Isaiah 9:6-7
6 For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor,[a] Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!
We all know Christmas is the time of year we celebrate our God and Savior coming to the earth in the form of a baby. This quote from the theologian, JI Packer says it well…
"The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation.”
True words indeed. Christmas most certainly is a wonder-filled celebration of the bread and wine of heaven becoming available to mankind as one of us. It cannot be understated how important it is to honor this momentous event not just yearly but daily.
Though also, it’s a time we celebrate the fulfillment of thousands of years and countless prophecies coming to fruition for the promised Messiah to come. We, today, get to live in what the prophets of old lived and died waiting for. It’s a humbling honor to be alive today, and alive in Christ on this side of human history.
Again, these are humbling facts to reckon with, but humility should cause a spark in our hearts. Christmas celebrated properly should propel a holy response in us. If Jesus was willing to live and suffer on this earth for you and I, then we should be willing to live our lives in obedience to Him until we leave this earth. As Isaiah has said, God has fulfilled His passionate commitment through the life of Jesus. We now get to reap the benefits of God’s passionate commitment to us by remembering, and also living in the life of faith Jesus calls us to. All the promises of the Messiah are available in our lives today. You and I are living in a time where we get to be living habitations of His glorious presence. Christmas is a reminder of that reality. Celebrating Christmas is retelling ourselves He is Emmanuel, God is with us, and then living in a way that proclaims His love, saturating our lives.
I know for myself, sometimes I forget that or take it for granted that I have the privilege of being a new covenant believer. Ashamedly, at times, I reduce Christmas to a human tradition rather than letting it be a heavenly declaration in and through my life. So I must remind myself often that because of Christmas, I get the privilege of living an epic life with a radical purpose. A life in a relationship with the King of Kings, the Wise Counselor, the Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father and Almighty God, all because Jesus chose to be born in a manger 2000 years ago. Christmas is a reminder to live in such a manner as to honor such a high calling and existence. You and I get to live in a time and covenant that Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah and many other Old Covenant heroes only got to anticipate while on this earth. What an honor to live such a life, in such a time as this. May the gravity of the life you have been gifted, through Jesus’s life, be even more profound to you this year. I pray this Christmas we would remember, not only Jesus’s divine birth, but also what He has birthed in us as we continue to say, “Yes” to His call.
Merry Christmas from The Cahill Family. We love and bless each of you reading this.
Pastor John
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