Isaiah 43:1-4 "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior... you are precious in My sight, and honored, and I love you."
We are a funny race of people! (How's that for an opening statement?!).
It occurs to me just how addicted we are! We are addicted to the material, the physical, the social, the sexual and the political; we are addicted to the finite. We are so blindly fixated on being finite that we forget we are created for more - infinitely more than we could ask or imagine in fact! We are promised a relationship with the infinite; with God. From the moment of creation God has given us all that we experience with awe and wonder; He gives because He loves us. All God seeks, not demands, is for His Love to be responded to and returned.
We love love stories, especially those where love triumphs against all odds. In many of these stories we witness the heart breaking, unreciprocated love one has for their beloved. We are saddened as the beloved is distracted by suitors and seems oblivious to the obvious true love readily before them. We watch as the suitors woo and court the affections of the beloved with trinkets, empty promises and ulterior motives. Our hearts ache as these loveless suitors' scheme to entrap the beloved. Our hearts sing for joy when finally a grand expression of love causes the beloved to finally see clearly; the beloved responds to the one who offers true love. The loveless suitors are finally known for what they are - distractions and interference. We weep as love triumphs and the two become what they were created to be: in love.
Christmas is the grand expression of love in THE cosmic Love story.
In Christmas we witness God's heart breaking Love for us - His beloved whom He created to love. We are saddened to see humanity distracted by suitors who tempt us away from "the One" using trinkets, empty promises and ulterior motives. Why are we so oblivious to the obvious love the One has for us? How are we so tempted by material wealth, physical comfort, social prestige, sexual pleasure and political power? God's heart aches for His people to be His people and to be His beloved; yet we stubbornly remain beguiled and in fact willing accomplices in the schemes which entrap and distract us. Christmas begins God's grand expression of Love. In Christmas the One sacrifices everything He is to reach and recover His beloved. The motivation for the incarnation, the life, the death and the resurrection of Christ can be summed up in one statement: God Loves You. Christmas is a Love story in which God's grand expression of Love is revealed in the Christ of Christmas.
In Christmas we witness God's heart breaking Love for us - His beloved whom He created to love. We are saddened to see humanity distracted by suitors who tempt us away from "the One" using trinkets, empty promises and ulterior motives. Why are we so oblivious to the obvious love the One has for us? How are we so tempted by material wealth, physical comfort, social prestige, sexual pleasure and political power? God's heart aches for His people to be His people and to be His beloved; yet we stubbornly remain beguiled and in fact willing accomplices in the schemes which entrap and distract us. Christmas begins God's grand expression of Love. In Christmas the One sacrifices everything He is to reach and recover His beloved. The motivation for the incarnation, the life, the death and the resurrection of Christ can be summed up in one statement: God Loves You. Christmas is a Love story in which God's grand expression of Love is revealed in the Christ of Christmas.
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him."
No comments:
Post a Comment