I want to be your encourager today. The one who reminds you that Christmas is the day Eternity entered the world. That moment when the Holy One stepped away from God’s glory to lay shivering in the midst of the squalor and stench of man’s inhospitable world. For within that unremarkable town in an unknown stable, a young woman wrapped filthy rags around the King-turned-flesh.
She must have wept tears of joy–and sorrow–knowing God’s Miracle-child was meant for more.
Swaddled in rough linen, the Lion-made-lamb deserved silk stitched with threads of gold and silver. Yet for thirty-three years, Jesus set aside his crown for those seeking more. The One who breathed life into the spirit of man gave up the moment the power of the Most High stirred life in the virgin’s womb.
Why?
Because of love. Nothing more.
Dear friend, Eternity entered the world so that we might have eternity. But not just any eternity nor an eternity spent shivering in a place of corruption. A place without the Lion-made-Lamb. He lived a man’s life–from cradle to cross–with you and me in mind so that we might experience Eternity himself.
It was His plan all along–this quiet redemption. His impoverished birth for our heavenly re-birth. His shivering in the creche exchanged for our white robes. His unheralded nativity for our celebrated homecoming.
The day Eternity entered the world is much more than Christmas. It is Christ.
Verses for Reflection
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Cor. 5:17)
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, … (Revelation 7:9-17)
Peace and grace,
Tammy