Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
So goes the 2nd verse of Joy to the World! For many it is a favorite Christmas carol, and perhaps for most of us, we sing along without any reflection or contemplation… The Savior reigns… Exactly what kind of a Savior are you looking for? From what do you want to be saved? Some want to be saved from illness, from debt, from difficult times… We look for someone to somehow fix our problems, solve our dilemmas, work a minor miracle on our behalf…
But God desires that we have a much different view of our Savior… God’s present to us is God’s presence with us! Immanuel… God with us…
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” Matthew 1:23
The Christmas story is about a Gift from God, a Gift of God, for the Gift IS God!
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
Christmas is not just about the birth of Jesus… it is the beginning of a story of "good news" that God, the Creator of the Universe, desires to be in a personal relationship with His creation! The perfect God, having a personal relationship with a sinful human could only be accomplished through the cross and the empty tomb.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
Unto us a child is born! Unto us a son is given!
(Christ Jesus) "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father". Philippians 2:6-11
Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns!
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