’s birth to be predictable in the same way a movie is.
I can’t count how many times I’ve seen a play or heard the story of Christmas. There are no unknown plots in the story. It is the unchanging story of the gospel that distinguishes God from everything else in all of creation, and it’s the miracle that makes it the most special time of the year (Malachi 3:6).
Christ entered an era when Christians were being hung in the streets and burned alive. I thought about the news in the headlines today. One doesn’t have to look far to see the evil running rampant in the streets. Crime, murders, and corruption are accelerating. People are twisting good for evil and evil for good. Isaiah 5:20
Sex trafficking is a growing business and it continues to be one of the most serious human rights concerns facing the world today. Abortion is out of control. A baby can be killed because “someone” determines if a human being has value to live or not at the time of delivery. Drugs that were once illegal have now been passed into law and are readily available.
Mankind is the most intelligent species on the planet, yet we appear to be the most complicated and confused when it comes to sexuality. A person has to debate whether the human body is male or a female. The Bible says that God is not the author of confusion. I Corinthians 14:33
Our heavenly Father chose to send his son from the only perfect place in all of creation. The place where nobody questions what is right or wrong, what is order or chaos.
Listen to the news, see the discord and hate on social media, and take a moment to grasp how someone can have the level of lovingkindness Christ had to give up all his rights and privileges and wants to save a world that most often is in no need of God. The God Arthur W. Pink states is largely unknown.
Pink also states, “They suppose that His omnipotence is such an idle fiction that Satan is thwarting His designs on every side. They think that if He has formed any plan or purpose at all, then it must be like theirs, constantly subject to change. They openly declare that whatever power He possesses must be restricted, lest He invade the citadel of man’s “free will” and reduce him to a “machine.” They lower the all-efficacious atonement, which has actually redeemed everyone for whom it was made, to a mere “remedy,” which sin-sick souls may use if they feel disposed to; … which sinners may accept or reject as they please.
The “god” of this twentieth century no more resembles the Supreme Sovereign of Holy Writ than does the dim flickering of a candle the glory of the midday sun. The “god” who is now talked about in the average pulpit, spoken of in the ordinary Sunday School, mentioned in much of the religious literature of the day, and preached in most of the so-”“called Bible Conferences is the figment of human imagination, an invention of maudlin sentimentality. The heathen outside of the pale of Christendom form “gods” out of wood and stone, while the millions of heathen inside Christendom manufacture a “god” out of their own carnal mind. In reality, they are but atheists, for there is no other possible alternative between an absolutely supreme God, and no God at all. A “god” whose will is resisted, whose designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated, possesses no title to Deity, and so far from being a fit object of worship, merits naught but contempt.” A.W. Pink, The Attributes of God
God always did and always will have his gaze on us. Christ gave up his gated community and found a home among us, among all the hate and discord, all because “God so loved the world. “ John 3:16, John 17:4, 13-26
“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” John 1:14
Christ went from heaven to earth, left complete bliss, security, safety, and joy so that one day we can exit earth and enter heaven. This is the joy we celebrate at Christmas.
As you take in the miraculous atmosphere of Christmas, take time to remember what it is about Christmas that brings you joy. Is it the what or who?
Don’t just listen to others tell the story of Christmas, read it as though it’s the first time. Matthew 1:18-25 Luke 1:26-38
How can you embrace the depth of love it would take to leave an atmosphere where you strolled along golden streets where there are now beggers and homeless? There were no criminals in heaven, therefore, no need of prisons.
What does it mean to you that Christ left the place we long to be for the world you see that mankind has created for your children, grandchildren, and future generations?
Most cannot deny there’s something miraculous that is stirred up in the atmosphere in December, even if they don’t believe in Jesus. Christ’s love is the hope of today and for future generations. Delight in Christmas by recognizing what God’s Word says about his Son and promises to you:
“But when the right time came, God sent his Son.” Galatians 4:4
God's Word and eternal love are settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89
His love is eternal: Jeremiah 31:3
He loves us “until the very end.” John 13:1
Comment and share below what the birth of Christ means to you.
“15 “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to this world any more than I do. 17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. 19 And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.
20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 24 Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!
25 “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 26 I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.” ”
